New York Times reporter and author Bruce Weber has a new book out, titled As They See’em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires.
Weber attended the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring, called balls and strikes himself and interviewed more than 200 people for the book including more than 20 current major league umpires and long list of players, managers and front office personnel (Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Tom Glavine, Barry Zito, Paul Lo Duca, Kenny Lofton, Ron Darling, and Robin Yount, as well as former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland).
Simon and Schuster adds:
Weber reveals how umps are tutored to work behind the plate, what they learn to watch for on the bases, and how proper positioning for every imaginablesituation on the field is drilled into them. He describes how they’re counseled to respond — or not — to managers who are screaming at them from inches away with purposeful inanity, and tells us exactly which “magic” words result in an automatic ejection. Writing with deep knowledge of and affection for baseball, he delves into such questions as: Why isn’t every strike created equal? Is the ump part of the game or outside of it? Why doesn’t a tie go to the runner? And what do umps and managers say to each other during an argument, really?
Here’s the streaming audio podcast …
The book is available online at:
Amazon.com
BarnesandNoble.com
Simon and Schuster