NCAA baseball is underway, and many other leagues are in preseason tryouts, practices, and scrimmages. There are already lots of plays and calls popping up on social media. The two channels I really enjoy are Umpire Classroom, run by MAC umpire Patrick Faerber in Georgia, and Umpire Classroom, run by MAC umpire Patrick Faerber in Georgia. Here’s his YouTube Channel – Umpire Classroom.
The other is Close Call Sports, run by Lindsay Imber out of California. You can find her at the CloseCallSports YouTube Channel. Both of these channels are exceptional in that the hosts always display and cite the specific rules that apply to the play they are discussing. Close Call Sports has been around for several years now, and it has hundreds of videos in its archives.
Association president Dave Maher has his monthly address for you and is now off preparing some chicken wings or chili to recover, I’m sure. Dave has assembled another important assortment of updates, news and information keeping you connected to the association and looking ahead to the start of the high school baseball season here in the DC region. Get Dave’s President Message here!
Anthony Mayer with our Mechanics group has returned with another great piece. This month, Anthony talks with us about the importance of an umpire knowing their responsibilities. What is the order of operations when a ball is put into play? I remember my rookie year, I got caught ball-watching by my partner. In post-game, he taught me a mnemonic, “The ball is in play, the umpires have someplace to be.” Ever since that day, every time a ball comes off a bat that thought goes through my mind every time. Focus on fundamentals with Anthony here.
Rick McIntosh has a very important “spot-start” here in the BCN news room this month. For several years, Rick has volunteered to help people here in the local community with the preparation of their tax returns. There have been some changes to the tax code that will be of interest to you as an amateur sports official and Rick reviews those here. If you have additional questions about these changes and their potential impact to you and your finances, you are encouraged to contact a CPA or certified tax professional.
BCN Rookie and Umpire Feature Writer Collin Agee has been hard at work this past month getting our little publication here networked with West Point, his alma mater. West Point has a dynamic and robust alumni association and we are pleased to bring you a link to The Army Baseball Newsletter which is a publication of The Army Baseball Family. Collin is featured in this edition in an article highlighting former West Point players who became umpires after their playing days ended. The entire newsletter is available and if you’d like to skip ahead to Collin’s feature, you can find him on page 6. Please visit Collin’s corner of BCN and get The Army Baseball Newsletter here.
Our rule sets often refer to “points of emphasis”. Our rules interpretation group has made it an association POE this year that rules study, the acquisition of rules knowledge, nuance and granularity as well as the application of the rules is an ongoing endeavor for any umpire in pursuit of excellence. We should not simply open our rulebooks only during pre-season rules exam prep. (I’m told keeping a rulebook in one’s bathroom provides an excellent opportunity for moments of rule study and rule rumination.) Several excellent rule quizzes have already been sent out via email and I highly recommend you participate. Each one takes about 3 or 4 minutes and upon completion, you get all of the answers with citations and in some cases some really expert analysis of the answers from the association’s best umpires. This month BCN submission from our rules committee recaps all of the year’s weekly quizzes to date. Don’t miss another comprehensive rules study opportunity here.
The start of a new season is always filled with a lot of questions about new rules, new procedures, etc…for you gear hounds out there, maybe there’s a new piece of equipment you are anxious to get your hands on? (I am hearing skull caps will be all the rage on plate umpires across our ranks this year…) At the recent Zoom membership meeting, there were lots of questions regarding last year’s changes to the association’s uniform policies. As a reference, the association’s full uniform policy is available in the BCN archives. You can find it in our main menu, hover your cursor at the navy blue banner at the top under “Umpire Resources” and click “Uniform Policy”. Ron Adamczyk with the association’s uniform committee has also dropped in this month with a summary of the uniform policy, highlighting the important parts of the policy, including which of the black shirts will be our default shirt for high school baseball in 2027. Check out Ron’s summary here.
Closing out the month is The Gary Reals Profile of our brother Josh Cooper. Gary gives us his usual up close perspective on a rising star in the association. Josh is a guy whom if I saw walking down the street, I would instantly wonder if he was an umpire. Find out why Coop doesn’t just look the part; he has quickly become a reliable and hardworking administrative asset to this brotherhood, serving on our board and jumping right in to help with some heavy lifting. All while continuing to work on his craft and grow within it. Join Gary and Josh for their conversation, and for you Flat Top fans, you can get a glimpse of our guy on board “THE Boat” here.
In a nod to David Letterman, I am all out of notecards and pencils to throw at the screen to the sounds of breaking glass thus signifying we are all out of time for this month. On behalf of all of us here on staff at BCN, we wish you an excellent start to the 2026 baseball season across Maryland, DC and Virginia!
Excelsior,
~Robert Fobian
Editor, Blue Crew News
– Doug Harvey, MLB Umpire 1962 – 1992, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of 2010