The Umpire's List of Lists

There are training manuals, Power Point shows, magazine articles: all kinds of media to let an umpire know where he should stand, what he has to do; how and when to make a call. But as far as I know, there wasn’t a simple list of bullet points an umpire could read before he went to work. The Umpire’s List of Lists is going to solve that problem. Think of it as the Cliff Notes of working baseball. I make it easy for you to review the material before you take the text. Here’s an example. Every mechanics manual will explain that an umpire behind the plate should track the ball from the pitcher’s hand all the way into the catcher’s mitt. Not to do so means the umpire might fall victim to “tunnel vision.” Moreover, failure to track the pitch to its end means the umpire may make up his mind too early. The pitch that looks so good at the cutout suddenly breaks, and the catcher must dive for the ball. That’s covered in the List of Lists this way: (1) Track the pitch. (2) Don’t call the pitch too soon. You want to know the steps involved in calling plays at first base? There’s a list. What goes into an ejection report? I’ve got a list. What are effective techniques for controlling a game? The Umpire’s List of Lists “lists” them. To paraphrase the guy on the TV ad: “You’re gonna like the way you read. I guarantee.”