President's Message

If you hadn’t noticed, I kind of like the game of baseball. I like watching it, I like rooting for the Nats, and I like umpiring. Now that it’s summer, I also like watching our umpires do their thing. From time to time, you’ll see me at Cap One Field or Patriot Park or some other place just to watch the umpires work. That’s one of the benefits of being a retired bachelor.

I love working with guys that want to get better. As I write this message, one of our best umpires is out working a three-man game for free so that his partners can get better at three-man. Just a few days ago, I worked with one of our up and coming umpires who asked me how to get opportunities to do three-man.

So, let’s talk about that. We talk a lot about the need to get better, but what should you do? What should YOUR action plan be?

First, let’s acknowledge a few things. Not everyone is in the same place in their journey to improve and not everyone has the same destination. But everyone can follow a few simple steps to get their game to be its best:

• Find out if going to camp is for you.*
• Ask for an evaluation. Ask questions.
• Help others!

Now, let’s dive into each one of these areas.

First, find out if going to a camp is right for you. MAC is sponsoring both a two-man and a three-man camp next month. Going to a camp is a great way to improve your skills and get in front of the assignors, but it is a commitment! Camps also have fees associated with them. You have to decide for yourself whether or not you can afford to invest that time into your craft.

Some camps require approval from MAC. But there is another element to that. Which camp is right for you? Should you focus on two-man? Should you do the three-man camp? Are you ready for a camp at all?

As I’ve already said, going to a camp is not for everyone and a bit of thought is necessary to determine which camp is best for you. How do you decide?

The easiest answer is to reach out to someone on the assigning staff and talk to them directly. If you need to, you can reach out to either me, Paul Porto, or Mike Chmar for guidance. But please don’t make the mistake of thinking that going to a camp is a shortcut to a better schedule. Going to camp is step one – step two is applying what you have learned in camp to the baseball field.

Next, be very pro-active about getting and listening to feedback from senior partners. Ask lots of questions. Tell your partners what you are working on, what your goals are, and ask them to help. Remember that feedback is a tool. Apply what you have learned and ask other umpires for their feedback. If you get feedback that appears to be contradictory, reach out and ask questions! That’s what our training team is for. Ask Paul, ask Mike, ask me. We can steer you in the right direction.

For me, I don’t work that much in the summer and I’m happy to stop by your game (as long as it’s not too far away) and give you whatever feedback I have. These days, many of our games have video. If you do a game with video, and you have a question about a play, reach out! We may be able to find it and provide feedback on that play. A lot of times the video isn’t sharp enough to say whether or not you got a call right, but it’s usually good enough to tell you if you were in the right spot or not.

Finally – and this is a big one. When you work with junior partners, help them with their game management, rules knowledge and mechanics skills. It’s one of the best ways to sharpen your own focus. Look for things your partners do well and could improve upon. Try and incorporate those things into your game. Helping your partners comes naturally to most umpires. Most of our umpires do it simply because it’s the right thing to do. I’m here to tell you; however, that it also makes you a better umpire, a better leader, and I can assure you that people will notice it.

Have a great summer! Remember to stay hydrated and keep looking out for your partners. That’s it for me. Until next month,

Dave

* Visit the MAC Umpires website for more information on the two and three-umpire clinics offered next month. Also, visit the United Umpires website for the clinics they are offering this summer.