ne of the old wive’s tales (and husband’s tales as well, I suppose) is that there’s no substitute for experience: You can’t expect to be good until you’ve called a lot of games. There’s just enough truth in that to make it a whopping big lie.

Remember what they say about the major league umpire. He must be perfect the day he walks onto the diamond — and he must improve every year thereafter. Amateur participants and fans also expect that of their umpires. But it’s the fault of us clinicians, not time in grade, when the officials don’t live up to those expectations.

I’m going to give you a "to do" list. Adopt my recommendations (or teach your own candidates what to do), and — as the title says — you (and they) will get better overnight.

Plate

I always begin here since all umpires of amateur games are judged by how well they call balls and strikes. That’s not true in the professional ranks. We’re told that Pam Postema, who rose to AAA baseball, was as good a plate "man" as there was. But she couldn’t nail the calls on the bases, and a major league umpire spends three-fourths of his time in the field.

Not counting eyesight (a given) and guts, calling balls and strikes requires integration of but three skills, each of which can be learned overnight.

Continued...