Basic Decorum

Ump the same, regardless of the skill of the players or the score.  DO NOT make up for bad calls.

You can succeed as an umpire by:
• Looking like an umpire. (2 innings)
• Taking charge of the game and hustling around the field (2 more)
• Selling your calls (2 more)…there are only 6 innings!

To repeat...Look the part, hustle, and sell your calls!

Above all, have FUN!  This is the best seat IN THE HOUSE!

Dress for the Part

Look and dress like an umpire. Shine your shoes. No jewelry. Always wear your hat forward.

Blue or black undershirts at the plate. Red on the bases.

Use Pledge or Armor-All on shoes.

Carry a rule book in a concealed location.  This is Little League.  None of us is perfect.  We want to get the rules right more than we want to let bad calls affect the game or our relationship with our managers, coaches, players, and fans.  Again, you WILL make mistakes.  Don't sweat it.  Own up and work it out.  You'll get it right the next time, we promise!  This will also avoid any protests.

Pregame Stuff to Talk About with Other Umpires

Arrive 30 minutes early for each game.  Cheltenham provides changing rooms at both sites.  See the Umpire in Chief for a key if you need one.

Discuss checked swings, hit batters, team strengths and weaknesses, signals, shifting when an umpire goes out on a fly ball, flashing the count to the plate umpire on weird plays, setting and wiping the infield fly, touches and tags at 3rd base, foul lines.

Game Management

Even if you don't share line-ups, have managers shake hands at the start of a game as a marker for when the umpire takes over control of the game.

Move the game along.

Hold to 1 minute between innings. 8 pitches for a new pitcher. 5 pitches once they start.

Two hands up on foul ball. Loud clear call.

Remember: Coaches are responsible for their fans.

Throwing a bat is unsportsmanlike conduct warranting a warning.  See this page for a complete answer.

The rules on leaving early in baseball are a complicated mess.  Make sure the player is CLEARLY leaving early before you call this.  Ray Charles should see the runner off the bag.

The senior umpire could be the Umpire in Charge in a multi-umpire game, not just the umpire behind the plate.

Avoid unbalanced talking to managers or you will be perceived as biased by "grandma".

Base umpires often know when it's dark before the plate umpire does.

Rub up the balls with dirt BEFORE you take the field.  Roll the ball down the line to another umpire to let it pick up dirt for rubbing, if needed during the game.

Rotate balls or turn on lights at the start of an inning to keep things even.

Players who acknowledge instruction from fans (usually parents) are "mingling with spectators."  Warn them and tell kids that they have a "free pass" to ignore their parents!  Don't let fans coach during games.

Basic and Best Practices

Watch the ball. All plays require it.

Stand up tall and straight on calls.

Don't rush your calls.  You might miss a dropped ball and have to change a call.  Take your time.

If you have a partner, never question or counter their call.  If they ask for your help, conference and discuss what happened.

Point fair when fair.  NEVER call fair.

When defending a judgment call (and most are), say "In my judgment, ..."  Judgment calls cannot be protested.

When checking with another umpire, say, "What did you see?"  Then, if you agree, change your call.

Be calm with managers questions.  Don't assume they are attacking you.  Work with them on the rules if you are new.

With multiple umpires, once you go out on a fly ball, stay out.  Other umpires should shift to cover.

Work with your other umpires.  You are the 3rd team on the field.

Calls on the Base Paths

The tie goes to the OUT.  The runner must beat the ball to the bag.

Remember: Strikes and outs take you home.

Try hard to call "delayed obstruction."  You'll have time to correct it, if it really is an immediate obstruction situation.  On delayed obstruction, put your fist out to the right and wait for the play to end.

Calls Behind the Plate

To save your back and knees, only drop down with the pitcher is in the top of their windup.  To avoid disturbing the pitcher, step in behind the catcher during warm-up pitches.  They'll know what you're doing and they'll ignore you.

Make loud, clear calls -- even balls and certainly strikes, but you do not need to call swung-on strikes.  Just signal.

Use fingers for count, not fists or other signals.

Remember: Strikes and outs take you home.

Stand square to the pitcher to maximize the benefit of your protective gear.

Don’t vocalize on a foul tip and know the rule. The base ump can often see this best. Ball must go directly to the catchers mitt first, but need not be caught immediately (but it must be caught to be a foul tip). If not caught, it’s just a foul ball.

Follow passed balls with your chest, pivoting on the opposite foot.  While watching the ball, move to the 1st base line extended if there could be a play at the plate.

Face the fans to brush the plate. You’ll avoid getting beaned by a warm-up pitch.

Get a new ball into the game quickly after a foul ball.

Talk to your base umpire.  Make sure you work out fair/foul calls up the baselines (plate has these calls to the bag and further up the line with runners on base), balls that hit the batter, check swings, touches at 3rd (plate has these), and tags at 3rd (base has these).

On pop-ups to the back stop, parallel the catcher to the wall to watch the catch.

Hustle out from behind the plate on hits.  There are 5 good positions to learn: 1) 1st base line foul territory, 2) notch between 1st baseline and mound, 3) in front of mound, 4) notch between 3rd base line and mound, 5) 3rd base line foul territory. Each has their benefits for certain plays.

Working Your Strike Zone

Behind the plate, align your inside eye (the left eye for right-handed batters) with the upper, inside corner of the strike zone.  Turn your head toward the far corner, then look a the pitcher.  If your eyes move up or left (for righties), it’s a ball.

The ball must pass "through" a majority of the strike zone, meaning it must generally enter the front of the zone and exit the back of the zone, to be a strike, but it MAY ride along an edge with part of the ball.

Don’t call strikes on balls that hit the plate.  Again, strikes must pass “through” the strike zone.

With high score, open up the strike zone.  Coaches expect this.  Keep it even though.  Don't penalize a good pitcher by having a small strike zone just for their team.

If you have to open up the strike zone, do it on the inside/outside edges, not high and low.  Do this for the whole game, if possible, but be consistent.Hold your head still.

Don’t indicate ball placement with hands.

Call the corners.

Tips

Watch fly balls to outfield, then move inside.  There's time.

Leave the field on the winning side.

Don’t make calls on the run. “Stop moving the camera” wherever you are. Make the call and move in to “sell the call.”

To understand the philosophy of the rules, try to see the advantage and disadvantage of a given outcome of an error.  Also, notice that what "Grandma" in the stands sees is what is perceived by the fans.

1/2 a can of Speedy-Dry in a coffee can will dry off a ball when you shake it inside the can.

Rules Stuff to Watch

Know your local rules and the dead ball areas from the ground rules.

Angled parts of backstops (overhead) are immediate dead ball areas.

Illegal pitches count in the pitch count.

You are the judge of "ordinary effort" on infield flies.  Watch for winds.  Outfielders playing short could easily be considered "infielders."

Any player acting in the capacity of a catcher MUST have a mask with throat protector and cup.

Softball players do not have to wear the same headwear.  Variations are common.

Watch this MYTH...The straight lines between the bases are NOT the baselines.  Baselines are defined between the runner the objective base ONCE there is a play on the runner.  The runner then has 3 feet on both sides of THAT line to run before being called out.

Batters feet "out of the box" must be touching the ground to be "out of the box."

Don't judge intent on a bat hitting the ball a 2nd time.  Batter is out.  Dead ball.

Intent doesn't matter on interference.

Be in on all injury timeouts.  Coaches cannot provide direction during the timeout.

If the catcher is not in the box, it is an "illegal pitch."

6.05(k) is not the same as the infield fly rule.

When there is a head-first slide, it is the same as a force-out when determining scoring.  If it happens on the 3rd out, no runs score.

Foul lines are "fair lines" and they are NOT baselines.  See above myth.  In baseball, it is an "illegal pitch."

Learn the rules on overthrows.

Softball Special Items

If the catcher is not in the box, it is "No pitch."

A 12-inch ball is now standard.

Use the same color ball (white or yellow or orange) throughout the game.

There is an extra foot on the FRONT of the batters box.  Good batters will use this.

The 8-ft circle must be marked to apply the rules on the baserunner.  Use a 3-second count on the "return or advance" rule.

Learn the pitching technique.  Feet must be within or partly within the 24 inch width of the plate.

See the "Softball - Pitching by the Rules" video.

Want More?

We can always use more information on these topics: Base and plate mechanics, signals, field calls, teamwork and rotations, rule interpretations, roster management, decorum and on-field communications with coaches/players, etc.  Please send anything you believe adds to the discussion.