The More Things Change

compiled by Joel Balberman

Their instructor, who is pictured on the cover, one O.K. Blauvelt, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is presumably also the author of the booklet. He wrote in a flowery style, and went to great lengths to set a professional standard for his members. The annual membership fee was listed at $5 on the enclosed application form. The association had a senior division and a junior division for umpires under the age of 18. Applicants for senior membership had to submit the names of three managers as a reference to the umpire's qualifications and acceptability. A member could order a membership pin for $2 postpaid, and sleeve patches for 50 cents. Injury insurance and death benefit of $1 000 was available to members.

The centre page of the booklet has a double page ad from the Umpire Equipment Co. of Wichita, Kansas. Here are some prices:

• Ball bags - $2, Official Umpire Shirts - $5.75, Caps (plate or base) - $3.15,
• Plate Shoes - $20.95, Inside Protector - $23.95, Outside Body Protector - $15.95
• Leg Guards - $16.35 and $9.45, Indicators (Stainless Steel) - $1.25,
• Masks - Elston Howard Professional wire mask - $12.45 or Dick Bertell Black Magnesium frame - $11.45
• Add 10% to prices to cover mailing cost.

• "All the fundamentals of umpiring cannot be discussed and understood in a short time, but they can be mastered if you stay with them until they are firmly set in your mind."

• "Many players have a habit of trying to hold the umpires responsible for their mistakes, and umpires should guard against these methods of operation. Never, by virtue of your method of operation, play into the hands of players or managers who do not want to shoulder their full responsibility."

• "Any misuse of authority by umpires becomes a liablity in the form of a deep, dark sin. Every umpire should erase the practice from his operating methods."

• "Getting upset and disturbed because of some expression by a fan or player, and then showing a weakness by trying to blast the tormentor in a loud voice within hearing distance of the fans, is a bad habit and should be discarded. The practice will pay no worthy dividend to umpires. Where such expressions warrant an answer, it should be handled in a business-like manner."

• "Umpires are not made overnight, as some seem to think. They are men who have picked a tough profession to follow and have prepared and dedicated themselves to the task; this is the man in blue. The good umpire was not made overnight, for it takes time and training, along with actual experience, to produce the finished product."

• "No one reaches any degree of success by contemplating failure. Umpires who take on and fully handle their responsibilities as umpires, will handle every situation as men of strength and great courage."

• "When we as umpires are praised for our work it should make us feel good, in fact so good that we normally would want to so work that the fans, players and managers would keep on praising our work in a sincere manner."

• "The fellow who dedicates himslef to the task of attaining success, and puts in his best efforts, will be successful, while the fellow who is satisfied to just get by on poorly worked games is a failure in every sense of the word."

• "In our opinion there will never be a time when umpires will need to stop reading the rule book."
• "It is one thing to understand a rule and another to understand the proper application of it."

• "Putting players out of the game should not be the aim of umpires, on the contrary, they should endeavor to keep them in the game so long as their actions are in keeping with the playing rules and good sportsmanship."

• "Overthrows seem to play a prominent part in every sandlot baseball game, and most always a question is raised as to the runner's right to advance."

• "Umpires find many types of delivery by pitchers. Some do a dance on the mound involving their arms and feet, and the actions they go through do not make the umpire's job any easier."

• "Remember the saying: A wise man is like a straight pin; his head heeps him from going too far."

• "Many are the experiences of umpires. They meet and have to deal with all kinds of people and a large number of them are inclined to disagree with decisions made by them. These conditions make the job of the umpire more important. In this modern day of ours, he (the umpire) must be something of a mechanical brain."

• "The base umpire is generally regarded as second in importance when compared with the ball and strike umpire, but make no mistake, the base umpire is of vast importance to the game and the plate man."

• "There are many of you who do not have the desire or ambition. The ones who have such an ambition will find that the yardstick of success is to work each game to the pinnacle of perfection. When you have accomplished that, that is when the joy of the game comes to you."

• "After playing baseball for many years, we were of the opinion that we knew and understood the playing rules fairly well. However, upon taking up umpiring, we soon learned the hard way that we were mistaken."

  Maybe there is nothing new under the sun.

  
  Joel Balberman lives in Brantford, Ontario. For more information on him [Click Here].

  
  

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