BAS EBALL UMPIRE’S ASSOCIATION Volume 2, Issue 3 Issue Volume2,

Summer2010

Hey Blue! Online

Calendar ofEvents Calendar Way upNorth….. BC WorldUmpire Championships to Nov. Nov. 4 Sept. 1 Aug. 26 Aug. 26 Aug. 26 Aug. 19 Aug. 19 Aug. 18 Aug. 11 Aug. 12 Aug. 12 Aug. 12 Aug. 5 Aug. 5 July30 July30 July29 July29 nineparticipants attended. dinatedJim by Sagert, and heldwas in Quesnel, coor- A multi Greetings from thenorth. shortly afterthat time to 2004. Hunter decided SummerOlympics in tive the at Athens XXVIII the Canadian representa- competition. Hunterwas strangerto International ball, butshe is no assignmenttional inbase- is Hunter’s firstInterna- zuela August13 Championships inVene- Women’s World Canadasent atthe Baseball to repre- Hunter was selected by umpire Kelly ------9 9 7 ------Aug. 2 Aug. 1 Aug. 2 Aug. 2 6 nightumpire clinic

30 30 30 23 23 22 16 15 15 15

- 20. This Baseball Canada Convention Grand Forks International Baseball Canada Sr.’s Baseball Canada Girls Bantams Baseball Canada Bantams Baseball Canada Jr.’s Baseball Canada Midgets Baseball Canada Peewee West Baseball Canada Cup PeeweeAA Westerns AABantam Westerns Midget AA Westerns AAABantam Provincials PeeweeAAA Provincials Sr. Men's Provincials Premier Provincials Midget AA Provincials Midget AAA Provincials

sociation for her work with George Youth Baseball As- Diane Lowery theof Prince dees, with greatthanks to strong turnout of 21 atten- In Prince George, hadwe a since. hard hergame at ever and hasbeen working uptake baseball umpiring By Lance Brommeland Brommeland Lance By

Kelly working the plate atthe recent 4 Clinic Level in

–

Area Director Northern BC. Northern Director Area special welcometo senior derway. We'd liketo givea ond clinic. the administration of the lenge. well inher newest chal- BCBUAThe wishes Kelly Richmond Grand Forks Halifax, NS Richmond, BC Vaughan, ON Trois London, ON Brandon, MB Kindersley, SK Newton Newton Newton Cloverdale Kamloops Trail NatBailey, Vancouver Prince George Kamloops

small clinic is well un-

Planning forsec- a

- Rivieres, PQ

(Continued on page

4 )

AREA SPOTLIGHT Area 6 -Thompson Okanagan – Director Kris Hartley

It is a busy season in Area 6 for umpiring this sea- Those three umpires and Steve Boutang umpired son with some great opportunities for some of the CCBC College National Championship hosted our umpires. by Thompson Rivers University. It was a good From a Registration point of view, Area 6 has in- weekend overall with the host committee & creased their registration this year with the re- League Representative very happy with the um- cruitment of younger Peewee aged umpires….We piring. Thompson Rivers University was selected are looking for some more Adult umpires to be the host of this National Championship for (parents) in the area as that portion of our regis- the next two years so there should be more op- tration has dwindled due to retirements, reloca- portunities for BCBUA members to work this tion or work commitments. event! In April, Kamloops hosted the BC version of the Looking toward to the rest of summer, Kamloops National Umpire Clinic which was attended by has a few more baseball events to host. Kam- our Province’s National Members and a few se- loops is hosting 3 Provincial Championships in July and August. The Junior Provincials, Midget lected Level 3 umpires who are trying to enter th nd into the National Program. AAA is July 30 – August 2 and Peewee AAA is August 5th – 8th. In May, Kamloops hosted two Golden Baseball Exhibition games between the and On the administration side of things (besides be- the Defending League Champs, the Calgary Vi- ing the Area Representative), I am the allocator of pers. The is a Independ- umpires for Bantam AAA, Midget AAA, Sr. Men's, ent Professional league with teams out of the and College (Thompson Rivers University) in Kam- United States and Mexico - except for three Cana- loops. As well, this season, I took over from Rich- dian Teams (Calgary, and Victoria). 3 ard Christie as the Umpire Allocator for the only BCBUA umpires were asked to umpire the 2 Canadian team in the West Coast Baseball games. Chris Connelly, Kris Hartley, and Josh Ken- League, the . nelly. Hopefully, Kamloops will get a franchise in (Editors note – Kris is a level 5 Western Hockey the next couple of years. League official since 2002 and holds Baseball Can- ada level 4 status).

Youth Umpire on CTV!

Abbotsford umpire Jordan Bjornsson was recently featured on a segment of the CTV sports program “Perry’s Prospects”. Check out the BCBUA webpage for the link to the video. Everyone at the BCBUA is proud that we have a celebrity amongst us at just 12 years of age!

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 2 Tip of the Month by Steve Boutang

Calling balls and strikes is simple. in Referee Magazine…. from game to game is related to Any trained monkey can eventually the ability to concentrate on the Consistency is the foundation of an do this. What separates the good task at hand. This can be difficult official’s credibility. But because umpires from the average umpires for officials who are working beer officials see the game differently is when you can develop a solid league baseball, blow out games, from coaches or spectators, our strike zone that is consistent or for those who run to the park definition of consistency differs as through the course of the game and get changed in the parking lot well. Consistency is virtually im- from the first pitch until the final as they run to the field. But to possible to measure. Statistics out. And I’m talking about being work at a high level, concentration don’t always tell the truth either. consistently competent. It is all skills are a must. Stats might be useful to an evalua- fine and well to be consistent, but tor but they are not indicative of It is easier for an umpire to develop if you are calling pitches strikes an official or a crew’s level of con- consistency when umpiring at the that are in a batter’s eyes all the sistency. same level game in and game out. time, you are not competent. You have to learn to be good at both. To be effective, an official must be Officials working at amateur levels capable of something called com- often find themselves jumping The following tips on Consistency petent consistency. Consistency include exerts from a recent article (Continued on page 7)

National Umpires Announced:

The BCBUA supervisory team of Canada Cup: Kris Hartley and Don sor at Canada Cup Richard Christie, Troy Carmont, Violette Rob Allan – assistant supervisor at and Steve Boutang, in consultation Junior: Mark Bodwell Midget with President John Berry, are pleased to announce the following Senior: Fabian Poulin Don Hass – assistant supervisor at Bantam Girls selections to Baseball Canada The BCBUA would also like to con- Championships this summer. We gratulate 4 of our members who Richard Christie – Supervisor for are sure that they will all represent were asked to Supervise. In order Bantam Girls. us with distinction and honour. to Supervise at a National Champi- The 11 umpires and 4 supervisors onship an individual must hold a Bantam Girls: Linda Sam, Rhonda represent the highest number of Caravan Senior Course Conductor Pauls, and Lisa Brown-Rooke umpires that BC has ever sent to standing at minimum and have Peewees: Jim Train and Andre Jean National championships. Congratu- umpired many National champion- lations again to those selected. Bantam: Jeremy Bresler ships at the highest levels. Midget: Matt Lowndes Troy Carmont – assistant supervi-

Say what???

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base. ~Dave Barry

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 3 (Continued from page 1) significant move of portions of the allowed us to take pictures and left field and centre field fence, to video that will help in preparations umpire Tyler Morrison, who has make the venue fully-capable of the for the 2011 WBC, introduced us to moved from the Lower Mainland to international level of play, and that Paul Beeston, Alex Anthopoulos, "God's Country". will mean a relocation of the fabu- Tony LaCava and Michael Volpatti, lous electronic scoreboard in place and hosted us for two Jays wins We are looking forward to the at Citizen Field. over the Texas Rangers. I was also Midget AA provincials at Prince able to leave with a bat auto- George Citizen Field and Rotary I recently had the pleasure graphed by Vernon Wells, and man- Field in Prince George, July 29 to of making a trip to Toronto in mid- aged to fit in a trip to the Hockey August 2. We already have a May to meet with the Toronto Blue Hall of Fame. After those meetings, strong local crew in place with Terry Jays as part of a contingent that is in it is quite clear the Blue Jays organi- Shaw, Andre Jean, Tyler Morrison, discussions with the Jays on many zation is in tremendous hands and Rainer Lippmann and myself com- areas of furthering the relationship we may well see a return to glory mitted to working the tournament. between the MLB team and WBC, sooner rather than later. which is now the highest-level ama- The planning for umpires and offi- teur baseball tournament in Can- Thanks, and the best to all this sea- cials for the 2011 Enbridge World ada. It was a treat for me in that I son. Baseball Challenge next July is well was able to step onto an MLB field under way, working with John, Rich- Check out the website for continu- before even seeing my first live MLB ard, Steve and Troy on a memoran- ing information about the World game, and we were treated so well dum of understanding between Baseball Challenge at: http:// by Steve Brooks of the Blue Jays, WBC and the BCBUA. Among the www.ballcharts.com/worldbaseball who toured us through the facility, major projects on the table are a

BCBUA MEMBERSHIP RISES:

BCBUA Secretary George tion of new members from asso- Area Reps are doing to promote Smith reports that 2010 mem- ciations who had previously not umpiring in this province. bership is up nearly 25% from utilized BCBUA for their educa- President John Berry says he last year. Preliminary numbers tion and clinics. Further, the doesn’t recall seeing numbers indicate that BCBUA has 1478 associations that have always this high, which is very encour- members this year, an increase used BCBUA for our services aging given the financial bur- over the 1180 reported in 2009. had a small increase in most dens associations have taken on There are significant reasons this cases. This can be attributed to with the reduction of Gaming is the case, including the addi- good work that local UIC’s and funds.

Berry Re-elected

BCBUA President John Berry was re-elected to the post of President of Baseball BC at their recent Annual General Meeting. Berry, in his 4th term as BCBUA President, leads the board made up of member organi- zations (Sr Men, Jr Men, BC Minor, Babe Ruth, Little League, and BCBUA).

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 4 Junior Premier Provincials 2010 Pictures by Rob Allan

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 5 All Female Umpire Crew:

A historic night took place recently acting as the plate umpire. While “It was neat. I was proud of us,” at Kelowna’s Elks Stadium when both umpires have worked in the added Doherty. the ’s Kelowna league previously, it was the first Hunter is a well recognized umpire Falcons defeated the Cowlitz Black time that they had worked to- in the Interior, having recently Bears 11-7. There was little signifi- gether. It was a historic moment been selected to umpire at the cance to the baseball game itself, from the league’s standpoint, Women’s World Championships but for 2 ladies, it was a memora- which has been in operation for 6 this summer. Doherty, a 2009 at- ble evening. Kelowna umpires years. tendee of the Jim Evans Academy Kelly Hunter and Siobhan Doherty “I was nervous until the 6th in- of Umpiring, recently moved in made up the league’s first ever all- ning” said Hunter. from Calgary. Both are in the female umpire crew, with Hunter Baseball Canada program.

Did you Know?

The baseball world lost one of its most recognizable voices in July of this year. Public Address Announcer Bob Sheppard passed away following a lengthy illness. Sheppard was the iconic voice that welcomed fans to the house that Ruth built for 56 years! He started work in 1951 when the lineups of the game between Boston and the Yankees featured greats such as Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. He announced an amazing 4500 Yankees games until he retired unwillingly in 2007. He passed away at the age of 99!

Stump the Ump Answer from Spring 2010 by Brian Cargnelli

So here is a recap of the question. players in the line-up the game is same here. How could a player If a player who has been ejected over, but as I pointed out in the who is due to come to bat also be from a game is due up in the bat- last issue that is actually not the on the bases though? Good ques- ting order and no one else is avail- case. It’s only when a team cannot tion. What if somehow a Batting able to take that players place due “FIELD” 9 players that the forfeit out of Order (BOO) happens that to injury or other ejections, who is take place. In the scenario that I legalizes incorrect batters so that the correct batter. In the scenario I outlined, the game situation was the next person up is also on base. outlined in the last issue this was bottom of 7, home team at bat and The rules actually stipulate that in exactly the case and it resulted in a trailing 5-4 when the protest this case you skip the person who batting out of order protest. comes into play regarding the bat- should be up and go to the next ting out of order. legal batter. Same as our situation. As one of the umpires on the field we ruled that the player next up in Well just like the other protest, our As an aside, the team that we had the batting order was the correct decision was upheld by the protest ejected all of the players finally got batter as we believed that the committee. It is not a batting out a call in their favour. Was that player who was ejected from the of order if the player in question enough to show them that we um- game is just skipped for their turn happens to be on base when he is pires actually knew what we were at bat. Now some of you would say next legally due to come to bat so doing. Nope, they argued that too. that once a team doesn’t have 9 the interpretation was exactly the Guess we can never win.

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 6 (Continued from page 3) touching the plate to be a strike. situation the same way every time, it’s going to come across to people You also have to forget about from one level to another, perhaps the same. friendships. We don’t live in a vac- handling a peewee game one day uum. We develop friendships with A good example of this would be to and a Premier League game the players and coaches. That’s a fact. remember this when coaches and next. But when we go on the field, it is players are yelling at you…. All of these factors can make important to treat everyone the “believe what you see”. Just be- achieving consistency more diffi- same. That’s part of consistency. cause people are hollering doesn’t cult. Players and coaches will know this mean you are wrong! Have confi- when they see it. dence in what you see. Experienced umpires will tell you that you have to develop a balance If you show that you are friendly on Do not respond emotionally or start and a style to suit each division. the field with coaches and players, flipping imaginary coins to make What will the players and coaches the opposition –who may not know calls. Coaches often question um- expect and accept out of you de- you – will have a preconceived no- pires so that they can “get the next pending on what level you are tion that you are a homer. There call”. working. will be a lack of trust there. The question of whether consis- The strike zone is a perfect exam- The ability to handle situations tency is a natural attribute or a skill ple. For a mosquito or peewee while still being able to maintain a acquired over time may never be game, the plate umpire will proba- high level of consistency will differ- completely answered. But main- bly give at least a ball or 2 on the entiate the extraordinary official taining your own personal consis- corners of the plate. At the Midget from the merely capable ones. tency will improve your game no or Premier level, the ball has to be matter what level you work. If we can learn to handle the same Fun Facts

The late George mated 1.6 Billion dollars in 2010 – times from 1975 – 1988. In a bizarre Steinbrenner III about 20 times what he paid for it period between July 24, 1978 and purchased the initially. October 28, 1979 Martin resigned, New York Yan- was hired back 4 days later, re- The “Stein” or “The Boss” as he was kees for 8.7 signed, was hired back, and was known hired and fired 20 managers Million dollars fired again. in the first 23 years he owned the from CBS in club. The most infamous manager Can you name any of the other man- 1973. The club of all was Billy Martin who was hired agers under Steinbrenner’s employ? is worth an esti- on 6 different occasions and fired 4

Level 3 Evaluation Update

Level 3 co-ordinator Bill MacMillan a $50 cheque to Bill and request an so at your earliest convenience. reports that there have been more evaluation. And for those of you who have re- level 3 evaluation requests this sum- Everyone in the level 3 Provincial ceived an evaluation more recently mer than last year. However he re- program must receive a passing than 3 years ago, don’t be afraid to minds everyone that time is running grade on a field evaluation (plate ask one of our qualified evaluators out quickly to get your field evalua- and bases) once every 3 years. For to come out and watch you umpire. tion completed this year. Umpires those of you who have still not sub- Helpful feedback on a regular basis are reminded that they must submit mitted your level 3 exam, please do is a recipe for success!

VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Page 7 Extra Innings – with BCBUA Director Rep Kris Hartley

Personal: Top of the 5th… What is your fa- the history of those ballparks. vourite ball park food? Age- 28 Lets go Extra Innings with Kris I guess a Burger & Fries as the Hartley…. Residence- Kamloops, BC only Pro Ball Parks I have been to th Top of the 10 … Which do you Occupation- is Olympic Stadium in Montreal like to work best? The Plate or the and the Sky Dome (both back in Full Time Sports Official (Hockey, Bases? Baseball & Fastpitch) - going back 2001). Plate. I like the fact you have to to school in Sept to pursue Ele- Bottom of the 6th… If you could stay completely focused for every mentary School Teacher spend 1 hour with anyone in his- pitch of the game. Family- Mom, Dad, Brother Scott, tory, who would it be? Bottom of the 11th….Day Games 2 yr old Niece Emily & my Fiancee I think Nelson Mandela or Pierre or Night Games? Michele Elliot Trudeau Night Games are nice as they are Years Umpiring- 6th year of Base- It’s the 7th inning stretch…. Will cooler than Day games in Kam- ball (2005-Present) you be reaching for a beer, wine, loops. But otherwise it doesn't coffee, soda, or something else? make a difference to me. st Never had a drop of Coffee in my Top of the 1 …. Do you have any Superstitions? life so Diet Soda as I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Bottom of the 12th…..What is your None that I am aware of but if I th main goal in baseball? paid attention - I probably put my Bottom of the 8 … What is the To represent BCBUA and Baseball right shin pad on before left one! longest game you have ever been involved with? Canada to the best of my abilities, nd Top of the 2 …. Who is your fa- game in and game out, regardless Fastpitch = a 17 inning Champion- vourite actor and actress? of the level and hopefully that al- ship Final Fastpitch Game (1-0 Fi- lows me to achieve the highest Favorite Actor is: nal score) on the plate between a level possible (that I can) in the California Team & Atlanta team in Morgan Freeman Amateur Ranks and continue to front of approx. 4000 fans @ Soft- Favorite Actress is: ball City in Surrey. We had an Sandra Bullock "officials Timeout” in the 14th so the base umps could use the

washroom. Bottom of the 3rd…. What is your Baseball = Midget Nationals 2 favourite movie of all time? years ago in Halifax. We started I'm a Sucker for any "Based on a the game @ 10am & didn't finish True Story" movie like "Rudy", or until 830pm due to Rain, Light- recently "Invictus"! ning,etc - we were not able to th leave the ballpark either!! Bottom of the 4 …. What hobbies do you have? Bottom of the 9th…. If you could umpire a watching Movies, Spending time game what park would you chose with my Friends and Family and to work in? assisting younger/less experienced officials in the 3 sports I officiate I think "Fenway Park" or "OLD to improve themselves. Yankee Stadium" just because of

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