Pre-game umpire conference
 

I have been officiating sports for a long time. I have been umpiring off and on for 48 years. In all of the sports that I have work we always had a pre-game before the start of the game.:D
<o></o>
When you are working with a crew then your area of responsibility is narrower. Even a 3-man crew in basketball has certain preset responsibilities and the pre-game is more defined. A 2-man team in baseball/softball has a wider area of responsibilities.
<o></o>
I always try to have some type of pre-game with my partners even if it is just one or two items.
<o></o>
I have a list of items I go over with my partner for baseball and a different list for softball. If I have worked with the person before then my pre-game lasts about 5 or 6 minutes, if not then it will last about 15 to 20 minutes. By going over the list and discussing the items it refreshes everything in my mind. This allows me to get the “right” mindset for the event.
<o></o>
A couple of years ago I bought the Jim Evens Two-Man book and modified my pre-game so that it closely follows his suggestions.
<o></o>
When time is short I still try to get something covered before we walk onto the field.
<o></o>
I am running into the total disinterest:mad: from some people who don’t want to do a pre-game and insist that they know how to do their jobs and a “lets go” statement.
<o></o>
I also have people who state “Don’t come to me if I’m not in the “A” spot on check-swings as I will mirror whatever you call.” I always watch the pitcher when I’m BU and swivel my head to follow the ball to the batter and I feel that I have been able to tell on the check-swing from B or C. When my partner tells me he will not help then I don’t go to him. I have had a couple of coaches ask me to go to my partner for help and they always mirror whatever I call.:rolleyes:<o>
</o>

I think pre-games are losing the battle unfortunately. Maybe want to skip them and then if things happen they want to try to clean up the mess then. It's a terrible way of doing business but you can't fix stupid.

Correct me if I'm wrong gentleman but I've always been told to watch the pitcher until he commits then immediately look at the batter without following the ball to the plate. If you follow the ball your eyes are still moving when the ball reaches the batter. However, if you focus on the plate before the ball gets there, you have the ability to see things more clearly. I have found I see a lot more things from the field by not following the ball to the plate

-Josh

About not going to your partner, I would still go to him even if he is going to call it the same way. The rules other than FED mandate it from the PU. Also, it saves the PU grief from the DC when he can just ask and end all of it.

Ask him even if he won't disagree.

This is what I meant when I said I follow the ball. As soon as F1 releases the ball I swivel to the plate to pick up my BU duties.

GA - I always go to my partner when required by the ruleset.

When I have the plate with a new partner...

1) Rotations and signals we will use. (Deflected balls = no rotation)
2) I will always have pulled foot and swipe tag help if you need it
3) If you want to go out feel free.
4) I will communicate anytime I have catch/no catch with either "I've got the ball" or "I'm on the line."
5) If I communicate "I'm on the line" it kills all rotations
6) Kill anything at my feet if you see it.
7) Give me open/closed fist on 3rd strike in dirt if you can.
8) I will take half of rundowns if I can. You have it all until I communicate "I got this half"


If its a partner I've worked with and he knows the typical stuff, maybe I'll just throw in one or two of the more specific stuff mentioned above.

Have been thinking alot about trust lately. I think the pregame does more than just clear up the things I listed above. It helps each person know the level of expertise his partner has. BU MUST know how good PU is because once that ball is hit BU can't be watching PU's every move. If BU has trust in PU, he can get into better position to take his plays, anticipate developing plays quicker and not worry about whether or not PU will take his responsibilities.

Honestly, if everyone went to clinics, read the books, listened in class, etc... a plate conference should never be necessary. We SHOULD have the same mechanics, the same responsibilities, the same assumptions for every game, with every partner.

However, everyone DOESN'T do all those things, and I'm occasionally surprised by either A) something someone doesn't know when we have a conference, or B) something someone says they will do during the game. It's always something.

I wish for a perfect world, where the only thing a pre-game would be for is, "Dude, this is my 6th game, and I twisted my ankle in game 1... if there was a sub available, I'd go home... but there's not. Can you pick up 3rd base for me when it's normally mine?"

With a partner I know, occasionally I'll start the meeting with, "so ... what are we going to get Milly for her wedding?"

Partners
 

This year I only had the same partner 3 times for High School baseball/softball.

I run into some who don't want to go over anything. I tell them, "Well, since we've never worked together I'm going to go over a few things anyway." Then I try to cover the most important things, specifically the coverages so we don't end up at the same base. Some of the umpires I work with act like they are high above going over things, then f*** up their coverages during the game.



I find it just better to see everything about the pitch, including its flight to the plate. It's all right in front of me and I don't really have any trouble with my eyes moving anywhere. You can tell a lot about where the ball might end up by the type of pitch and its location, which helps to anticipate and be more ready.

What does an open fist look like?

Like Karate. Which is empty hand, but same difference.

Try to fool with me in the wrong place and you'll see one! :D

Will I get a reply
 

If I signal IFR w/out going to the bill of my cap?

I prefer the signal outs over my chest.

I hear the same thing more and more. You can see check swing just as good in B or C as you can in A - don't make any sense. However, even had an assignor this season say - don't ask.

I asked the typical question - why not? And of course he had no answer, just something about how it looked. :confused:

Umpires are a team and we have to help each other out period - that includes check swings when needed.

thanks
David

How many times have you changed the call to a strike from B and C? How often does the OC say something to the effect of "You can't tell from there!"

While I agree that you should go to your partner, and the partner should give their honest answer to the appeal, it does have the perception of being difficult to call from that location.

A, B, C, D...E through Z, the center field bleachers...it doesn't matter. I can tell if a player offered at a pitch from just about anywhere. Anybody that says something like "you can't tell from there" is a moron and should just pack up their gear and go away.

If my first instinct is, "he offered," I'll ring it any time -- no matter if I'm in A, B, C, D, E, I, E, I, or O. And I couldn't possibly care what a coach says -- he's not allowed to argue balls and strikes.

I'd like to mirror jdmara, you cant fix stupid and unfortunately you cant shoot them either.

I've only been umpiring for 5 years, and with every new partner I get, wheather they are new themselves or a mulity-year vet, I always do a pregame. I have been able to learn from the vets and have been able to teach the newbees as well. I feel my game has gotten better with learning from others as well as my past mistakes. But you guys are correct, trying to do a pregame with some is hard. Some think they know it all and can not benefit from a little pregame reasurance. And when you do talk with them about some simple coverages they just look at you like "No Sh*t" but when the game gets going that exact coverage brakes down somehow.

As for help on check swings, I will tell my partner to give me what he has. I am not so damn hung up on myself that he "MUST" agree with me. If I missed it call it, but he better call what he has, not to just agree with me, thats all I ask.

I always take that at confirmation that I got the call right.

It's your job to get it right from B or C (and A and D). Do it.

Where I work, just like where everyone else works, we have a cadre of people who care about the people who play the game, and the game itself. We have some people who don't work hard at umpiring, but try to do a good job, and some who just show up for the $$$.

It is a shame, but in these days of two parents working like mad to keep their financial heads above water, or one parent households trying to just survive with the economic mess they and our country is in, we need to be careful assigning motives to people. Yes, it stinks they don't want to do a pregame, but at least they are there to umpire the game. And until our country changes we will have lots of people who are umpiring for the wrong reasons, so let's make sure we do the best we can with the people we get.

As most of you know, the bigest problem we have is that on the HS level, all officials are trending up in age. We have fewer and fewer people who are young deciding to umpire on the HS level. The late teens, early 20's person is too busy, too poor, or too involved with other things to start officiating.

The fear I have is that one day there will not be enough officials for sports, and where wil the kids be?

If the guy I'm working with seems reluctant to get into coverages and such pre-game, I'll try to at least hit a few points where we are likely to have problems. It kind of depends on how you broach the subject. Some guys just seem to take being told how something should be handled as an affront to their knowledge and experience and it puts them on the defensive.

Instead of saying, "This is what we're going to do", I'll ask, "What happens if...". At least that way you're going to get some response and get some dialog going, plus get a feel for your partner's experience level and expectations.

This season most of my partners have been receptive to a good pre-game and, I'd like to think as a result, I can't really remember anything that came up where we had any problems in coverage or communication.

It helps that all of my games so far have been high school games with guys in the same association- an association that stresses the pre-game with your partner as a responsibility, provides a full page checklist of things to discuss and is proactive in training. This is a big association, with nearly 400 members, that we're told is one of the largest in the country. Of the 25-30 high school games I worked, I never worked with the same partner twice.

But the season is young! Once the travel and tournament seasons get going, I'll be working with more and more umpires from outside the area and you never know what you're going to get.

A couple of the more interesting pre-games I've had of late...

Worked with one guy this year who was doing his first game ever! He shows up at the field already dressed for the plate, so I let him have at it. We had lots of time to kill (the first game was running late) so I gave this guy about a half hour pre-game (that was more like a mini-rule and mechanics clinic).

Then the game started and I think this guy forgot EVERYTHING we had talked about!

Last year I had a guy who made a big deal of how he worked "minor league ball" and came off as a know-it-all. When I started to ask him about coverages, he cuts me off and says, "The base umpire has all plays on the bases, the plate umpire has all plays at the plate". It went downhill from there. This guy was practically inventing new mechanics at will. When I mentioned how something was described "in the umpire manual" he went on some tirade about how the manual was "stupid" and his way was better.

At some point, you just have to give up and be thankful that you'll likely never have to work with this partner again!

Old McFronny had a farm.....:cool:

Thank you, could not have said it more clearly. When we work three man I always say the best place to see it is from D.

The only reason you hear stupid coaches say "you can't tell from there" is because there are dumb umpires who have told them, "i can't see it from there".

Thanks
David

Yea I welcome the coach to come out and argue. It's a short conversation.

Thanks
David

Shy
 

I don't cover check swing appeals in my pre-game with my partner.

~Sigh~
 

As I have said so many times before:

An umpire that claims you cannot call a checked (unchecked) swing from "inside" either does not understand the checked/unchecked swing rule or does not have the guts to make the call.

T

My standard pre-game spiel for checked swings (if I'm the plate umpire) is to tell my partner that I might check with him no matter what position he's in. If he honestly couldn't tell if the batter went, whether it's because of the disadvantage of his positioning or any other reason, then make like Nancy Reagan and "Just say NO" (and give a safe signal- Nancy always forgot that part).

If I'm on the bases, I tell him to feel free to come to me no matter where I'm at and I'll give him my honest evaluation of the swing. If I'm not sure or can't tell if he went, I'm not going to overrule his call.

I have never had a partner who refused a pre-game. If I have someone with many years experience who I have not worked with I will go through my standard pre-game and most of the time they just nod and say OK, or occasionally ask a question, or offer suggestion. If I have worked with the same partner many times I don't go through the motion. I know what he will do and he knows what I will do.