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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 his first video for the general umpiring
public.
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. Or rather, on the coach's perception of that ability. That's why he began with the
plate.
In this video he covers timing, getting set, tracking the pitch, and using the Gerry Davis slot stance. His main topic, though, is
"looking for strikes. Likely you'll be intrigued by his take on that controversial subject. For he believes the umpire should be
"looking for strikes in all the right places."
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 this tape, we bet you'll agree.
Click the images below to play video clips from Carl Childress: Working the Plate
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