Worked at the PFX tour this weekend - Part II: The Good

[Julio Caliente]

Originally Posted by UmpLarryJohnson

ill just say that--
how can anyone criticize that the umps looked bad, dressed poor, bad mechs, etc and yet be OK w the fact they were ORDERED to infact 'swallow their whistles' for the whole game? (im reffering to the 'ugly' parts in other msgs) hypocritical? I guess they wanted 'pretend umpires' for the exh and they got what they asked for! so why the complaints? "We want you to be sharp, make good callss, perf mechs...EXCEPT heres a list of all the rules we want you to ignore today' hehehe

hypocritical, I don't think so. The exhibition game was just that, an exhibition game. The umpires (all Division I umpires) were dressed sharp, had great mechanics, and made great calls. They were just instructed to call the game to make it more exciting to watch. I am pretty sure 95% of the people there were not watching the pro's game to learn proper mechanics. That was for the clinic they did on Friday.

Now, the tournament was a different matter. They wanted umpires TO BE UMPIRES, they wanted us to enforce the rules, and they wanted us to LOOK like umpires. I am sorry, but could you respect an umpire who wears a ball bag with ball sin it while BU? I couldn't a as coach.