Umpiring in the Big Leagues

Today, I went to Detroit to watch the Tiger beat the Royals 7-2 (not that it mattered really since the Indians won to clinch the Central Division). It was a good game where the Tigers came out and scored 4 runs in the first inning and Verlander took it from there. Of course as the game went on, I watched the umpires and thought how cool it would be to umpire Major League Baseball. The umpires did a great job from what my amateur eyes could see (plus we were sitting really high and down the right feel line which made it even harder to judge). I just kept thinking about how it would be to make a career of umpiring baseball. You see umpires like Froemming, Reilly, McClelland, West, and Crawford have successful, prosperous careers as "playground monitors for multimillion dollar babies". It is hard work as we all know but still, 7 months of traveling around the country watching the best baseball teams and players in the world play everyday would not be a bad job. I have thought about going to umpire school often but the process and low probability of even getting a placement have discouraged me from going to Florida. It has remained a possibility just in case the professional life does not turn out how I think it will.

Anyway, I think amateur umpires, from the youth leagues up through the college level, can learn a lot from professional umpires. By watching professional umpires, I have learned different techniques and styles. I have also learned how they handle themselves during the course of a game.

As the post-season approaches, I encourage you to watch the playoff games on television (or in person which would be really cool), and just watch the different styles of working home plate. You might find something you can use when you umpire in your leagues.