Baseball Tidbits for Umpires

If you are interested in improving your umpiring skills, then the ABUA is the perfect association for you to join. We want umpires to improve and enhance their skills, wherever they might be working, whether it is at a youth league or a college league. We provide educational programs and resources for umpires, so if this is something you are interested in taking up, why not browse through our site and sign up?

If you have always been interested to continuously learn more about a game so you can improve your skills and knowledge, whether it is reading gaming tips on OnlinePoker.com, or reading up on the latest sports news in a baseball magazine, you might find this article very useful and informative. Here you will learn some interesting baseball facts which you can share with your friends, or other umpires.

Did you know?

That the first five players to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (situated in Cooperstown, New York) were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson? Since their entry in 1936, almost 300 people have been entered. These not only include expectational players, but also umpires, pioneers, executives and managers.

The French did what?

It is thought that it was in fact the French who came up with the concept of baseball. A manuscript, dating back to 1344, shows illustrations of clerics who seem to be playing a game very similar to baseball. Other old French games, including théque, la balle au bâton and la balle empoisonée, show clear similarities to baseball.

A whole new meaning to 'stumped'....

The false wooden leg of General Santa Anna was used as a baseball bat by American soldiers in 1847, just a couple of days after the Battle of Cerro Gordo. The leg was seized by the Fourth Illinois regiment and was thought to be the first baseball game ever played in Mexico at Parque Los Berros in Xalapa, Veracruz.