Baseball
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...
Double the Trouble
Unlike in football and basketball where referees must determine the legality of athletes crashing into each other on almost every play, baseball is a...
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....
Get Out Of The Way Blue! What is and isn’t Umpire Interference
Know What Is, And Is Not, Umpire Interference
F
or many umpires, their definition of a job well done includes being able to walk off the...
Not All Double Plays Are Created Equal
Some umpires are unabashed about their love of double plays; they do serve to shorten the inning. Double plays can occur in a variety...
No Place For Intentional Pitches at Batters
On Aug. 16, 1920, in a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds, Cleveland shortstop Roy Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch...
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....
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...
Catcher You Later
By Jon Bible
A long-standing topic of debate in baseball circles is how we should relate to catchers. There are several schools of thought.
I’ve heard...
Tips for When You Struggle on the Bases
What do you do when you’re struggling on the bases? We’re all going to have bang-bang plays where we do everything right but freeze-frame...
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...
On Your Mark, Get Set … Stay There
Recently, I came across a couple of film clips taken from major league games played decades ago. In one, an umpire called a tag...
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...
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...
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.”...
A Breakdown of Running Lane Rules
In the top of the seventh inning in Game 6 of the World Series on Oct. 29, 2019, the Washington Nationals had Yan Gomes...
Reality of Calling A Checked Swing
Many umpires would agree that there are very few judgment calls in baseball that are tougher to make than a checked swing. Whether you are the plate umpire...
Order of Operations
Some umpires are unabashed about their love of double plays; they do serve to shorten the inning. Double plays can occur in a variety...
How to Keep Calm During Rundowns
Rundowns are usually the result of a runner being too aggressive. Depending on the level of play, players may go into panic mode. Umpires...
Little Things, Big Consequences
Newer umpires sometimes think if they master the rules and mechanics and have good judgment their careers will take a steady upward trajectory. There’s...
Handling Interference by Spectators, Coaches and Umpires
Interference in a baseball game does not happen very often and some umpires are ill prepared to deal with it. Getting the uncommon plays...
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...
Eye Didn’t Miss It
Umpiring a baseball game is full of visual challenges. Some are unusual and others are more common. In a recent game, the uninformed runner...
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...
