I recently finished an excellent book by Bruce Weber.  It was about umpires.  The name of the book is As They See 'Em; A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires.  "Oh no, not umpires again," I can just hear you saying. Well, that is what Weber says too.  His book deals with all that goes into preparing and being a professional umpire.  It applies to amateur umpires as well.

One of the things Weber points out is that umpires are people too.  They have families, go to the same schools, do the same things regular people do.  That is why it is very hurtful to have people treat umpires in a disparaging way.  "Kill the Ump" may be a very common phrase that is heard at nearly every game played, however, Weber says that if you ever thought about it you wouldn't say things like that to your fellow human beings.

The book starts out with Weber attending the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring in Kissimmee, Florida.  The first thing he covers is how to take your mask off without upsetting your hat.  He goes on to explain how they set up to call balls and strikes, positioning for different calls and what they are supposed to do in an argument.  He chronicles how an umpire, through hard work and endless minor league travel, would make it to the big leagues. 

The book includes many of his stories of the umpires' side of things.  What happened in the George Brett pine-tar bat incident?  How are umpires treated in the majors?  Are the umpires an integral part of the game?  Does the context of the game determine a call? 

What about that thing called a "tie goes to the runner."  Pretty much bull according to the umpires Weber interviewed.  "If it's a whacker, you didn't miss it," says a veteran big league umpire Ted Barrett. 

Weber interviewed many present and retired umpires and covers some of the controversial calls that have happened over the years.  He is sympathetic to the umpires, but is honest in his reporting and admitting when incorrect calls have been made. Tim McClelland told Weber that "No umpire makes a bad call.  He might make an incorrect call.  He wasn't trying to get the call wrong, he just happened to be incorrect." 

One of the interesting stories of the book was what Don Denkinger, umpire in the seventh game of the 1991 World Series, said to Gene Larkin before he knocked in the winning run for the Twins in their 1-0 win over St. Louis to win their second World Championship. 

If you want to understand where an umpire is coming from and what is going on in an umpire's head this is a must read.  It is time we started to treat umpires with the same respect we want and work to make the game better for everyone, players, fans, umpires, and management. 

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