Plays Not Seen Often Challenge Officials
No one has ever attempted to rank fouls in the order of the difficulty in calling them. However, it’s clear there is pecking order....
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...
Movement Only One Part of the Job for Umpires
It takes a great deal of fortitude to venture into the jumble of flailing arms and bodies where only linebackers dare to tread. But in addition to being...
Poor Signals Lose Time
By Gerry Grunska
Recently I witnessed a victory that was essentially accomplished through timing errors by the officials. The process went like this. Time was running out for team...
Fear of Abandonment
Webster’s defines abandonment as “to leave or forsake completely; to give up possession or control of or to give up, discontinue or withdraw from.”...
For Warned
Warnings come in a variety of forms. There’s “the look,” “the stop sign” and “the quiet word,” to name a few. Each can be...
Head of the Class
Early in my umpiring career I took a cavalier approach to the rules. I got by because I had played the game and knew...
Pace Commander
How to set and maintain a good pace to a game is not often discussed at camps and association meetings. But if players are...
Just Deal With It!
I
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...
No Connection, But There’s Still an Ejection
In most cases, it is not illegal to fail in the attempt to do something. Fighting is an exception.
Even if a punch fails to...
Sideline Officials Cannot Just Wing It
R
eferees have a great deal on their plate. Before the opening kickoff they perform organizational duties, and conduct the pregame meeting and onfield tasks...
Fair Ball
Coaches have all sorts of creative ways to question the ethics and integrity of officials. During the pregame meeting, they are often curious about...
Every Game Can Be Your Best Game
A young, motivated and talented official was assigned as the referee in a college D-I highly contested conference game. The two assistant referees were seasoned veterans who have officiated...
Find a Happy Ballhandling Medium
Where do I draw the line with ballhandling? When do I want to make my “presence” known in the match by making that first ballhandling call? Am I being...
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...
Whether to Play During Weather?
M
any an umpire could undoubtedly double as a meteorologist if it ever became necessary. The only thing we seem to study more than the...
The Importance Of Halftime Discussions
Imagine that the buzzer to end the first half has just sounded. The game is going to be a real barn burner. The teams are tied...
Hit by Pitch Doesn’t Always Mean a Base Award
The earliest umpires didn’t have much of a decision to make when a batter was hit by a pitch. A pitch hitting the batter’s...
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,...
Can You Compare Refereeing Soccer To Catching A Fish? As a Matter of Fact...
You might not think so, but the individuals who arbitrate the rules or laws of soccer on a regular basis and the individuals who...
In the ‘Try Right Zone’
The plate umpire in fast-pitch softball faces the demanding task of making split-second rulings hundreds of times each game, regardless of the competition level....
Get Out of the Way, Blue!
F
or many umpires, their definition of a job well done includes being able to walk off the field without anyone really noticing they were...
6 Tips to Improve Your Plate Performance
Everyone wants to be known as a good plate umpire. When coaches think about preferred and non-preferred lists of umpires for postseason playoffs, they...
Principles With Interest
O
fficiating has been in my blood since I was a scholastic wrestler during the mid-1960s. Throughout the decades, I gradually began to understand the...
