Well, I saw a first last night. Not a good thing, in my opionion. I was calling Fed ball, Aledo Vs Eastland, good game. This was the first time I'd called with my partner. He had good mechanics. As PU, he would follow the runner down the line. We had an overthrow at 1st, I took her to 2nd, he switched and went to 3rd. Once play stopped, I turned to give him the number of outs and saw his mask in the dirt in the infield. This happened 2 more times during the game. I asked him if he was having trouble holding onto the mask and he told me he always dropped it when he had to run in the infield. I tried to keep a neutral face as I walked off. To me, this is an injury waiting to happen. If a pitcher or catcher or whoever stumbles over and hurts herself, that's gonna be hard to live with. Or, what if another bad throw hits the mask and bounces up into the defensive player's face? Not to mention the fact that the mask has to be filthy after a few of these tosses to the ground, what with this good ole Texas dirt ( or mud right now ) I just thought this was about one of the stranges practices I've seen an umpire do in the 8 years I've been calling ball.

TexBlue,

I worked with this guy a couple weeks ago at Brenham. He was
always throwing the mask off. Did not matter where. Twice
I noticed in the infield, the rest of the time somewhere around
HP. Did this guy also always point at the pitch or hit ball
when making a call? Curious.

I didn't notice what he did on the hit balls. He wouldn't give a signal on fly balls, so I was having to track it down and watch the runners too. I don't remember him pointing at the pitch though. Like I said, his field mechanics were pretty good. Strike zone was good. You just had to dodge masks on the infield. Not once did the mask land in foul territory.

Only two things will cure this guy of such a habit. Either someone is going to have to injure themselves tripping over the discarded mask or a throw to the plate to cut down the winning run is going to have to hit it.

Other than the fact an umpire should NEVER discard any of their equipment (obviously, with intent), it sounds like this guy needs an ASA National School with Bernie Profato. I guarantee he will never drop that mask again after a weekend at Bernie's. (Bernie may be a SP umpire, but that won't stop him from getting a FP umpire to do it right).

When I first started out, I was fortunate to get to call with 4 guys who were excellent with their mechanics. They gave me fits if I pulled the mask off with my right hand or carried it with my right hand. I have no idea what they would have done if I threw it in the dirt so I didn't have to carry it across the infield. Maybe run me off the field. We're very proud of the way our uniforms look. I dust my shoes and clean them after every game. We carry extra shirts and pants so we can stay clean and respectable looking. No way do I put on a dirty mask and have it on my face for a whole game.

I was just sorry Mr. Sparks did not get to see this
guy in action. His team was off the field when this
blue came on. He usually left and took care of other
business.

Did you think to ask if he was a catcher in his playing days? Maybe it's an old, old habit.

BTW, TexBlue, left-handers may legitimately take their mask off with the right hand so they may legitimately give the OUT signal with their left hand.

Our clinicians won't allow the strike signal with anything but the right hand, but the out can be with the left.

As a lefty, I've learned umpire mechanics as a righty, but it is not necessary. The only thing I tend to feel a bit silly with is the sell out - I just can't quite get the motion to feel right.

But, even old catcher's can break some habits. Especially when they become umpires. I still take the mask off with my right hand, but I immediately transfer it to the left. As for dropping it on the field, either in fair or foul territory, anyone should realize the potential problem they are causing. It ain't rocket science!

You would think that after working
a game on a rainy/muddy field, that guy
would have figured he needed to work on
hanging onto the mask !
Yuk !!

Yeah, I know some guys who take the mask off right handed and then transfer. That's just not the way I learned. I've got a friend who's left handed and has one of the best sell outs I've seen, doing it left handed. What's even better is he doesn't do it all the time, just when he really appreciates the play and emphasizes it with a left handed sell out. The rest of the time his right handed sell out looks just like the rest of ours.

[Edited by TexBlue on Mar 5th, 2004 at 04:54 PM]

As a lefty umpire, I take the mask off left handed(even when I broke my left hand a few years ago I still took it off left-handed) and if I need to transfer it to make a sell out call, I do so. Some coaches have said it looks kind of neat to see me do it. That's the only thing I do left-handed though...sell outs. Strike calls, routine outs, etc., all done right handed.

I never did feel right doing a sell out right-handed.

I've got an umpire buddy that has well over 20 years of baseball officiating - he's very good. Last year he quit taking his mask off.... period. He will leave it on between innings.

It's funny to see him with it on and nothing happening but it is also interesting to note that even after that many years he is still working to improve and changing little things so he can work a better game. We don't start till next week, if the weather clears, and it will be interesting to see what he will work-on this season. Maybe I can convince him to forego his idotclickermabob :D. Perhaps his mask will come off again.

I was severely gigged by an UIC years ago for not removing the mask after every batted ball, including obvious fouls that hit me.

I worked a men's baseball game many years ago. After the pre-game, he put on his mask, and the next time he took it off was in the parking lot after the game. And he never came out from behind the plate.