Good Afternoon from the Chicago area

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Jan 2, 2023
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Good Afternoon Everyone..... I am a newer umpire (in the Chicago area) to the Blue ranks after Coaching my girls the past 15 years. I was looking for resources to help with my transition from inside the dugout to behind the plate. My game observations will be from a new perspective and any suggestions/advise would be greatly welcomed and appreciated. Happy New Year!
 
Dec 15, 2018
809
93
CT
Welcome! I made the coach to ump transition 3 years ago. Glad to have you.

Here's a few things just in general to start (I'm sure there's 100 other things that will come):

Thorough Knowledge of the Rules – This is the baseline, table stakes, of being a solid umpire. You will need to constantly study, take refresher tests, read and re-read, look at training videos, all the time. Never stop learning. And don’t trust the internet. This site is great, with a million cases in the form of thread questions in the Rules section – but you still need to be careful, because the internet experts can and will be wrong. The rule book has 99% of the answers.

Appearance is important. Coaches and players will make an instant judgement on how you look / move / talk / act. Dress sharp, walk tall.

Embarrassment is the price of admission – you have to be willing to be the clumsy newcomer if you ever hope to be the graceful master. You will get things wrong. At first you may get a lot of things wrong. Keep going.

Choose your words carefully – speak only when you have to, only when speaking makes the situation better, and primarily using only the words in the rule book.

Angle over Distance - It is more important to move to the location that gives you the best angle on the action, than getting as close to the action as possible. Learning proper mechanics (where/how to move on every play) will come, and is key to getting to the right spot.

Stop, read, react – can't see if you’re moving, get all elements of the play

Anticipate, but be ready to pivot – it’s okay to anticipate the play, but don’t sell out – anything can happen and you have to be ready to adjust

Game Management – move the game along, make all your actions, movements, commands with a purpose. What you allow you condone.

Trust your partner, get help when you need it. Also, communicate with your partner (pre-game, in-game, post-game)

Don't cheap out on equipment (if you're relatively sure this is the path for you). It is an expensive avocation to start up, but pays off "relatively" quickly. But cheap equipment is uncomfortable, clunky, and won't protect you.
 
Jun 6, 2016
2,714
113
Chicago
Appearance is important. Coaches and players will make an instant judgement on how you look / move / talk / act. Dress sharp, walk tall.

Chiming in on this from the coach's perspective: If you don't look like an umpire, I'm going to assume you're not a serious umpire. That might not be fair, but it's how it is. I'm probably going to be less patient with someone who doesn't appear to respect the job they're there to do.

We had one ump show up in a camo umpire shirt for one of our school's baseball games. I didn't have much choice that day, but I won't use him above the middle school level. I wasn't even at the game to see if he did a good job, but that kind of thing bothered me.
 

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