These umpire quotes will inspire you. Umpire, (in some sports) is an official who watches a game or matches closely to enforce the rules and arbitrate on matters arising from the play.
A collection of motivating, happy, and encouraging umpire quotes, umpire sayings, and umpire proverbs.
Best Umpire Quotes
- “Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules. They apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ballgame to see the umpire.” John Roberts
- “Take pride in your work at all times. Remember, respect for an umpire is created off the field as well as on.” Ford Frick
- “Stay in school kids or you’ll end up being an umpire.” Andy Roddick
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“I am deeply saddened and shocked at the loss of umpire Wally Bell.” Joe Torre
- “It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I’d take the fake eye out and hand it to him.” Peter Falk
- “An angry player can’t argue with the back of an umpire who is walking away.” Bill Klem
- “When I stepped into the box, I felt the at-bat belonged to me. Everybody else was there for my convenience. The pitcher was there to throw me a ball to hit. The catcher was there to throw it back to him if he didn’t give me what I wanted the first time. And the umpire was lucky that he was close enough to watch.” Reggie Jackson
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“I never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes.” Leo Durocher
- “Stay in college, kids. Otherwise, you may become an umpire.” Andy Roddick
- “If you watch a guy go out on court and have a meltdown, you’re not going to think, ‘Oh my God, now I’m screwed.’ Or you’re not going to think, ‘The umpire’s going to give him calls because he’s just told him he’s an idiot or the pits of the world.” John McEnroe
- “I remember getting hit in the ribs when I was on about eight or nine in my first game, and everyone rushed over, quite concerned. The umpire said to me afterwards, ‘If anyone had appealed I would have had to give you out LB!’ I ended that innings about nine not out off about 15 overs. I was already digging in – Yorkshire style.” Joe Root
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“There was a line call that didn’t look so great. I went ballistic. Called the umpire a jerk. Whacked a ball into the stands. Then smacked a soda can with my racket, and got soda all over the King of Sweden, who was sitting in the front row.” John McEnroe
- “I am primarily a lawyer. I would rather play in the game than be the umpire.” Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
- “Chemistry is really about two people who like to act together, I think. It’s like tennis in the most cliched way. It’s like if you hit the ball, they hit the ball back, and they don’t hit it into the stands, and they don’t put the ball in their pocket and walk off – and they don’t argue with the umpire, you know?” David Duchovny
- “If an umpire misses a called third strike and the other side ends up scoring because of it, I’m not going to forget it. If there are runners on second and third and two out, and if the umpire has just given the hitter an extra strike and the next pitch goes into the hole and both runs score, I’ve got to say something to the guy.” Earl Weaver
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“Sometimes you’ve just got to let an umpire know that you’re not satisfied with his decision. That they’ve missed the play in your opinion. Not that it’s going to do you any good, but you’ve got to let them know.” Tommy Lasorda
- “When I was a teenager, I was an umpire for a competitive league for 8- to 9-year-olds. I was really bad at it because I didn’t know all the rules, and all these kids were better athletes than me. I made a bad call, and this dad snapped on me. Then he dumped his trash from his cooler, and I had to kick him out of the stands.” Adam DeVine
- “The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won’t hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game.” Earl Weaver
- “When I was 14, I played in a summer league. One night the chief umpire asked me if I would like to try umpiring. There was a Little League tournament coming up and he needed more umpires than he had.” Jim Evans
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“The way I see it, an umpire must be perfect on the first day of the season and then get better every day.” Nestor Chylak
- “Peace is the umpire for doing the will of God.” Edwin Louis Cole
- “Some fans have a mistaken opinion of the average umpire. He is human, all reports to the contrary. Every fellow who is successful is conscientious to almost a fault.” Billy Evans
- “It is the duty of the Umpire to determine all questions submitted to him according to these laws, when they apply, and according to his best judgment when they do not apply.” Howard Staunton
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“Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire’s eye or on the ball.” James Patrick Murray
- “Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile.” Christy Mathewson
- “Your job is to umpire for the ball and not the player.” Bill Klem
- “Professional managers, coaches, and players have a right to question an umpire’s decision if they do it in a professional manner. When they become personal, profane, or violent, they have crossed the line and must be dealt with accordingly.” Jim Evans
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“Yes, I was in that game where George Brett hit that home run. Billy saw there was too much pine tar on the bat and he went to the umpire, the next thing we knew they were fighting about it.” Bert Campaneris
- “If either player abandon the game by quitting the table in anger, or in an otherwise offensive manner; or by momentarily resigning the game; or refuses to abide by the decision of the Umpire, the game must be scored against him.” Howard Staunton
- “We often imagine that the court serves as a sort of neutral umpire controlling the warring political branches. But this is mostly myth. The justices of the Supreme Court are themselves actors in the struggle for power, and when they intervene, they think carefully about how their decisions will affect the court’s own legitimacy and authority.” Noah Feldman
- “My first and only experience in baseball, the coach signed me up; he didn’t tell me there’s a thing called the curveball. I didn’t know that. So the ball’s coming at me and I start backing out, and then it broke inside. And the umpire says, ‘Strike one!’ And I’m saying, ‘How is that a strike? It almost hit me!” Magic Johnson
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“The public wouldn’t like the perfect umpire in every game. It would kill off baseball’s greatest alibi – ‘We was robbed.” Billy Evans
- “You had to pitch in and out. The zone didn’t belong to the hitters; it belonged to the pitchers. Today, if you pitch too far inside, the umpire would stop you right there. I don’t think it’s fair.” Juan Marichal
- “I didn’t mean to hit the umpire with the dirt, but I did mean to hit that bastard in the stands.” Babe Ruth
- “The only thing I’d say about Darrell Hair is that he is a very good umpire. He’s very firm and he obviously sticks to his guns. I wouldn’t have any qualms about him coming back into Test cricket.” Andrew Strauss , Cricket umpire quotes
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“In the olden days, the umpire didn’t have to take any courses in mind reading. The pitcher told you he was going to throw at you.” Leo Durocher
- “You argue with the umpire because there is nothing else you can do about it.” Leo Durocher
- “Whenever you have a tight situation and there’s a close pitch, the umpire gets a squawk no matter how he calls it.” Red Barber
- “Anyone interested in becoming a professional umpire and becoming eligible to work in the minor leagues must attend one of the two umpire schools sanctioned by Major League Baseball.” Jim Evans
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“Most plays that are missed by the umpire are caused by the umpire not reading those cues early enough and making the proper adjustments.” Jim Evans
- “As a whole, the managers today are different in temperament. Most have very good communication skills and are more understanding of the umpire’s job. That doesn’t mean they are better managers. It just means that I perceive today’s managers a bit differently.” Jim Evans
- “My dad was a carpenter and I would work with him during the summer and umpire on the nights I wasn’t playing.” Jim Evans
- “No one respects the umpire’s job more than I do; but, if I were a manager, I would probably be ejected three or four times a season fighting for my team.” Jim Evans
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“Our students learn more in 30 days than one could learn in 30 years without our training. To really maximize your potential as an umpire, you need to get a solid foundation as soon as you can.” Jim Evans
- “Do you have to be like a second-grade dropout to be an umpire? Did you go to school until you were 8 years old? I think you quit school before you were 10. Stay in school kids or you’ll end up being an umpire.” Andy Roddick
- “Anyone who votes for McGowan is 100 percent right. He was a great umpire. He belongs in the Hall of Fame.” Al Barlick
- “There was something special about watching a manager and umpire both convinced they were totally right, but knowing that one had to be wrong. As an ump, those moments made my job fun, and getting ‘nose-to-nose’ was part of my job description.” Doug Harvey
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“I was correct in every call I made, regardless of what managers, players or replay may have said. To me, that’s the reason I’m in the Hall of Fame. If I didn’t umpire with conviction, I wouldn’t have made it for long.” Doug Harvey
- “As we all know, Cooperstown is the home of baseball. One of the many duties of the home plate umpire is to make sure that the runner touches home. Well, if you’re a true baseball fan, you need to visit Cooperstown. This is home.” Doug Harvey
- “I want you to know that I am one of the more fortunate people in life. There aren’t too many of us that somebody selects and says, ‘You know, that guy ought to be an umpire.’ That’s what happened to me.” Doug Harvey
- “I just umpire. That’s what I’ve done. That’s all I can do. I’m one of the fortunate ones on God’s earth. I found what God meant for me to do. People ask if I like working home plate best. I just want to be between the white lines. That’s where I belong, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Doug Harvey
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“If you’re a photographer, they give you a camera. If you’re a writer, they give you a typewriter. If you’re an umpire, they give you an unseen object and they call it a strike zone, and nobody seems to agree with you no matter what you call.” Doug Harvey
- “I set out to be the best umpire of my time. But I don’t know what it takes to be great.” Doug Harvey
- “I was a great base umpire, but I was the most mediocre plate umpire to ever come into the major leagues.” Doug Harvey
- “When asked what he was fighting for, General Washington, in writing to General Thomas, said the object was ‘neither glory nor extent of territory, but a defense of all that is dear and valuable in life.’ He must have been an umpire. That’s what umpiring is about.” Doug Harvey
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“You can’t know what it’s like to be a major league umpire unless you were a major league umpire.” Doug Harvey
- “I say to you, you want a thrill, volunteer to be an umpire. I’d like you to go just work the bases some day. Just go do that. You’re going to love it. Try the slow-pitch stuff. You’ll love it. Ask my son – he tried it! He said, ‘I’ve never seen so many idiots in all my life.” Doug Harvey
- “To me, there is no more conscientious umpire in the Major Leagues than Jim Joyce. He gives you a hellacious effort every time.” Tony La Russa
- “Whoever has not experienced the pleasure of taking a young lady to her first game of ball should seize the first opportunity to do so. Her remarks about plays, her opinions of different players and the umpire, and the questions she will ask concerning the game, are all too funny to be missed.” John Montgomery
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“I must admit, I was born to officiate; I was made to officiate. I miss it. I knew why I was doing it. God made me to umpire.” Doug Harvey
- “Ward The part of the game that fans will soon miss: the argument between manager and umpire! There was something special about watching a manger and umpire both convinced they were totally right, but knowing that one had to be wrong. As an ump, those moments made my job fun, and getting ‘nose-to-nose’ was part of my job description.” Doug Harvey
- “Football has end zones and goal posts; basketball has the hoop, and hockey the goal cage. Baseball is the only game with an imaginary box: the strike zone, which the umpire determines at his own discretion.” Richard Corliss
- “Most of the umpires, it’s amazing: 98 percent of them will not hold a grudge. I always felt a couple of them did. I never wanted to argue with an umpire in my life. Earl Weaver A Treasury Secretary or a President should be out here not fighting S&P, not grabbing the other coach and slapping him around, taking the umpire behind the barn. He should be getting the team psyched to overcome.” Rick Santelli
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“The pitcher has the ball, and nothing happens until he lets go of it. So as the batter, I felt I had to fight for any bit of control I could get. I expected the umpire, the catcher, and the pitcher to wait on me. I wanted to get ready on my time.” Reggie Jackson
- “I was an umpire at little league softball games. I only lasted a few games because I wasn’t one hundred percent clear on all the rules.” Kate McKinnon
