The Courage of an Umpire

Any sports fan knows that referees have mountains of pressure on them at any given time throughout a game. This proves especially true when it comes to baseball umpires. The unpredictability of baseball brings the meaning of pressure to a whole new level. Weather we are talking about balls and strikes, or if a runner is safe or out, umpires provide their own share of controversy. Obviously at the professional level of baseball, teams and fans want the most accurate and effective umpires. This is where the pressure stems from. It takes a huge amount of courage to make game deciding decisions in front of thousands of people. Sometimes umpires get it right, and sometimes they get it wrong, and that is one of the reasons why baseball is such a cool sport.

It is not really unusual to see an umpire getting serious flack for a mistake call that they made, weather it be an accident or not. It is however unusual that we see umpires being praised for the close, correct calls that they’ve made. Anybody that has been in a pressure situation before, knows that things seem to happen so fast. Instead of getting so upset with the umpires, it is smart to understand that miscalls always have been, and always will be a controversial part of America’s pastime. Moving forward, I hope that people start to understand that umpires have a tough job, and I hope that they get the hard earned credit that they usually deserve.