WBC -- B/R misses 1B, collision, B/R out

[tballump]

daaaaaaamn greymule--your "older" than dirt. What the hell field did you play on,,, field of dreams. They didn't even have grass or dirt back then. Don't worry, I am right there with ya.
You are correct in your assessment of all the things we talk about now that we did not talk about then. You can go to the PBUC website and pull up the history section. The first "Umpire Specialization Course" was held in St. Pete in 1969. I believe this is the one Brinkman, and Evans went to. Things have just kind of slowly snowballed from that first course to what is out there today.
There are many more manuals and instructional material out there today then there was back then. So, umpires are at least better informed then they were in the past. I'm sure some cranky, older than dirt, managers and coaches will tell you umpiring is just as bad today as it was then. In others words, not a dang thing has changed in umpire quality in their opinion.