So I want to become an umpire

OBR ("casebook" is contained within), FED rule and casebook,Jim Evans' Maximizing the Two Umpire System for starters. There's more but these will get you going.

Later you might consider interpretation guides like the Jaska/Roder book and the PBUC Umpire Manual, the "blue" book. (As opposed to the "red" book which covers mechanics).

Also, the Baseball Rules Differences by Carl Childress is a handy book that lists, side by side, the rules and differences in interpretion and penalty enforcement among OBR, FED, NCAA and NAIA.

Another note. Forget everything about the rules you thought you knew as a coach, and begin anew. You are no longer an advocate and you will be surprised how that changes your reading and understanding of the rules.

Welcome to the good guys.

Jimmy,

Thanks! Actually, I think I've always been on the good guy side. I don't like the three blind mice and similar shirts that depict umpires. I always taught my players to respect blue just as much as they respect their coaches, teammates, other players, and the game itself.

Not to say I haven't seen my share of bad calls. I've only been tossed once. Don't remember the exact play any longer, but I pointed to a clear mark on a freshly groomed field that supported my position. I was immediately tossed. Not the first time that I've seen that. In general, why does pointing to physical evidence elicit such a reaction from some umpires?

quote:

Originally posted by Eyeontheball:
Don't remember the exact play any longer, but I pointed to a clear mark on a freshly groomed field that supported my position. I was immediately tossed.

Thanks for that. I'm laughing out loud. Hard.

Work hard and have fun. I hope you are doing this because you want to.

Welcome to the site and the avocation. What level are you going to start with, this will help with what to recomend.

Great question that I have just begun to ponder. I really don't know what the opportunities are yet, so I guess that will partly determine the level. I am targeting 2011 to get fully into it. I sort of assumed that starting at the bottom in youth leagues would be the norm, although eventually I would like to do high school or even local college ball.

Thanks for the welcome, although I am curious why dash asks if I'm doing this because I want to. It certainly is not for the $ or the friends I'll make in the stands.

quote:

Originally posted by Eyeontheball:

Thanks for the welcome, although I am curious why dash asks if I'm doing this because I want to. It certainly is not for the $ or the friends I'll make in the stands.

That's great, and I echo the welcome. Have you asked yourself why you want to umpire? It's important.

Actually, I have given it quite a bit of thought. Bottom line - I love the game and want to stay involved. As a coach, I always appreciated a good job by the blue (and I made a point to tell them so). Sitting in the stands and watching is not going to do it for me. I have always prided myself on knowing the rules and believed that I could do a good job as an umpire. So now it is time to put up. But I'm not doing it to be better than some I've seen, but to do the job right so the players and coaches can focus on playing the game well. I realize its easy to say that now, but my experience has shown me what I think is the right way to handle it.

quote:

Originally posted by Eyeontheball:
Don't remember the exact play any longer, but I pointed to a clear mark on a freshly groomed field that supported my position. I was immediately tossed. Not the first time that I've seen that. In general, why does pointing to physical evidence elicit such a reaction from some umpires?

"Demonstrating", whether by drawing a line in the dirt, pointing to a spot, whatever, is an automatic ejection at most levels above middle school.

The act is so visible it is equated with showing up the umpire and riling up the fans and dugout. It's a game management issue.

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:

quote:

Originally posted by Eyeontheball:

Thanks for the welcome, although I am curious why dash asks if I'm doing this because I want to. It certainly is not for the $ or the friends I'll make in the stands.

That's great, and I echo the welcome. Have you asked yourself why you want to umpire? It's important.

not speaking for dash, but his question is a valid one....we all have seen many umpire candidiates come and go, so knowing why you want to be an umpire is step one.

There is a shortage of officials in most all sports, but for this discussion, I will focus only on baseball....When I look around at my chapter meetings, I do not see young people coming in to the calling...We have 70+ year old officials calling games, who, although well past their prime, do very competent work....we are not holding young guys down......The few new recruits to umpiring we get each year progress rapidly to the better games.....

Our loss of new recruits after a single season is high...one of the recurring reasons given for leaving the sport is the frustration at the dollars & time involved in becoming a trained and qualified umpire and then being subjected to abuse from coaches, parents and fans, who never read a rule book and have no clue how to officiate the game......

So you can see that defining why is important...some come into the avocation for the pay, some for the power and some for the love of the game.... I know good umpires who probably are some of each of these, for example, I would call myself an umpire who loves the game, believes in conducting a contest in accordance with the rules and gets paid to do it.

Now as to the money..... I do not umpire for free.... But the reality of umpiring baseball is that baseball is the most cost intensive sport to officiate.... I have more than $750 in protective gear, I have different uniforms for all the leagues I call, I have my dues for my HS/college chapter and summer ball chapters, I have to pay all my registrations from PONY though HS, College and Legion.......and I must carry a 1 million dollar liabilty policy so I can protect myself from litigation..... all this before I make one penny from umpiring...

If I choose to work on my skills I must pay for the camps and clinics that I attend to learn to be a better umpire.... You can begin to see that the return on umpiring financially speaking is not large.........especially when you start the season in the hole $400 to $700....

So umpiring to the majority of us is really not about the money. so what is it....The overwhelming response to that question when posed to my acquaintences is that its the love of the game.....

anyway, glad to have you on the blue side...let us know how we can help you along...

I was going to suggest going to one of LL's regional schools but from CO that is a preety good distance.
Staying in the game is an excellent reason to start umpiring and is one of the most common reasons given. A lot are coaches fed up with the politics of the league or dealing with parents of little Johnny that think he is the next Johnny Damon.
Baseball is one of the most expensive sports to get into. Remember when buying gear buy as high quality as possible, it will last you longer before you have to rebuy.
Good luck and feel free to ask questions.