ASA National Umpire School- Columbus, Ohio

[Stevetheump]

Originally Posted by SethPDX

I heard a story of one pro school instructor who ran up to the ball with a bat, beat on it, then said, "It was still alive but it's dead now."

Some of those pro school instructors can be characters. I went to the (then) Bill Kinnamon Umpire school in 1981. Our instructors were Bill, the late John McSherry, Joe Brinkman, Larry Young, Dan Morrison & several minor league umps. One of the fields bordered a cemetary. Well, one of the smart@$$ guys was the HP ump and sure enough, a thrown ball went flying over the fence and in to the cemetary. He could not help himself. He yelled: "DEAD BALL" and then proceeded to make the sign of the cross. I thought the instructor was going to bust a gut trying NOT to laugh. It was a good 5 weeks, though. One of our guys was selected for Umpire Advancement - Angel Hernandez. From what little I've seen of his work on the field, he will NEVER umpire in a World Series. But, that's just my opinion.