Base Umpire 2 man

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Andy

It was late 90's/early 2000's and it was being championed by a certain member of the National Umpire Staff at that time. To the best of my recollection, the other members of the NUS weren't too keen on it and is slowly faded away.

I'm not surprised it is optional for NAFA as I believe that same former NUS member with ASA is now involved with NAFA.

That said, he (BP) was an exceptional clinician, he just didn't toe the line in the "one size fits all when we teach 50,000 umpires" philosophy. I can say without hesitation I learned a great deal from him, among others (some more generally accepted, some less). BP wasn't ashamed to talk about advanced mechanics for advanced umpires, when that was considered an unacceptable heresy.

And, as I recall, he had both hip and knee issues, and was dedicated to adopting mechanics with less physical demands. We endorse the EA suggestion that all mechanics are trade-offs, yet some mechanics aren't accepted when they benefit certain groups.

Again, I don't like this one, because I don't agree with that what is lost is less important to the game. But I do support making adjustments that are advantageous, even if not "the manual" or the "DVD".