s the baseball off-season settles in (and the football off season, too, for that matter), many of us find that we must fight the urge to hibernate, become couch potatoes, gain weight, and slip out of shape. Most officials with five years or more experience now realize that staying fit is easier than getting fit. When done properly, staying fit can be easy.

"Getting" and "keeping" fit are relatively new goals for the umpiring activity. It wasn’t that long ago that many, if not most, professional umpires, football referees, and basketball referees were overweight, slow, and, according to physical therapists, at high risk of injury, or worse. We all remember the untimely death of John McSherry, felled at home plate by a massive heart attack.

Technically, one can be overweight and fit though most often that isn’t the case. We can still see referees with stomachs hanging over their belts breathing heavily, trying to keep up with wide receivers. Some of the heavier basketball ref’s no longer can transition from trail to lead before the basket is made.

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