Three and Two!

A great read! Gorman weaves his personal story into a great book about umpiring. I appreciate the fact that he also talks so much about his partners. I wish he would have talked a little more about specific playoff and other big games he worked, but this is a great account about baseball in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

The life of a major league umpire has always been a difficult one; they cannot be friends with anyone else on the field. Baseball is also the only sport where it is traditional and acceptable for players, coaches and managers to argue with the umpires. In fact, some of the most theatrical scenes in sports are "rhubarbs" between a manager and an umpire. However, as Gorman points out, sometimes it is all theatrics; the umpire and manager are playing to the crowd rather than being in a serious dispute. Furthermore, before they formed a union, major league umpires were terribly underpaid and were forced to follow a brutal travel schedule. As Gorman points out, it was so bad that when his wife died, the league president called and wanted him back at work the next day. The quality of the umpires is essential to the game, so I have never questioned any increase in the wages and benefits they have received. Although I sympathize with the umpires as humans with a difficult job after reading this book, it does not mean that the next time I am at the ballpark I will squelch my booing when an ump makes a bad call.

This guy delivers the goods on all the ballplayers of his generation. He umpired for 25 years. Fun to read.

This book is very good for its genre. I have read many books about umpiring (there are more than you might imagine!). This book is probably in the top five of those. The author gives a more laid-back presentation than some others, but there is no doubting the experience and wisdom behind the scenes. The book is easy to read and broad ranging. If you read in this genre, check out this book. If not, this is good enough to give it a try anyhow. You might be surprised how many parents have done volunteer umpiring and this book will give you a good position to talk with them about their experiences.