Baseball
Listen Up to Go Up
“Keep your mouth shut and listen.”
Although it sounds harsh, it might be one of the most important pieces of advice an aspiring umpire can...
Here’s Your Sign
During its annual June meeting, held virtually for the second consecutive year due to the ongoing COIVD-19 pandemic, the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee voted...
Grab Those Borderline Pitches and Help Your Game
I once worked a college game with an umpire with the proverbial postage-stamp strike zone. It lasted three hours, 31 minutes, and featured as much head-shaking by pitchers and...
Find Those Stray Baseballs
Before a half-inning begins, remember to check the field and backstop for stray baseballs. That’s especially important before the top of the first inning....
Progression of Responsibilities Helps Simplify Rulings
This past summer I had the opportunity to attend an evaluation camp for umpires looking to advance their collegiate careers. The camp schedule called...
Where Was That?
By Jon Bible
Last season, I was watching an MLB game and the plate umpire — I forget who it was — was giving the...
8 Ways to Avoid Perception Issues
It’s always useful to review a few perception issues that can get umpires off on the wrong foot at the start of a contest or create negative feelings...
Dead Ball Ground Rules Needed For Quirky Ballfields
Very few baseball fields are identical. While infields are all alike, size-wise, the shape of the outfield will vary and the alignment of outfield...
Use Your Head With Doubleheaders
By Jon Bible
Doubleheaders (DH) can be the bane of an umpire’s existence. At the most basic level, a DH just means two games instead of one, whether of...
Seeing Is Believing
No matter what umpiring mechanics are being used in a particular game — whether it’s a single umpire working a youth baseball game or...
Thou Shall Not Pass
If you ever have any doubt what area of the game is going to get you in the most trouble as a baseball umpire,...
How to Shine Behind the Plate
L et's take a look at some of the best tips and techniques involving plate work that that can help you preform, and look,...
Special Rules Apply When a Runner Misses Home
In order to legally score a run, a runner must touch the plate, the same as the requirement to touch any other base. However,...
Pre-Pitch Checklist For Improved Focus
Over the years, I found that the best way to stay focused and lessen the chance of a screw-up is to go through a...
Supplemental Signals
On a force play when the ball initially beat the runner, but the fielder had leaped or pulled his foot off the base to...
It’s High Time to Talk Timing
U
mpires always stress the importance of good timing behind the plate (and on the bases, but that’s a topic for another day). But to...
Level Up?
Many new umpires want to advance to the major college ranks. Some will, most won’t. Some who fall by the wayside will be perfectly...
Abandonment
A walk-off is a run-scoring event in the bottom half of the last inning of the game that gives the home team the win....
Players Can Drop Clues to Help On Tough Calls
I didn’t get away with much as a kid. If I’d broken a family heirloom or eaten the last piece of pie, I’d crack under even the...
Always Assume You Are Being Assessed
For roughly the first half of my amateur umpiring career — which lasted from 1966-2016 — umpires could go about their business without having to deal with rating...
You Say It Best When You Say Nothing At All
I’ve always felt the following are some of the greatest sayings relating to speaking: “You can’t be misquoted for something when you say nothing.”...
Lineup Language
College baseball will feature several new wrinkles during the 2021 season as a result of rule changes approved by the NCAA during the offseason.
The...
See the Three, Be the Three
At three different umpiring camps I have attended over the past two offseasons, I have heard one conference coordinator use the same phrase repeatedly:...
10 Tips to Move Up the College Baseball Ranks
An umpire buddy was planning a presentation to a high school umpires association on how to advance to the college level and asked me...
