A few weeks ago, I was in Chicago to visit my sister in law and her family. While we were there, we went to their kids baseball games. Both of these kids play on select teams. One is 12 and the other 11. In each of these games, they only had one umpire. In watching these games, I was reminded of how hard it can be to work a game by yourself. I thought it might be a good idea to throw a couple tips out there to help you out.
1) Completely give up distance for angle. When you are umpiring by yourself, there is no way you are going to be in perfect position for every call. So do what you can to get the rigth angle on the calls and don't even worry about distance.
2) Hustle. Every time the ball is hit, you need to be out from behind home plate. On a play at first, you should be as close to the pitching mound as possible. You need to get out from behind the plate and give yourself the best chance you can get at seeing the play. Coaches will give you the benefit of the doubt if you hustle.
3) Be loud...SELL EVERY CALL!!
Umpiring by yourself is not fun and I don't think it is something that should happen very often but when it does if you follow these steps, you'll be ok.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Back At It!!
Well, it seems like it has been a while since I have posted anything. Actually, it seems like it has been a while since I have umpired. I guess a week full or rain, thunderstorms, tornadoes and a trip out of town will do that to you. Well, in about two hours, I get a chance to get back out there. Today, I have a middle school recreational game. I usually don't do these games but as a favor to the lower school athletic director at my old high school, I have agreed to do it. I get to work with one of my favorite partners so it should be a good day.
I'll post on the game if anything exciting happens. My next good games are Thursday.
I'll post on the game if anything exciting happens. My next good games are Thursday.
Friday, April 22, 2011
A very soggy night
Last night was doomed from the start. About an hour before the game, half of the state of Missouri was covered in heavy rain so it was only a matter of time before it got to us in St. Louis. We were able to get in the first game, barely, but we did not get the second one in.
Last night I worked a Boys 12 Select Tournament game. It was a very well played game. I worked the plate and called a good game. I am trying to get back into working the box behind the plate instead of the scissors. When I was at umpire school, they wouldn't allow us to do anything other than the box but I was always more comfortable in the scissors. However, the more and more I work the box, I am finding that I am better able to see the outside corner of the plate in the box and I am better able to "lock in". By lock in, I mean that when the pitch is thrown, an umpire should not move his head at all. He should follow the pitch with only his eyes, moving your head, changes the strike zone.
Anyways, there really wasn't anything exciting in the gameplay of the game, however the rain made the game interesting. One tip I will give all young umpires about playing in the rain is this, if you think for any reason that the field is become unsafe because of the rain, stop the game and see if you can fix it. Last night, it was raining pretty hard but the field wasn't getting too wet but the bases and pitching rubber was. I had two kids slip running across home plate and three fall over trying to round a base. I stopped the game so we could take a look at the field and get the bases cleaned off. It made a big difference until the top of the 6th when it started pouring. Now, in this case, there were two outs and the tying run was on 2nd so I finished the at bat because we were close to the end. If that batter had gotten on, I would have ended the game.
It was a good night at the park. I would have liked to have gotten both games in.
Ok, before I end this post, I need to get on my soap box again, last night in my boys 12 games, I had kids throwing a TON of curve balls and they were taught to do it in a way that is really going to hurt them. As a parent of a 2 year old, if my son ever becomes a pitcher and his coach (most likely it will be me but if it isn't) tries to get him to throw a breaking ball, I'll pull him off the team. Today's youth coaches are so interested in winning that they forget that their job is to teach the game of baseball to the kids and to help them learn the skills that will make them successful at the next level. In this case it would be high school. Learning how to throw a curve ball is not doing that. Teaching them the proper pitching mechanics is. It drives me crazy that parents allow coaches to do this to their children.
Ok enough of my rant....have a good weekend everybody...hope it stays dry.
Last night I worked a Boys 12 Select Tournament game. It was a very well played game. I worked the plate and called a good game. I am trying to get back into working the box behind the plate instead of the scissors. When I was at umpire school, they wouldn't allow us to do anything other than the box but I was always more comfortable in the scissors. However, the more and more I work the box, I am finding that I am better able to see the outside corner of the plate in the box and I am better able to "lock in". By lock in, I mean that when the pitch is thrown, an umpire should not move his head at all. He should follow the pitch with only his eyes, moving your head, changes the strike zone.
Anyways, there really wasn't anything exciting in the gameplay of the game, however the rain made the game interesting. One tip I will give all young umpires about playing in the rain is this, if you think for any reason that the field is become unsafe because of the rain, stop the game and see if you can fix it. Last night, it was raining pretty hard but the field wasn't getting too wet but the bases and pitching rubber was. I had two kids slip running across home plate and three fall over trying to round a base. I stopped the game so we could take a look at the field and get the bases cleaned off. It made a big difference until the top of the 6th when it started pouring. Now, in this case, there were two outs and the tying run was on 2nd so I finished the at bat because we were close to the end. If that batter had gotten on, I would have ended the game.
It was a good night at the park. I would have liked to have gotten both games in.
Ok, before I end this post, I need to get on my soap box again, last night in my boys 12 games, I had kids throwing a TON of curve balls and they were taught to do it in a way that is really going to hurt them. As a parent of a 2 year old, if my son ever becomes a pitcher and his coach (most likely it will be me but if it isn't) tries to get him to throw a breaking ball, I'll pull him off the team. Today's youth coaches are so interested in winning that they forget that their job is to teach the game of baseball to the kids and to help them learn the skills that will make them successful at the next level. In this case it would be high school. Learning how to throw a curve ball is not doing that. Teaching them the proper pitching mechanics is. It drives me crazy that parents allow coaches to do this to their children.
Ok enough of my rant....have a good weekend everybody...hope it stays dry.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Back at it
After almost a week off, I will be back on the field tonight. As of right now I have two Boys 12 select games but I am sure that will be changed before the end of the day.
I'm looking forward to getting back out there. It's been too long.
I'm looking forward to getting back out there. It's been too long.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Quick Question
Last week I had two boys 11 games. In those games, the pitchers were trying curve balls. Can any coaches out there who might be reading this please tell me why a 11 year old (10 in some cases) need to be throwing curve balls.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Two Games on a Perfect Night
There are some night when being at the ballpark is an absolute joy...last night was one of those nights. The weathers was perfect, the games (even though not all that competative in the first game) moved along quickly and there were no problems to speak of.
Last night I had two boys 13 games. I had the plate duties for the first game and it was the perfect type of game to have behind the plate. The pitchers were around the plate, the batters swung the bats and we were done in an hour 20 minutes. I love it when you have don't have to rush to get ready for your second game. The game itself wasn't that exciting. The final score was 14-4 and it could have been a lot worse. I did get a chance to umpire a couple kids who played on the soccer team I coached last fall so that was fun.
The second game was another boys 13 game. This was a pretty good game. The pitchers did a great job of staying around the plate in this game. I had three or four close plays in the field to keep me awake. We had three infield flies and a few balks but once again, there really were any situations that came up. We did have another balk call where the kid actually hit the ball. This time it was caught by the left fielder so we enforced the balk. The funny thing was, the coach came out about 3 batters later to ask why we enforced the balk. It was pretty funny.
It was honestly a very easy night at the ballfields last night. Now that I have said that, I'm sure next Tuesday will be a difficult night but that's ok...sometimes those nights can be fun too.
Last night I had two boys 13 games. I had the plate duties for the first game and it was the perfect type of game to have behind the plate. The pitchers were around the plate, the batters swung the bats and we were done in an hour 20 minutes. I love it when you have don't have to rush to get ready for your second game. The game itself wasn't that exciting. The final score was 14-4 and it could have been a lot worse. I did get a chance to umpire a couple kids who played on the soccer team I coached last fall so that was fun.
The second game was another boys 13 game. This was a pretty good game. The pitchers did a great job of staying around the plate in this game. I had three or four close plays in the field to keep me awake. We had three infield flies and a few balks but once again, there really were any situations that came up. We did have another balk call where the kid actually hit the ball. This time it was caught by the left fielder so we enforced the balk. The funny thing was, the coach came out about 3 batters later to ask why we enforced the balk. It was pretty funny.
It was honestly a very easy night at the ballfields last night. Now that I have said that, I'm sure next Tuesday will be a difficult night but that's ok...sometimes those nights can be fun too.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Two Games, Two Ejections
There was a time in my umpiring career (I use that term loosely) that I really enjoyed getting into arguments and throwing people out of games. As I have gotten older, I have felt that if I had to throw somebody out, I wasn't doing my job correctly. That isn't always that case but in my mind, it is. It had been over two years since I had thrown anybody out of a little league game but last night that changed.
The first game was a Boys 11 select Gold (Top Division) game between two really good teams. I was behind the plate and I was working with another experienced umpire (I thought it was a younger umpire but I was mistaken). My game behind the plate was the best game I have called all year. The kids were around the strike zone and the batters wanted to swing the bat. My field umpire had a few tough calls but there were two at third that really got the coaches on the losing team upset. Now, I have no idea if he got the calls right or not. Both were tag plays and on both of them, the ball beat the kid to the base by a mile. However, the tag was behind the fielder so I was blocked and couldn't see it. Both calls were safe.
On the first one, the coaches started yelling but calmed down almost instantly. On the second one, the game was tied and their team was starting to fall apart. When this safe call was made, four coaches came flying out of the dugout to argue. The head coach to his credit, told them to sit down. Then the scorekeeper (another coach on this team) started screaming his head off. He was out of the dugout and just going nuts. I told him to calm down but he didn't hear me so I yelled pretty loudly for him to stop and sit down. He went and sat down but after about two seconds, he threw his score book on the ground and started yelling again. At that point, I had no other option and I threw him out of the game. He didn't argue, he just got his last few words in and left.
In the second game, the coach got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. My partner called a decent game. The coaches got upset because the ball was being caught right down the middle but it was CROSSING the plate high. They didn't understand that it doesn't matter where it is caught. Well, they started making comments around the 2nd inning. It started with things like, "The catchers glove didn't move, how is that a ball." We both let it go. Then in the 4th, they started blowing a 12 run lead and they really got upset. On two straight pitches, they didn't like the call. They started yelling at the plate umpire. He called time and walked toward them and told them to knock it off. They continued. He told them that he didn't want to hear one more word, they continued. He warned them again, they continued. At this point, I stepped in and told the head coach to knock it off. He looked at me and told me that he was talking to his catcher. I said, I didn't care, the umpire said his peace, it's over. He argued. I told him to knock it off. He argued. I told him to not say another word and sit down. He was quiet for about 5 seconds and then he yelled, "You can't tell me who I can talk to." At this point, I ejected him.
Even with the two ejections, we had two well played games.
A couple points I want to bring up. As an umpire, if you ever say, not another word, you better be ready to back it up. Also, I made a mistake, I shouldn't have said that. Because what would I do if he said, "hi."? I should have told him that if he wanted to continue arguing, I was going to throw him out. Also, when you are behind the plate and they are arguing your strike zone, you can't stand for that. Sure a comment here or there is ok but if they really want to get on you about your strike zone, then tell them to knock it off. You are asking for trouble if you don't. These were coaches that were used to younger umpires that they could intimidate and that's not what they had.
On a good note, I had an interesting play that I haven't had in a while. A pitcher balked in the first game. I called it and the pitch was thrown. The batter hit the ball to the second basemen who booted it and the runners advanced and the batter runner reached first base.....whats the call?
Tonight I have two more games. This time they are boys 14. I am looking forward to it.
More posts to come...until then....PLAY BALL!!!
The first game was a Boys 11 select Gold (Top Division) game between two really good teams. I was behind the plate and I was working with another experienced umpire (I thought it was a younger umpire but I was mistaken). My game behind the plate was the best game I have called all year. The kids were around the strike zone and the batters wanted to swing the bat. My field umpire had a few tough calls but there were two at third that really got the coaches on the losing team upset. Now, I have no idea if he got the calls right or not. Both were tag plays and on both of them, the ball beat the kid to the base by a mile. However, the tag was behind the fielder so I was blocked and couldn't see it. Both calls were safe.
On the first one, the coaches started yelling but calmed down almost instantly. On the second one, the game was tied and their team was starting to fall apart. When this safe call was made, four coaches came flying out of the dugout to argue. The head coach to his credit, told them to sit down. Then the scorekeeper (another coach on this team) started screaming his head off. He was out of the dugout and just going nuts. I told him to calm down but he didn't hear me so I yelled pretty loudly for him to stop and sit down. He went and sat down but after about two seconds, he threw his score book on the ground and started yelling again. At that point, I had no other option and I threw him out of the game. He didn't argue, he just got his last few words in and left.
In the second game, the coach got thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. My partner called a decent game. The coaches got upset because the ball was being caught right down the middle but it was CROSSING the plate high. They didn't understand that it doesn't matter where it is caught. Well, they started making comments around the 2nd inning. It started with things like, "The catchers glove didn't move, how is that a ball." We both let it go. Then in the 4th, they started blowing a 12 run lead and they really got upset. On two straight pitches, they didn't like the call. They started yelling at the plate umpire. He called time and walked toward them and told them to knock it off. They continued. He told them that he didn't want to hear one more word, they continued. He warned them again, they continued. At this point, I stepped in and told the head coach to knock it off. He looked at me and told me that he was talking to his catcher. I said, I didn't care, the umpire said his peace, it's over. He argued. I told him to knock it off. He argued. I told him to not say another word and sit down. He was quiet for about 5 seconds and then he yelled, "You can't tell me who I can talk to." At this point, I ejected him.
Even with the two ejections, we had two well played games.
A couple points I want to bring up. As an umpire, if you ever say, not another word, you better be ready to back it up. Also, I made a mistake, I shouldn't have said that. Because what would I do if he said, "hi."? I should have told him that if he wanted to continue arguing, I was going to throw him out. Also, when you are behind the plate and they are arguing your strike zone, you can't stand for that. Sure a comment here or there is ok but if they really want to get on you about your strike zone, then tell them to knock it off. You are asking for trouble if you don't. These were coaches that were used to younger umpires that they could intimidate and that's not what they had.
On a good note, I had an interesting play that I haven't had in a while. A pitcher balked in the first game. I called it and the pitch was thrown. The batter hit the ball to the second basemen who booted it and the runners advanced and the batter runner reached first base.....whats the call?
Tonight I have two more games. This time they are boys 14. I am looking forward to it.
More posts to come...until then....PLAY BALL!!!
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