As They See 'Em by Bruce Weber

Every once in a while, there is a book that I hear about and decide to save until its season rolls around.  This one waited patiently on my book list until summer time because it is about Major League Baseball umpires and after hearing it on Fresh Air last April I didn't get to it in time.  I'm glad I waited because it was really fun to read this during baseball season.  It was really fun to read this book, period.  Unlike other non-fiction, this was interesting all the way through - sometimes I find the idea of a book fascinating, and the first half interesting, but then I lose a little steam.  Not so with this one!

Bruce Weber is a reporter for the New York Times who began this book by traveling to Florida to attend one of the two accredited umpire schools.  Umpiring is a very competitive business - there are fewer than 100 positions in MLB, and umpires don't often leave their jobs.  The salaries are high - upwards of $250K for the ones with a lot of experience, but to get there, they go through years, sometimes even decades, of harsh travel, school, politics, and barely enough salary to live on.  All that, and they are disliked by fans and players alike.

So at umpire school, the candidates (and Weber) learn about all sorts of rules - Weber relates several scenarios in the book with calls that I was very surprised to learn the answers to.  The other big thing that umpire school covers is how a crew of two or three or four men (and yes, they are almost exclusively men) cover a field.  There are clear rules at to who runs where during every particular type of play and umpire school has hours and hours of practicing that too.  In fact, Weber suggests the next time the reader watches an MLB game that he or she watch the umpires instead of the players, and you may find that there is what seems like a completely different game going.  I did and it does.

Interestingly, one topic not covered in umpire school is how to call balls and strikes.  Weber covers it extensively, however: both what the actual rules are as well as how the umpires use it to communicate with pitchers.  In his commentary on balls and strikes, Weber makes one of his most enlightening points about umpires - umpires are distinct from officials in other sports in that they are essential to the game play.  In other sports, officials determine if any rules have been broken, but in baseball, umpires' calling balls and strikes is necessary for each play to continue. 

The book continues on to detail how umpires are chosen and rated.  A significant portion of the book is focused on labor relations between umpires and MLB, culminating in an ill-fated attempt by umpires to all resign at once in 1999.  The book also details several umpires famous for their controversial calls.  Weber also covers many ancillary topics like life on the road and instant replay.  Finally, he details his own umpiring of a game - minor league, but legitimate MLB.

I really liked the book.  Weber made it easy to learn about the world of umpiring with a lively-paced book and plenty of anecdotes.  Interestingly, I was reading this book during the controversy around umpire Jim Joyce's incorrect call that cost Armando Galarraga his perfect game.  To see what Weber had to say about it (and to get a taste of his writing style) check out this article in the New York Times.