Pre-game umpire conference

[charliej47]

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.

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.

I always try to have some type of pre-game with my partners even if it is just one or two items.

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.

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.

When time is short I still try to get something covered before we walk onto the field.

I am running into the total disinterest 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.

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.