Smart Baseball Umpiring: How to Get Better Every Game

This was a stocking stuffer for my 15 yr old son who started umpiring last year for our local basbball league. As a new umpire & one still learning all the time, he found the book helpful and interesting. It has prompted a LOT of discussion in our house between the 15 yr old umpire & the Dad Coach...haha Let's just say they may not be done proving or disproving some of the comments but they are enjoying themselves reading it. It is definately a conversation starter and not a shelf sitter that's for sure.

This book is fantastic for real-life. There is a lot of help for learning how to become a better umpire. You will not find a lot of discussions about rules, except for the excellent and extensive coverage on balks. Most practicing umpires do not need so much of that anyhow. This gives excellent advice on analyzing your performance in addition to some mechanics (e.g., being a mobile plate umpire). Some of the biggest help is in the did-he-actually-write-that discussions about how we umpires do make mistakes and how to handle them. The author does not simply say to never admit your mistakes, especially since his West Point education has embedded the opposite.The reading is quick and easy, but at a mature level. Definitely recommended for umpires at all levels.

Outstanding! A must have. Better than anything ever written by Carl Childress.