As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires (Kindle Edition)

by Bruce Weber (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a no-holds-barred insider examination of the private world of baseball umpires, both minor and major leagues, Weber, a New York Times reporter, dives into the rough basic training school for the men who call balls and strikes in this irresistible book. As a 52-year-old student umpire, the author dons the mask and learns the fundamentals, while spending almost three years visiting baseball venues across the country, as well as interviewing former umpires, players and coaches. Many candidates dream of making it to the majors, as about 100,000 amateur baseball umpires call games in the U.S., Weber writes, but only 68 pro umpires make it to the big show. Baseball fans will love the insightful, richly textured account of Weber trying to master the plate stance, monitoring each pitch and maintaining a proper strike zone in a physically demanding occupation. However, his book lifts heads-and-shoulders above other baseball tomes by putting a funny, surprising treasury of anecdotes from the sport at its entertaining core.(Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Allen St. John The manager storming out of the dugout to accost an umpire over a blown call is as much a part of baseball as late-season pennant races and overpriced hot dogs. But what exactly are they saying in the heat of the moment? Bruce Weber's "As They See 'Em" gives us a glimpse, in the form of a transcript of an argument between former Orioles manager (and legendary umpire baiter) Earl Weaver and umpire Bill Haller. Haller: I didn't touch you. Weaver: You pushed your finger -- H: I did not. Now you're lying. You're lying. W: No, you are. H: You are lying. W: You're a big liar. H: You're a liar, Earl, a liar. Amusing, but not exactly the Lincoln-Douglas debates. And in a way, this brief exchange is a microcosm of "As They See 'Em." While Weber's detailed look at the men (and women) who call balls and strikes is mildly entertaining, it's also fairly predictable and more than a little overblown. Weber begins promisingly enough with a brief cultural history of umpiring, stretching from the first -- and only -- umpire corruption scandal way back in 1882 to cultural references that run the gamut from Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee to Jim Bouton's novel "Strike Zone." Weber argues strenuously for umpires' cultural importance: "It's hard not to see them as symbols of something or other. The gorgeous human imperfection of democracy, perhaps." But the cumulative effect is that he protests their significance just a bit too much. Weber's Plimptonesque foray behind the plate is not very successful. He attends Jim Evans's umpire school and learns the basics -- and hints at the intricacies -- of working the bases and calling pitches behind the plate. The problem is that Weber neither masters the subtleties of the work nor finds humor in his own ineptitude. His biggest insight, such as it is, is that umpires watch the game differently, as he explains why he blew a call. "I'd acted like a fan, a watcher. I'd considered the situation, parsed the details, and analyzed the possibilities, all before I'd determined where to go." Weber's stint behind the plate in a Giants intrasquad game in spring training should have provided a dramatic peak for the book, but Weber is so far out of his depth that it's nothing more than a wasted opportunity. In the end, umpires are mostly interesting to the degree to which they affect the game. And it's in Weber's discussion of the theory and practice of the strike zone that "As They See 'Em" finally hits its stride. "Anyone who thinks a strike is a strike is a strike ought to recall that the strike zone is like the fulcrum of a seesaw," he writes. "It sits at the swivel point of baseball, between pitching and hitting, between offense and defense, and if it isn't precisely situated, the game is thrown out of balance." Umpires, Weber explains, will consciously adjust their strike zone to keep the game moving, to keep the dugouts quiet and to encourage batters to swing even when the pitcher's control is suspect. And indeed, he argues that the loosening up of the strike zone in the 1990s was the umpires' unofficial response to the game's offensive explosion. "It's impossible to call a rulebook strikezone," admits umpire Chris Guccione flatly. Weber's genuine admiration for his colleagues drives "As They See 'Em," but it's also the book's major flaw. While the rest of baseball is largely a meritocracy, Weber explains the many ways in which the world of umpiring is not, and yet he's reluctant to explore this notion further. Minor league umpires, it turns out, are drawn from the pool of students at one of two umpiring schools and are moved up to the majors in a way that has more to do with random chance, sheer persistence and an ability to work an old-boys' network than with actual skill. (The treatment of one female umpire -- "Guys who had never worked with her were willing to offer an opinion about her, either that she was a lousy umpire or that she slept around, with umpires and with players" -- is especially disturbing.) By the time they reach the big leagues, most umpires are in their mid-30s -- the age at which most ballplayers can't see a fastball the way they once could -- and once they're there, they're as entrenched as federal judges. Weber notes that, unlike modern players, umpires don't use outside training aids (and have actively resisted their implementation), and even their QuesTec stats, which are used to measure their performances, are quietly juiced by Major League Baseball. But despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, Weber clings to the notion, perpetuated by the umpires themselves, that the men in blue are a persecuted minority. He buys into their version of the bungled 1999 strike and even lends credence to their hurt feelings over being left out of a recent World Series program. Weber goes so far as to search out umpires such as Don Denkinger and Tim McClelland, who made some of the most controversial -- and just plain bad -- calls in recent memory, and gives them a chance to set the record straight. "Did [Matt] Holliday touch the plate?" Weber wonders breathlessly, as he considers McLelland's home-plate call in a decisive 2007 pennant-race game between the Padres and the Rockies. "Perhaps this inquiry doesn't quite have the same resonance as, say, was Hamlet insane? Or does Godot exist? But in the sense that a ball game can be seen as a drama I've come to think of it as baseball's equivalent." To his credit, McClelland doesn't try to wax poetic: "I can't beat myself up. I saw what I saw, and I called what I saw." It's a lesson that would have served Bruce Weber well while writing this uneven and ultimately less-than-satisfying book.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 619 KB
• Print Length: 352 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (March 17, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001SSRC3G
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,683 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise, March 18, 2009

By	James Buberger (St. Petersburg, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires (Hardcover)

For starters, I have personally never before issued a five-star rating to a non-fiction work, saving those for the Grishams and Browns of the literary world (pedestrian, I realize). I could not, however, pass up the opportunity to do so on this occasion.

As a typical fan, there is only so much that I care to know about the umpires' side of the baseball equation (just as Weber depicts in the book). Thus, it was with a bit of hesitation that I ordered this volume.

I had to take a deep breath when, early on, Weber delved into the history of umpiring and even the origin of the word. I was thinking "boy, this is not going to go well." I am happy to report that, due to Weber's research and writing style, I not only survived the history lesson but thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

Weber grabbed me right from the opening pages, taking a mundane topic (the umpire's cap), and turning it into an enjoyable narrative delivered in an amusing and colorful way. Already, I loved this guy's humor and repeated self-flagellation.

Throughout the book, Weber shares stories of all levels of umpires and the job itself. While it is clear that he respects the job that umpires do and, in most cases, the umpires themselves, this is not a gushing, starry-eyed love story. The reader is treated to warts and all.

Especially interesting to me, having never thought about it or been aware of it, is the consistently contentious relationship between the umpires and management, be it in the majors or throughout the minor league system. As a diehard fan, I cannot imagine myself ever feeling sympathetic towards the umps, but I am so glad that I now know more about how they got to where they are, and some of the things that they have to deal with it that most of us don't see. Much to my chagrin, I do now have more appreciation for those who survived "chasing the dream" (schooling and the minors) and are now in the bigs. While the job looks easy from the stands and the couch, I now know that I could not and would not have survived the life.

Weber also does a fine job illustrating how umpires go about their responsibilities on the field, posing great questions that made me stop and think about all the games I've attended. Frankly, I was shocked at the number of variables mentioned that I had never before picked up on.

Having read this book, I am looking forward to the start of the season even more, and plan to pay significantly more attention to what the umpires do and how they go about their business.

Oh, want to be humbled? Weber points out some inconsistencies in the rulebook and some rules that I have to believe most fans are entirely unaware of. In fact, on two occasions my eyes opened so wide that I put the book down and checked the rules myself, so as to ensure that Weber had not taken a few too many foul balls to the temple during his time at umpiring school.

I had not heard of Weber before reading this book, but he has me hooked. His writing style makes for such an enjoyable read. It was not so much that I could not put it down, but it was so enjoyable to read that before I knew it hours and chapters had passed.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Safe!, April 11, 2009

By	Gary M. Olson (Laguna Niguel, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires (Hardcover)

I have followed baseball closely for over five decades, yet, paradoxically, have never particularly thought about the umpires. They are just there, more or less invisible until they make a controversial call. Yes, I've enjoyed the varied styles of plate umpires and how they call strikes. But it's never crossed my mind how incredibly difficult and technical their jobs are.

Weber does a magnificent job of explicating the details of the umpire's job. I guess I understood the principle that being in the right position to make a call is crucial, but I've never worked through the details of how the right position is determined, and how the umpiring crew (anywhere from 2 to 6, depending on the level of the teams and the time of year) coordinates all of this. It comes across in Weber's account as almost like a dance as the umpires rotate into position to cover the various contingencies based on the game circumstance (runners, number of outs) and, crucially, where the ball is hit. In the era of slow-mo instant replay, it's all the more incredible to me how often the umpires get their calls right. Yes, there are famous gaffes (e.g., Denkinger's call in game 6 of the 85 World Series between the Cardinals and Royals). But under a kind of scrutiny that I don't think any of the rest of us could endure, they are mostly right, even in the toughest of situations.

I also had not understood very well the path from minor league to major league umpiring. It's a long and frustrating path, and there are only a tiny number who make it. Attending umpire school is almost mandatory (and Weber goes to school, and gives us a great account). It takes on the order of a decade in the minor leagues to even get a chance, and even then, few are chosen. While currently the pay for major league umpires is pretty good (six figures, with $400,000 range for the most senior), the pay and benefits in the minor leagues are incredibly poor. Yet hundreds of eager candidates endure the low pay, the poor food and lodging, the amazingly long drives, to pursue the chance. As a baseball fan, I'm glad there are such dedicated folks.

The antagonism between baseball's management and the umpires was a surprise to me. I would have thought that the umpires would have been seen by management as their agents, and therefore be highly respected. On the contrary. Some executives see umpires as being the equivalent of bases, needed to play the game but nothing deserving of respect. Weber goes into considerable detail about the 1999 labor disaster for umpires, when a wave of resignations as a labor action backfired, and a number of highly qualified umpires lost their jobs (some eventually got them back), and a legacy of resentment and ill-feelings resulted.

And of course the fans. "Kill the ump" is a long-standing fan chant, and as Weber shows, has actually led to death threats against umps who have made controversial calls. While I don't recall ever using this chant myself, I do know that I've ragged on umps when I've been frustrated with their calls. But as a result of reading Weber's book, I have a new found respect for them, and will be much more appreciative of them in the future.

All in all, this book was a real page-turner for me. Weber's narrative skills and access to behind-the-scenes action make for a fascinating read. I highly recommend it, even for non-baseball fans who might be interested in the complex organizational issues of a major sport.

By the way, for you Kindle fans, this book has no photos, so buying a Kindle version will work just fine.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A walk not a hit, April 25, 2009

By	Alan Weiss "Author, Million Dollar Consulting" (East Greenwich, RI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: As They See 'Em: A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires (Hardcover)

This is an erratically interesting view into the toils of those who love umpiring, including the hard work, lousy meals, and long odds of ever gaining one of the very few major league jobs. The variety of arcane rules, magnitude of abuse, and apathy of the owners could make for fascinating reading.

Unfortunately, Mr. Weber's writing style is more like a knuckleball than a fast ball. He tells you the same things over and over, has no inflection changes between minor and major points (he beats everything to death), and his actual interactions with major league umpires are severely limited, since either they don't choose to talk or the author is a rather poor investigative reporter.

There aren't many good books on this subject, so it's worth the trek if you're interested in the topic. But every once in a while I was inclined to yell at the author: "Play ball!!"