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Carl Childress, Editor-in-Chief for Officiating.com, has been teaching umpires for more than 30 years. He’s written scores of
articles, an even dozen training manuals, and more than 20 books. He was for many years the “Doing It” columnist for Referee
magazine and finished up 15 years with them as their “By the Rules” baseball man. Yet this is only his second video for the general
umpiring public. (“Working the Plate,” also available from RightSports, was the first.)
Carl believes there are but three subjects for any clinic: First, working the plate; second, working the bases; third, doing
everything else. He’s also said many times: “No coach ever hires an umpire to call the bases.” In other words, an umpire’s reputation
rests on his ability to call balls and strikes. Director of Umpires Marty Springstead said this about a lady candidate umpire for the
major leagues: “She’s as good as they come behind the plate. But on the bases, she can’t cut it. And she’ll spend three-fourths of her
time on the bases.” Well, we amateurs spend about 50% on the bases – and this video will help you get better.
Carl covers the three basic errors that amateurs make on the bases and teaches you how to avoid them. But his main topic is
“changing calls”: When you can’t, when you can, why you should, and why you shouldn’t.
RightSports publishes each year Carl’s book, Baseball Rules Differences, known as the BRD. In 2002 Referee magazine listed
it as one of the 40 essential books for officials. Then, in December 2003 the magazine named him as one of the eight people they’d
most like to have a beer with: “A great baseball man and a great story teller,” is how they put it. After you see Carl’s RightSports
tapes, we bet you’ll agree.
Click the images below to play video clips from Carl Childress: Working the Bases
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