Keep Your Eye On The Ball, Part One
Youth League Style

For the Rookie in All of Us!

by Richard B. Siegel

Always keep your eye on the ball. Those words are probably the first lesson every aspiring umpire is taught. That statement is so simple it hardly seems worth elaboration. Nevertheless, umpires get themselves into trouble most often by forgetting that simple maxim. Think of the most important calls an umpire must make: safe, out, ball, strike, fair, foul, batter hit by the pitch, runner hit by the batted ball, even a balk. All of those calls are judgments you make on an event that happens where the ball happens to be! When you follow the ball, the ball will lead you to the play. If you look ahead to the play you expect, the ball may never get there, and you'll end up looking at nothing while the real play is materializing behind you. "Looking ahead," or anticipation is only one of the things that causes an umpire to take his eyes off the ball.

Distractions, decoys and mistakes that cause you to take your eye off the ball. The most common reason umpires look away from the ball are distractions. Some of them are: dusting the plate, exchanging baseballs, arguments, and your "pitch count indicator," a.k.a. the clicker. However, player injuries, play anticipation, relaxing and decoys by the defense can make you look away, too.

No play can happen without the ball. The logic of that statement is quite simple indeed. Devote 98% of your effort to following that pill, wherever it goes, and you will avoid 80% percent of the goofs rookie umpires make. Notice I did not say devote 100% of your effort to following the ball. You do need to sneak a momentary peek at some other things once in a while. I'll get to those other things later. But those other things aside, I can't stress it emphatically enough: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL. No matter if it is a dead ball or a live ball, whether the ball has gone out of play or it is in the pitcher's glove, whether the runner is safe or out, even when the pitcher is intentionally walking the batter, whether the ball is a high fly or a slow roller, a bunt or a frozen rope: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BALL. (I'm shouting at you!)

There are two exceptions to this follow the ball axiom: A plate umpire must "give up" the ball on a foul pop that goes somewhat straight up and is likely to be caught by the catcher. The plate umpire should watch the catcher and not the ball on this play. If you tried to follow the ball on the foul pop-up, you and the catcher could end up running into each other while you're both looking up for the ball. Rather, follow the catcher when the ball is popped up foul, and let him lead you to the ball. The other exception belongs to the field umpire, the proper title of what we often call the base umpire. When no runners are on base, as soon as the base umpires sees a ground ball pass the infielders, he can now give up the ball, too. The reason being, in this particular case, nothing can happen without the runner either. The base umpire must now turn to verify that the batter-runner touches first base, and follow his actions until the play is over. If anything is going to happen, the ball will come to the runner.

Many of the missed play horror stories umpires swap are the result of permitting themselves to be distracted from following the ball. Allowing yourself to look elsewhere, away from the ball, exposes you to several potential umpiring misdemeanors. The most obvious is missing a tag of a runner or a base. Not all tags are at the end of routine 6-3 ground outs.

Shutting down. Rookie umpires often think off baseball umpiring as short bursts off attention. Watch the play, make the call, then relax until the next pitch. However, as you develop your officiating skill, you'll begin to understand that baseball umpiring is a continuous effort. Your attention to the action on the field should never stop until the last out of the game. Therefore, until you make it that level to understanding, you're liable to commit the rookie mistake of "shutting down." This mistake occurs when the umpire assumes that no more action is possible and he can relax. The following situation illustrates the mistake of a field umpire "shutting down." Case: After hitting an infield ground ball, the batter-runner beats the throw to first and legally overruns first base. The field umpire calls "safe" and (rookie mistake) immediately turns away and heads for his next station. The plate umpire (rookie mistake) bends down to dust off the plate. Meanwhile, the batter-runner stops his overrun of first about 20 feet up the right field foul line. He turns and starts walking back to the first base bag promptly. However, out of the corner of his eye, he notices that no fielders are anywhere near second base. In a burst of over-aggressiveness, he takes two quick steps toward second base, then reconsiders and continues directly back to first base. The alert first baseman sees those two little steps toward second base and casually tags the batter-runner with the ball before he can return to the bag. By making that twitch toward second base, the batter-runner relinquished his protection to overrun first base. That twitch causes the runner to be deemed off the bag and in jeopardy. The first baseman had alertly and properly tagged him out! Rule 7.08 (j) . The sad thing is that neither umpire was watching to make the call of a brilliant baseball put out.

"Why did you turn away from the play so soon?" I questioned the rookie field umpire I actually saw make this mistake when I was a the defensive coach. "The play was over," he offered.

As long as the ball is live, the play is never really "over." Many of the most clever and exciting plays in the game, like the hidden ball trick or a delayed steal, often happen when you might say the "play is over." Both the plate and field umpire must be constantly alert for those after-the-play plays and still get to their proper stations. The following situation illustrates the mistake of a plate umpire "shutting down." Case: The pitch comes in. "Strike!" You look down at your clicker to make sure you advance the strike wheel and also refresh yourself on the count. All of a sudden you hear screams of "Got him!" "Safe!" "He's out!" "He's in there!" "Good tag!" You glance up to find the origin of the clamor and you see amidst a settling dust cloud, the first baseman holding a gloved baseball on the prone runner's outstretched hand which is firmly on the bag at first base. You start to get that sinking feeling in your gut. You missed it. While you were focused on your clicker, the catcher made a snap throw to first in an attempt to pick off the runner. If you're working alone, you've screwed up big time. However, perhaps you're not alone. You point to your partner, hoping perhaps he caught the play. Unfortunately, he was walking away from first base, on his way to his next field station. Alas, he shrugs his shoulders, and he gestures back with upturned palms. You have both blown it.

Field umpires who choose to assist their partner behind the plate and maintain the count on a clicker run the risk of this same mistake. Later on in this article I will suggest a method you can use to avoid the "clicker fixation" problem.

Deceptions can fool you, too. The next case I'm going to describe is not a distraction, but rather a deception. Some rookie umpires, in their misguided pursuit of proficiency, anticipate the fielder's intention ahead of the fielder's execution. This can burn you in the wink of an eye. The anticipation pitfall usually occurs because unsophisticated fielders in youth league baseball don't always do the logical or expected thing. Remember, you're out there working with 9 to 12 year old players. Expect the unexpected.

Case: A runner is on first base and there are no outs. The batter grounds an easy one directly to the second baseman. You're working alone at the plate. Instinctively, you move out to your left to see the force play at second, the logical and expected play you know the second baseman will attempt. Indeed, the second baseman turns and cocks his arm, priming the throw to the shortstop covering second base. You want to make a good call on the force play at second, so you immediately zoom in and focus your eyes on second base, like the TV cameraman would do if covering the game. Waiting for the runner and the ball to enter your picture from the right side, you brace yourself for the close play about to happen. The runner comes sliding in. But, after a few more milliseconds you're confused. You're wondering, "Why is it taking so long for the ball to get to second? Did the guy drop the ball? Oh, No! Did he change his mind?...?"

So you widen your TV picture and pan to the right to check on the second baseman. Suddenly, you get that queasy feeling. You see the batter-runner jogging down the foul line beyond first base. The first baseman is standing on the bag, ball in hand. All eyes are on you now and a hush settles over the field. Nobody is breathing. Everyone is waiting for your decision. "What's the call at first, Blue?" a solitary voice inquires from the far dugout. You never saw the play at first because you anticipated the expected play at second. Additionally, you let the second baseman decoy you when he cocked his arm. When you keep your eyes on the ball, you cannot be deceived by a decoy.

Stay out of the way. Another calamity your failure to keep your attention on the ball can produce is the worst blunder of all. In all the previous cases I have illustrated, you could fake your way out of the gaffe by pretending you did see the play by authoritatively making a call (with your fingers crossed). However, diverting your eyes from the ball could cause you to physically become a factor in the play. This blunder you cannot escape.

Case: You are the field umpire. There are no runners on base. The batter hits a routine ground ball to the shortstop. You move out from your right field foul line station and set up at the proper perpendicular angle to the line of the throw. The throw from the shortstop, however, is too high and it eludes the first baseman. Because the playing field is fully enclosed by a fence, you know the ball will not go out of play.

The batter-runner decides to attempt an advance to second base on the overthrow. Knowing you can't beat the batter-runner to second, you just turn your body to face second and plant your feet. As you watch the runner head for second base, you wait for the retrieved baseball to come flying into sight from behind you. Instead, you're shocked by a stinging pain in your right shoulder. Involuntary reflexes spin you around to find the origin of the pain. The ball is rolling to the outfield and the first baseman looks very scared. It turns out that your location on the field, perfect to make the call at first, happened to place you directly in line with the spot where the overthrown ball came to rest and second base. The poor first baseman, who chased the ball down, saw your large adult body in his way. Rather than waste time stepping to the side, he tried to throw over you, but didn't quite get it there. To add insult to your injury, the ball is still live! Rule 5.08. As, it rebounded off your throbbing shoulder into right field, the runner headed for third base.

Had you kept your eyes on the ball and not the runner, you could have seen you had become an obstacle in the first baseman's line of sight to second base. A single step could have easily avoided the problem. When your physical presence interferes with the outcome of the game, you're no longer umpiring. You're sabotaging the game.

Plate umpires most commonly cause an unnecessary physical interference on a wild pitch that goes all the way to the back stop. Discipline yourself to clear the catcher and turn to watch the ball rather than focus in on runners stealing bases. Nobody is going to be thrown out on the bases if the catcher doesn't pick up the ball! I've seen several umpires, standing with eyes focused on the bases, force the catcher to scurry around him trying to get off a clear throw. Umpires who don't "stay with the ball" on the wild pitch put the catcher at a disadvantage. Stay out of the way!

Don't let the players become confused. Incidentally, should you be hit with a thrown ball, or a batted ball that qualifies to remain live, in a youth league game, I recommend you help all the players by declaring the ball live. Normally umpires only issue verbal broadcasts of the ball's status when the ball must be ruled dead and we kill the play. Well-trained players always assume the ball is live until they hear the umpire shout, "Dead ball!" But, the mishap of a ball striking an umpire is fortunately rare. Additionally, youth league players and coaches are often confused about which cases make the ball dead, or live. Therefore if you, or your partner, is hit with a thrown or batted ball that, by rule, must remain live, holler, "Live ball! Play! Live ball!" Rules 5.08 & 6.08 (d) Note.

It's not umpire interference. One special warning to umpires when hit by the ball. Don't let coaches hoodwink you into calling umpire interference on yourself. Umpire interference can only apply to two very specific cases. When a plate umpire judges that he has physically impeded the catcher's effort to throw out a runner attempting a stolen base, or, a field umpire stationed behind the pitcher and in front of all other fielders is struck by the batted ball. Those are the only cases where an umpire may call umpire interference on himself. Rules 5.09 (b), 6.09 (b). By the way, in youth league baseball, a field umpire should never station himself in the field in front of any infielders.

Dust the plate when the ball is dead. The traditional method of dusting the plate requires the umpire to bend over the plate with his rear end facing the mound. The traditional reason given for this is "respect for the crowd." Obviously, you are completely unable to see the field and make any kind of call while in this compromising position. If you are alone, never dust off the plate when the ball is live. Personally, I dust off the plate at the beginning of each half inning and inform the pitchers to ask me to dust it off whenever they can't see it. Unless a runner comes along and buries the plate in dirt, I seldom clean it on my own initiative. However, some umpires like a neat and tidy plate and dust it often. There's nothing wrong with this. Just don't let your tidiness distract you into missing a big play.

The ball is dead so often, you will have plenty of opportunities to clean the plate without worrying that a runner may get picked off out of your view. After every foul ball, which is also a dead ball, I'll glance at the plate to see if it needs a whisking. If the defense attempts a play on a runner while you're dusting, it's quite easy to explain that the ball is dead and the play is null. Nonetheless, eventually there will be a wild pitch followed by a big sliding attempted steal of home. The catcher flips the ball to the pitcher covering home plate. The runner is safe or out, it doesn't matter, but the ball is still live! After the dust settles, the batter steps back into the box, but there's no home plate in sight. The loose dirt has totally obscured it. This is where I whisper my stock joke to the catcher, "Hey! Where's the plate? He must have really stolen home plate!" (Eleven year old catchers think that's pretty funny.)

If there are still runners on base, this is where you are forced to call time. You can't allow play to continue without a visible home plate. Make sure there is no potential for a play at that moment, call time and get out your broom.

There may come a time, if you're that kind of umpire, where your fixation to keep the dirt off home plate may get the best of you. You'll bend over to dust the plate forgetting that the ball is live and a play is made. If this occurs, realize that your act of cleaning the plate does not automatically create a "time out." If a runner comes home, knocks you down and scores safely, it counts! If a play is made at another base, good luck.

Assign a coach on each team to be in charge of balls that go out of play. Most youth league games are be played with only two or three baseballs. If the field is near thick woods or Mr. Smith's fenced-in backyard, you're going to need a few more. As balls are fouled out of play, or require cleaning because of mud, a plate umpire will continually be exchanging and accepting baseballs from somebody from off the field. Small children get a thrill chasing down the fouls, and a they get big kick returning them to Mr. Umpire. Most people can't begin to fathom the multitude of things an umpire must pay attention to on the field. Without regard for the current status of the ball, live or dead, they bring the ball back, stand near the screen or by the dugout and holler at you to come and take the retrieved baseball. Indeed, coaches have done this, too!

Even as the pitcher is in his wind-up, or after the ball was hit with runners advancing, I've heard, "Hey Ump, UMP! Here's that other foul ball! Want it?!" Sometimes the little kids, indifferent to the game, just come over and throw it at you without warning. (What the heck? You are wearing padding!) Initially, you appreciate the efforts of the people who return the baseball and you don't want to appear ungrateful. However, if the ball is live, ignore them. Act deaf. Don't even hold up an arm to them in a polite gesture to suggest "wait a moment." I've done that and the pitcher thought I was calling a strike.

Before each game, ask an assistant coach on each side to be in charge of any fouls that go out on his side. Tell him to take it away from any person who has chased it down and hold it until an appropriate break in the action or time-out. Then he should return it to you personally. You will have no problem getting a willing coach. They're always eager to comply as they hope their cooperation will ingratiate them with you and maybe cause you to favor their team in a close call. Having a coach return the ball limits these kinds of distractions. After all, a coach ought to know when the umpire can look away from the game. You hope. Because of the natural human tendency to show gratitude, if you immediately accommodate those who unknowingly attempt to distract you with retrieved baseballs, whenever they appear, you're setting yourself up to miss a play or a pitch.

Follow the ball, not the logical play. Keeping your eyes on the ball is a hard habit to learn. However, anticipating the play is the hardest habit to break! Nobody deliberately gets into umpiring unless he is a fan of the game. I have a friend who was born and raised in an Eastern-European country. When he found out I was a baseball umpire, he said to me, "Baseball is a strange game to me. I've watched it played many times in the twenty-six years I am in this country. But all I know about the game is one guy throws the ball and the other guy kicks it!" No matter how much training he took, I don't think my friend could ever become a successful baseball umpire. The game has to be part of your childhood. There has to be an underlying subliminal knowledge of the basic rules and strategies to understand the intentions of the players and appreciate their efforts.

During all the years you spend as a spectator, you develop the instinctive ability to anticipate the fielders' actions. Seeing a fielder do what you predicted he would do is part of the your enjoyment and appreciation of the game. When you become "Blue" you have to put that inclination aside. Watch the players as they play the ball. Follow the ball, not the logical play. Remember, fielders in youth league baseball don't always do the logical or expected thing.

The anticipation trap can catch you when you least expect it. As I illustrated above, the instinct to anticipate the play can cause you to divert your attention from the ball. That will often burn you. You might get caught anticipating that a pitch that looks perfect halfway to the plate, is going to be a strike. You start to turn to make your strike gesture only to see the ball run out of gas 43 feet from the mound and bounce over the plate. When you have to call the pitch a "ball," everyone will know you anticipated it because you started to show your strike "body-language" they know so well. Learn to hear the thump of the ball into the catcher's mitt before you decide the pitch.

Decoy plays by the defense can really make you look foolish when they decoy you too. I was burned in one of my first games as the field umpire by a steal at second base. There were runners at the corners (first and third). The runner at first legally broke for second base as the pitch crossed home plate. I got into the proper position to make the call as soon as I saw the catcher jumping up in the familiar manner to make a throw to second. As I saw the ball leave his fingertips, I turned and focused in on the second baseman covering.

No ball ever arrived. The catcher made a beautiful throw...right back to the pitcher who spun around and threw a bullet (so I was told) to third base. The runner there was tagged out standing three feet off the bag. A beautiful play and an embarrassed umpire. Fortunately for me, the plate umpire made the call, but I had the better angle and should have been there.

These kinds of things will happen to every umpire sooner or later. Even though it is humiliating at the time, these kinds of lessons serve as dramatic reminders of the proper techniques we must never forget. Now, on similar plays, I follow the ball until there is no longer any possibility the pitcher, or any other fielder, will take the throw. Only then will I re-focus on the glove and wait for the ball to arrive at second base. Lucky for me, too. If I hadn't learned to watch the ball, that humiliating day, I would have been hit in the back by several catchers' throws. I was able to get out of the way and not interfere with the play.

Other potential events where the anticipation trap gives a chance to blow a call is on tag plays. This could happen on either tags of bases or tags of players. Suffice it to say, if you think about the outcome of the tag before you make the final judgment call of the play, it will influence your thinking about the play and possibly cause you to make the wrong call. What is worse, you will know you are making the wrong call as you are doing it! That sort of thing just eats at you for the rest of the day!

Case: A fast runner hits a slow roller up the third base line. You anticipate that the third baseman doesn't have a prayer of making the play. "He's going to be safe," you are thinking. But the third baseman charges nicely and barehands the ball. He makes a running throw. But you're already "mentally" getting your arms set for the "safe" mechanic. In your mind, you have already projected the timing of the play...it's going to be safe! The first baseman stretches to put as much distance as he can between his mitt and his left foot that is touching the bag. The runner strains to beat it out and takes one last long stride. The ball arrives in the first baseman's outstretched mitt. Thud! Then the runner's foot lands on the base. "Safe!" calls the umpire. "What the ...!?" howls the defensive coach. You saw it. He was out! But the word "safe" just came out of your mouth even though you knew the guy was out. How did you "kick" such a great play? The anticipation trap! By thinking "safe" the word was already in that on-deck circle in your brain, ready to jump out. You'll want to change your call, apologize and dig a hole and jump in it. But you can't, your reputation will take a worse shot than the one you've just given to yourself.

Never look at your pitch count indicator. The pitch count indicator is a wonderful invention that helps you reliably keep track of the number of outs and the ball-strike count. The clicker can also be your worst distraction in your efforts to keep your eye on the ball. The trick is to not look at the clicker, but to glance at it the way you peek at your speedometer when you are driving. When you're on the highway, if you stare at the speedometer on your dashboard you'll soon meet with disaster. The analogy is quite appropriate. When the ball is live, if you stare at the clicker, you'll also meet with disaster. Steal a little peek at it when you must, but then return your eyes to the ball at once.

You never need to look at the clicker while you are resetting it. Develop the ability to reset it back to 0-0 without looking at it. Here's how. Glance at it to get the count. On an typical indicator that shows ball-4 and strike-3, add the number of clicks to the displayed strike count to total four, then (without looking) advance it those additional clicks. Add the number of clicks to the ball count showing to total five, then advance that wheel similarly. Example: with a 3-1 count showing, click the ball wheel two times, and click the strike wheel 3 times. And you can do that without looking at it! If you want to be sure, steal another quick glance to be sure it really is 0-0.

Finally, there is a way you can glance at it without taking your eyes off the ball. Instead of looking down at the clicker, lift the clicker up to your eye level with your outstretched left arm. Hold the clicker right in your field of vision. This way you can read it or reset it without diverting your eyes from the ball hardly at all.

In Part Two of "Keep your Eye on the Ball," I will discuss some of the cases where the youth baseball umpire must look away from the ball. I also will mention the bad habits of the typical youth league manager that can easily distract your attention, and suggest how one can avoid letting him spoil your game.