Baseball
Optimal Positioning at Home Plate
The evolution of the mechanics of calling plays at home plate has been fascinating to observe.
Plate umpires can make decisions on 250 to 300...
Tips for Handling Baseball Time Limits
While there are some pace-of-play initiatives introducing a clock to the game of baseball, the traditional game doesn’t worry about a clock the same...
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....
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...
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...
Right Foot Forward
It’s a basic rules concept that the location of a fielder’s feet in fair or foul territory has no impact on the fair/foul determination...
Hot Buttons
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and apparently you can’t get umpires — old, new or in between — to clean up...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Homeward Bound
By George Demetriou
Grand larceny is a term used to designate theft that is large in magnitude. Grand larceny can be contrasted with petty larceny, theft that is...
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,...
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....
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...
Don’t Take a Knee When Calling Pitches or Plays
Don’t take a knee. No, I’m not referencing protests during the national anthem. I mean don’t take a knee when calling pitches or plays....
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...
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...
Pass Judgment
If two runners pass each other on the basepath, one of them is out. The out is immediate, just as if a tag had...
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...
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...
Trip Advisor
The emphasis on pace of play in both pro and NCAA has resulted in significant changes to the traditional rules on conferences to include...
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...
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...
