Baseball
When To Stop A Game
When to stop a game because of darkness or weather are among the toughest calls of an umpire's career. Next to those, you might think...
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...
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,...
Which Strike Do I Get?
An old adage that we hear from time to time is, “When in doubt, call ’em out.”
While that is a myth that shouldn’t be...
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...
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:...
11 Hacks for Onfield Umpires
With a new baseball season rolling along, here are a few tips and hacks involving plate work that can help you out as an...
The Stands Have Eyes
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or roughly the first half of my amateur umpiring career — which lasted from 1966-2016 — umpires could go about their business without having...
An Inside Perspective On Evaluation Camps
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ne of the hallmarks of Referee is the willingness to publish articles offering advice on how officials can advance in their particular sports. In...
Pick the Proper Protocol with Pitchers
Every umpire will encounter pitchers who aren’t happy with him or her. I had a generous strike zone, but even so a pitcher would...
Just Deal With It!
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f umpiring were simply confined to ball/strike, fair/foul and safe/out rulings, it would still be a game fraught with disagreements about arbiter judgments, but...
5 Time-Tested Tips to Be Great Behind the Plate
There is nothing quite like the feeling of walking off the field after a stellar performance behind the plate. But having a great game calling balls and strikes...
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...
Get Out of the Way, Blue!
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or many umpires, their definition of a job well done includes being able to walk off the field without anyone really noticing they were...
Changing a Call
For many years, an umpire changing a call was considered a sign of weakness. The current thinking at all levels of play is that...
Mental Checklist on Every Pitch Ensures Focus
The best way to stay focused and lessen the chance of a screw-up is to go through a mental checklist before each pitch. This...
So You Say You Want Games?
Ispent years as an umpire assigner from Little League to major college and, of course, I worked for my fair share. All have pet...
When ‘Time’ is Right
Most baseball games are routine in terms of the calls the umpires must make. We know the plate umpire has to call balls and...
Been There, Done That
One of the hallmarks of Referee is the willingness to publish articles offering advice on how officials can advance in their particular sports. In...
Education or Evaluation?
Decades ago, when I got started, umpire clinics and camps were almost unheard of. (To me, a clinic is a one- or two-day event...
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,...
Collision Course
An area that has received a lot of attention in recent years from rules committees at various levels of baseball involves malicious collisions between...
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...
From Zoned Out to Zen Master
In the 1984 College World Series, I had the plate in a semifinal game. Pitch one was a slider on the edge of home...
