The Umpire's List of Lists
 

Hey, everybody:

I've just published a new book, The Umpire's List of Lists. Here's the Foreword that explains what it does:

Unfortunately, I have lost the name of an umpire who last year emailed to say I needed to make lists of what umpires needed to do: for a game, for a season, for a career.

His idea: There are training manuals, Power Point shows, magazine articles: all kinds of media to let an umpire know where he should stand, what he has to do; how and when to make a call. But as far as he knew, there wasn't a simple list of bullet points an umpire could read before he went to work.

The Umpire's List of Lists is going to solve that problem. Think of it as the Cliff Notes of working baseball. I make it easy for you to review the material before you take the text.

Here's an example. Every mechanics manual will explain that an umpire behind the plate should track the ball from the pitcher's hand all the way into the catcher's mitt. Not to do so means the umpire might fall victim to "tunnel vision." Moreover, failure to track the pitch to its end means the umpire may make up his mind too early. The pitch that looks so good at the cutout suddenly breaks, and the catcher must dive for the ball. That's covered in the List of Lists this way: (1) Track the pitch. (2) Don't call the pitch too soon.

You want to know the steps involved in calling plays at first base? There's a list. What goes into an ejection report? I've got a list. What are effective techniques for controlling a game? The Umpire's List of Lists "lists" them. To paraphrase the guy on the TV ad: "You're gonna like the way you read."

Check it out at my website.

Get the book NOW for $5.25 at Amazon.com

My standard guarantee for the last twenty years applies: Buy the book. If you don't like it, I'll refund your money and you can keep the book.

Free 2-day shipping for Amazon Prime members, too.

Just ordered. Thanks Carl.

Please let us know if any electronic versions will be coming out?

Thank you Papa C.

Hard to pass up for $5.25

I'm gonna give it a shot.

Let me know what you think after you get the book. Pay close attention to the Afterword. It's a proposal in which we all get a chance to improve the level of amateur umpiring.

That's what we do this for, right? The batter we are, the better the game is. The better the game is, the better the participants turn out later in life.

If we didn't believe that, I don't think we'd put with half the nonsense we do.

Don't misunderstand. I'm not falling for that old saying: "It's for the kids."

It's for everybody!

Thanks again.

As a member of the NFHS publication committee:

Printed media is dead.

See Marshall McClune;

"The media is the message."

T

I still read the paper every morning with breakfast. Even as a paid paper subscriber, the company wants me to pay $1.99/month to read stories on the website. Short sighted unless that's the plan - to convert everyone away from the paper.

I still appreciate a good read. Most everything I read now is purchased for the Kindle (or the Kindle app on a tablet), but for $5.25, I'll let Amazon ship me a book.

Everyone makes their own decisions.

Newsweek leaving publication is a start.

Getting a newspaper that is 2/3 sized . . . see Indianapolis daily . . . clearly shows the trend.

Rich, i have a master in Journalism and I am disgusted at the tend . . . internet unproven articles . . . I am lost

The most shocking thing I saw this week was that CNN bought the cesspool that is Bleacher Report and will be using that as their default sports site instead of Sports Illustrated. If you've ever read anything on Bleacher Report, you'll understand why I'm disappointed and wonder if anything will ever be as good as it used to be.

One of these days I guess it will all seem like the new normal, but not yet.

Gosh, Tee: I didn't know the National Federation had stopped publishing rule books. I must have missed their announcement. Uh, I guess I also missed the notice from the Giddeons International society.

And don't brag about your post to anybody at the NFHS. They might wonder why one of their "consultants" didn't know who wrote The Medium is the Massage, which I was teaching at the college level at three deifferent universities in the 60's and 70s. The author was Marshall McLuhan.

Amazing! You're back at your old stand. And I was telling everybody your were cured of this bad habit.

Sorry for straying from the thread, but...

From the 2013-14 NFHS Umpires Manual:

"Audible calls on non-swinging strikes should vary in intensity, tone and length depending on their importance in the game."

"For the foul call, turn your body towards foul territory, extend your arms over your head, and bring them down to waist level in the direction of foul territory. Yell, "Foul!" as emphatically as you gesture. If the call is crucial to the game or is just barely foul, yell, "Foul! Foul! Foul!"

"On a passed ball with a runner at third, a play at home is likely. Remove your mask quickly, if you think you have time. Set yourself at a right angle to the catcher's throw. This gives you a good angle on the play at home."

"One way to be sure the tagging player has retained possession of the ball is to ask to see it. Or you can tell the runner he's out if the tagger has the ball."

"When the ball is batted foul, call out in a loud voice "foul ball" and signal it foul by first putting both hands over your head and then motioning to foul territory."

"Be careful not to kick dirt onto the plate after you have just cleaned it."

"When you start cleaning the plate, face the spectators and the catcher's box. If your pants were to tear, only the infielders would see it."

"Suit your simultaneous verbal call to the emphasis of the physical call and phrase it for, and direct it to, the offensive player. You could say, "He's out!" But if you say, "You're out!" you're getting to the principal one who must be convinced."

"If the [safe call] demands more emphasis or if you want to show your appreciation of a good play, bring your arms in from the extended position, possibly crossing them in an x in front of you and re-extending them. You can repeat this several timed depending on the amount of emphasis you wish to give. Another way of emphasizing the call is to make a couple of quick side steps, either with the arms extended or while making repeated safe signs."

T, I am sure these didn't emanate from you, but they don't do much for FED's credibility, and they certainly detract from the other good stuff found throughout the manual.

Reminds me of one of the categories on the MTV game show Remote Control that was on the air when I was in college. It was called "Dead or Canadian."

McLuhan is both.

The host of the series, Ken Ober, is merely dead.

I have read things by Carl in print form and in electronic form. The BRD, for example, I want in *both* forms -- electronic mainly for searching purposes, although it's great to have on a phone to settle a bet in a bar.

But for a nice read, I want the print version.

I've never read it this close before throwing it in the trash can. I'm glad. It sounds like it was written in 1946.

Kari Wurher is still alive and that's all that matters.