Hi Kevin:

I believe the MAJOR source for MLB is the MLBUM (major league baseball umpire manual). You can get that manual on line.

Pete Booth

Thank you, Pete. That's a good recommendation.

I got one of those last year. It's a wonderful resource. Frank Pulli and Steve Palermo were big contributors to it.

I got mine from ebay, but, oddly enough, it's available at the Jim Evans online store:
Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring MLB Umpire Manual

My only gripe is when amateur publications like the Jim Evans Two-Umpire System Manual carry the price tag of a professionally written, edited and printed publication. It's an insult.

And I can both afford it and value it for its useful information, but the cut-rate manner in which it's delivered bears mention, considering how high the price is.

Be blind to it if you like, be blindly devoted to everything Evans if you like, and brand my criticism with a crude comment if you like, but it's still a fair and warranted criticism.

Do you realize what a 250 page soft cover college textbook that size costs? About the same as what Evans book runs at. Would you prefer he put a hard-cover on it, make the pages glossy, and charge 150?

I put two kids through private high school and one of them is still in college. I am intimately familiar with the cost of dozens of textbooks, and it is that exact standard by which I place the value on this particular publication. Virtually ALL of the full-size paperback textbooks that I have purchased over the last dozen years are in that price range. ALL of them are professionally written, edited, illustrated and printed. ALL of them. The Evans manual is not.

The Evans book is fraught with errors. It even has errors on the cover! I know rather fully what is required to publish a printed instructional publication. And when it is done professionally, a price tag of $70 is fully justified. The price tag of $70 is not justified by this particular amateur publication.

I'm being unbiased and fair-minded, and am expressing an informed opinion. That's always been welcome in America. Why not in this little corner?

The Game and the rules are not that hard, some guys just think to much. Most Jim Evans stuff seems over the top.

Of course being a 2001 Grad of Harry's, I may be a bit biased, we were never taught to think, just react, and look good doing it.:cool:

Gee, you might want to see if Harry wants to use that in his advertising.:rolleyes:

I can't speak to the book to which you're referring, since I haven't seen it or its cover, or any of that. And I'm not really trying to start a p155ing contest, either. But assuming your question was more than rhetorical, I'll answer it.

You certainly are expressing an opinion, and it's still allowed in America. But from my reading of this thread, and other postings elsewhere, is that you might not be as unbiased as you think you are (see: News, Fox). What I've read over time is that you seem to have issues, unresolved or otherwise, with Jim Evans, and have to put in little digs here and there. That, in turn, might be why people respond to your posts as they do.

I don't have the book infront of me at the moment. What errors are on the cover?

Nice Shot at Fox News. Let me guess you get all the truth from MSNBC and CNN:eek:

(deleted)

(And, look, realize where I come from on this. Everyone is biased - everyone.

(deleted)

And I would happily discuss subjects like this here, but I'm betting the over/under on Bob killing this post is 28.5 hours. :)

Under. Drop it (all of us).

Good point, I just edited my reply, but it was gone before I got done. Good Move:D

I have issues with any people who present a cut-rate, amateur publication, and then charge the same price as publishers who take the necessary and customary steps of having professionals write and edit the work, and then take the additional step of printing it with standard quality materials. It doesn't matter if it's you, me or Jim Evans; it's an insult.

So, no, I have no bias against Jim Evans, and your grouping me with the paragon of bias (FOX) is an insult to me, or any informed, educated adult.

Are there some typos in the book? Yes.

If he had taken the steps you request Kevin, would the price have gone up more? Yes. This isn't a book that is going to sell a million copies like Intro to Psyc 101. So either you complain about a 70 dollar book that in many ways replaces 5 weeks of training that also has some typos which do not detract from the material in anyway, or pay 120 for the same thing with bells on it, and complain about that too.