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The Umpire Is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self
Dale Scott’s career as a professional baseball umpire spanned nearly forty years, including thirty-three in the Major Leagues, from 1985 to 2017. He worked exactly a thousand games behind the plate, calling balls and strikes at the pinnacle of his profession, working in every Major League Baseball stadium, and interacting with dozens of other top-flight umpires, colorful managers, and hundreds of players, from future Hall of Famers to one-game wonders. Scott has enough stories about his career on the field to fill a dozen books, and there are plenty of those stories here. He’s not interested in settling scores, but throughout the book he’s honest about managers and players, some of whom weren’t always perfect gentlemen. But what makes Scott’s book truly different is his unique perspective as the only umpire in the history of professional baseball to come out as gay during his career. Granted, that was after decades of remaining in the closet, and Scott writes vividly and movingly about having to “play the game”: maintaining a facade of straightness while privately becoming his true self and building a lasting relationship with his future husband. He navigated this obstacle course at a time when his MLB career was just taking off—and when North America was consumed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Scott’s story isn’t only about his leading a sort of double life, then opening himself up to the world and discovering a new generosity of spirit. It’s also a baseball story, filled with insights and memorable anecdotes that come so naturally from someone who spent decades among the world’s greatest baseball players, managers, and games. Scott’s story is fascinating both for his umpiring career and for his being a pioneer for LGBTQ people within baseball and across sports.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 1, 2022
26 people are currently reading
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 30, 2024
Dale Scott worked as a MLB umpire between 1986 and 2017 when a concussion suffered in an early season game made him decide to retire. In 2014, he publicly announced that he was gay, becoming the first openly gay umpire in MLB. This memoir written with Rob Neyer tells Scott’s story of not only his umpiring career but also how he dealt with the need to hide his sexuality from becoming public.
Given the title, I expected the bulk of the book to be mostly about his private life, but there is more about his life as an umpire than his personal life. That doesn’t mean the book was a disappointment - indeed, I felt that both topics were very interesting and no matter what part of his life Scott was sharing, I found the stories and the writing to be great.
Scott didn’t set out to have a career in umpiring right away - he had a good gig at a radio station and was an official for basketball and football games as well as a baseball umpire. He decided to enroll in an umpire school and when he did well enough to be offered a minor league job, he took it. His description of life at the school and in the minor leagues is not unlike many of those stories of minor league players but there are unique elements of being an umpire versus being a player.
His stories, and there are many, of games, arguments and ejections during his time in the majors are excellent. As a Twins fan, my favorite story is one he shared about a time Tom Kelly, then manager of the Twins, was actually telling him he made a great call but was making it look like an argument to the fans. He devoted an entire chapter to “TK” and said he was one of the best managers when it came to temperament with umpires. Of course there are plenty of stories that were true arguments, including a great one with Billy Martin.
The reader will learn a lot about the life of an umpire and also some of the issues with their union and MLB. A particularly interesting piece in this area was the mass resignation plan by then-union head Richie Phillips in 1999. The actions taken and the fallout from that scheme read like a drama novel and Scott’s part in it made for very interesting reading.
Like the players, an umpire will spend a lot of time away from home. This took Scott away from his long time partner and now husband Mike. How the two of them met was one of my favorite passages where Scott talks about his personal life. It wasn’t so much of a “love at first sight” story that drew me in, but when describing that first encounter, Scott explained how the gay men community would signal that they are interested in a guy. I felt that was important for readers who are heterosexual to know so they get a better understanding of the LGBTQ+ community lives.
It is important to note that when Scott realized his sexuality he was completely comfortable in who he was. He had concerns, like many LGBTQ+ individuals, about how he should hide this and when he could tell others. His stories about coming out to his family, to friends who may not have known and even fellow umpires were mostly positive. Some people thought so and this was a confirmation. Probably the most telling was when he came out to his father via a letter instead of a conversation or phone call. Reading about this was quite emotional and having his father eventually come to accept and love his son (after saying he needed time to process this, which Dale understood) was a very powerful passage.
This was a book that I started and finished in one sitting, something I rarely do. It is a terrific memoir of not only the life of a successful umpire but also one of the many hurdles a gay person may face until they, as the book’s subtitle says, can live their true self.
I wish to thank the author and University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Given the title, I expected the bulk of the book to be mostly about his private life, but there is more about his life as an umpire than his personal life. That doesn’t mean the book was a disappointment - indeed, I felt that both topics were very interesting and no matter what part of his life Scott was sharing, I found the stories and the writing to be great.
Scott didn’t set out to have a career in umpiring right away - he had a good gig at a radio station and was an official for basketball and football games as well as a baseball umpire. He decided to enroll in an umpire school and when he did well enough to be offered a minor league job, he took it. His description of life at the school and in the minor leagues is not unlike many of those stories of minor league players but there are unique elements of being an umpire versus being a player.
His stories, and there are many, of games, arguments and ejections during his time in the majors are excellent. As a Twins fan, my favorite story is one he shared about a time Tom Kelly, then manager of the Twins, was actually telling him he made a great call but was making it look like an argument to the fans. He devoted an entire chapter to “TK” and said he was one of the best managers when it came to temperament with umpires. Of course there are plenty of stories that were true arguments, including a great one with Billy Martin.
The reader will learn a lot about the life of an umpire and also some of the issues with their union and MLB. A particularly interesting piece in this area was the mass resignation plan by then-union head Richie Phillips in 1999. The actions taken and the fallout from that scheme read like a drama novel and Scott’s part in it made for very interesting reading.
Like the players, an umpire will spend a lot of time away from home. This took Scott away from his long time partner and now husband Mike. How the two of them met was one of my favorite passages where Scott talks about his personal life. It wasn’t so much of a “love at first sight” story that drew me in, but when describing that first encounter, Scott explained how the gay men community would signal that they are interested in a guy. I felt that was important for readers who are heterosexual to know so they get a better understanding of the LGBTQ+ community lives.
It is important to note that when Scott realized his sexuality he was completely comfortable in who he was. He had concerns, like many LGBTQ+ individuals, about how he should hide this and when he could tell others. His stories about coming out to his family, to friends who may not have known and even fellow umpires were mostly positive. Some people thought so and this was a confirmation. Probably the most telling was when he came out to his father via a letter instead of a conversation or phone call. Reading about this was quite emotional and having his father eventually come to accept and love his son (after saying he needed time to process this, which Dale understood) was a very powerful passage.
This was a book that I started and finished in one sitting, something I rarely do. It is a terrific memoir of not only the life of a successful umpire but also one of the many hurdles a gay person may face until they, as the book’s subtitle says, can live their true self.
I wish to thank the author and University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
November 16, 2022
There may be more I want to say about this book later on, but for now I just wanted to make note of a few important points.
-- Whatever I was expecting of THE UMPIRE IS OUT, I got more than that. It made me smile so many times.
-- I’m an absolutely diehard baseball fan, meaning I don’t just follow “my” team (go Jays!) but will happily watch whoever is playing on whatever day if they happen to be on TV, and I’ve travelled to several American ballparks to catch games while on holiday even when they’re between two teams with whom I’m barely familiar. I mention this because that probably influenced at least some of my enjoyment of this book; while you certainly don’t need to know much about the sport to get a lot out of it, I’d be crazy to say it doesn’t add a fair amount to the experience. I loved the stories about insane baseball managers and weird rules and crazy games Scott umpired.
I’m one of those people who curses at umpires from my living room, so it surprised me (I don’t know what this says about me) how much this book humanized the guys behind the mask. I honestly never gave any thought to them feeling miserable over having a bad game or making a wrong call, so there you have it.
-- I don’t think it can be overstated just how important Dale Scott’s coming out has been for so many people. Sports, especially men’s sports, remain a virtually impenetrable wall of machismo and a very definite expectation of what it means to “be a man,” so for Scott to have had the guts to go public before his colleagues and the players he was overseeing…it’s just staggering to me, even in this day and age. There’s a lovely story in the latter part of the book about a 17 year old umpire-in-training whose trajectory is changed for the better when he learns that there’s a gay MLB umpire out there. Despite Scott not being a household name, his impact is clear here. It matters.
I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a feelgood kind of memoir or one that would make me sad or angry on Scott’s behalf, but I’m glad to report it was more the former than the latter. He tells a story not just of how he came out to his family and friends but how he fell madly in love with his now-husband Mike, how they weathered the many months apart while Scott spent huge parts of each year on the road, and it gives hope to think that in this case two people could be allowed to live their lives together without relentless hatred and homophobia. Add to that the breezy and fun way Scott and his co-author Rob Neyer tell endless baseball anecdotes and interesting stories from behind the scenes, and you’ve got a thoroughly enjoyable read on your hands.
-- Whatever I was expecting of THE UMPIRE IS OUT, I got more than that. It made me smile so many times.
-- I’m an absolutely diehard baseball fan, meaning I don’t just follow “my” team (go Jays!) but will happily watch whoever is playing on whatever day if they happen to be on TV, and I’ve travelled to several American ballparks to catch games while on holiday even when they’re between two teams with whom I’m barely familiar. I mention this because that probably influenced at least some of my enjoyment of this book; while you certainly don’t need to know much about the sport to get a lot out of it, I’d be crazy to say it doesn’t add a fair amount to the experience. I loved the stories about insane baseball managers and weird rules and crazy games Scott umpired.
I’m one of those people who curses at umpires from my living room, so it surprised me (I don’t know what this says about me) how much this book humanized the guys behind the mask. I honestly never gave any thought to them feeling miserable over having a bad game or making a wrong call, so there you have it.
-- I don’t think it can be overstated just how important Dale Scott’s coming out has been for so many people. Sports, especially men’s sports, remain a virtually impenetrable wall of machismo and a very definite expectation of what it means to “be a man,” so for Scott to have had the guts to go public before his colleagues and the players he was overseeing…it’s just staggering to me, even in this day and age. There’s a lovely story in the latter part of the book about a 17 year old umpire-in-training whose trajectory is changed for the better when he learns that there’s a gay MLB umpire out there. Despite Scott not being a household name, his impact is clear here. It matters.
I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a feelgood kind of memoir or one that would make me sad or angry on Scott’s behalf, but I’m glad to report it was more the former than the latter. He tells a story not just of how he came out to his family and friends but how he fell madly in love with his now-husband Mike, how they weathered the many months apart while Scott spent huge parts of each year on the road, and it gives hope to think that in this case two people could be allowed to live their lives together without relentless hatred and homophobia. Add to that the breezy and fun way Scott and his co-author Rob Neyer tell endless baseball anecdotes and interesting stories from behind the scenes, and you’ve got a thoroughly enjoyable read on your hands.
September 11, 2024
Probably only interesting for a very specific kind of person and that's meeee 🙂 nice voice and structure. Fun stories and a generally upbeat guy to read. Truly was a book about calling the game and living his true self!
November 2, 2025
In keeping with the end of baseball season, I finished up this entertaining book today. Dale Scott has a wonderful way of describing his sometimes wild umpiring career. I’m sure his coming out as the first known gay umpire has been so helpful to so many people. It was fun to read of his interactions with certain members of my Blue Jays team over his 3 decades in MLB.
November 20, 2022
Dale Scott was a major league umpire between 1985 and 2017. The book is his memoir, mostly of his career, but also a little of his personal life. I enjoyed the book on two fronts: first as a baseball fan. Second, Scott has an interesting personality, and that came through in his memoir.
What rattled me a little were his brutal opinions about a number of players, coaches, and league officials that he didn't like. He liked most of his fellow umpires, but not all. Scott doesn't give an inch when it comes to the Ripkins, Billy Martin, Roger Clemons, etc. During a game argument with Cal Ripken, Sr., for example, Scott told him, "The only reason you're a major league manager is because you had two good nights with Mrs. Ripkin." It is a gossipy book, and we do like good gossip.
The job of an umpire is to be ruthlessly accurate. And so Scott is as he recounts players, games, and bizarre situations through his years as an umpire. The memoir gives good insight into the life, financial situation, and labor issues big league umpires encounter. Scott worked through several radical changes in the game and provides some historical perspective.
We learn a few things about Scott as a person: about his parents, his husband, his being the first major league umpire to come out of the closet, his discouragements at he beginning of the career, his attitude toward "booing the ump," his feelings about being assaulted by millionaire players and coaches during game arguments, his politics, his time umpiring in the Dominican, his views about technology replacing umpiring, and his concern for sustaining dangerous injuries while working behind the plate (the reason for his retirement.)
It's especially a good read for those of us who have been long-time baseball fans.
What rattled me a little were his brutal opinions about a number of players, coaches, and league officials that he didn't like. He liked most of his fellow umpires, but not all. Scott doesn't give an inch when it comes to the Ripkins, Billy Martin, Roger Clemons, etc. During a game argument with Cal Ripken, Sr., for example, Scott told him, "The only reason you're a major league manager is because you had two good nights with Mrs. Ripkin." It is a gossipy book, and we do like good gossip.
The job of an umpire is to be ruthlessly accurate. And so Scott is as he recounts players, games, and bizarre situations through his years as an umpire. The memoir gives good insight into the life, financial situation, and labor issues big league umpires encounter. Scott worked through several radical changes in the game and provides some historical perspective.
We learn a few things about Scott as a person: about his parents, his husband, his being the first major league umpire to come out of the closet, his discouragements at he beginning of the career, his attitude toward "booing the ump," his feelings about being assaulted by millionaire players and coaches during game arguments, his politics, his time umpiring in the Dominican, his views about technology replacing umpiring, and his concern for sustaining dangerous injuries while working behind the plate (the reason for his retirement.)
It's especially a good read for those of us who have been long-time baseball fans.
May 16, 2022
A very interesting look at Dale Scott's career; he was the first openly gay umpire in Major League Baseball. He was an umpire for 30 years, and so as you can imagine has some good stories to tell!
Odds and ends:
- When Scott was umpiring in the Cal League, at a particular ballpark a couple had season tickets and were always yelling at the umpires. One day Scott and a fellow umpire went to an ice cream shop and realized that the couple owned the shop, so they started saying things like "You call that a scoop? C'mon, you gave us a bigger scoop than that!" and so on. When the couple kicked them out, Scott asked "Were you upset that we're yelling at you while you're working?", and when they replied that they were, he said "OK, well, that's sorta how we feel when you yell at us. We're the umpires. See you tonight!" (I realize this is kind of a jerky thing to do, but, you know, pretty funny!)
- Scott talks about umpiring in the Dominican League, and how every stadium had sections where fans would place bets with other fans about almost anything. Scott said he would call a strike on the first pitch of an inning and hear boos and cheers from just one section of the stadium, and it took him a while before someone told him what was going on!
- Scott would leave comp tickets to games for his boyfriend's mother, and she would sit in those seats and yell at him about ball/strike calls! Eventually his boyfriend told her to knock it off🙂
- Billy Martin was the manager of the Yankees in the 80's, and he got into it with a lot of umpires. After he kicked dirt on Scott and accidentally kicked him (he was trying to kick the dirt but it was wet; he then gave up and picked up dirt and threw it at Scott; the video is pretty funny) Scott ejected him. A few months later Scott was scheduled to work a series in New York, but the umpire crews were switched out and he didn't go. Scott didn't know this at the time, but the league had received a threat that if Scott came to New York again, he'd be leaving in a body bag! And according to Billy Martin's biography, he had tried to find a mob guy to kill Scott. Crazy!
- A strategy you see sometimes is when a player gets mad at an umpire, the manager will run on the field to intervene and take over yelling at the umpire so the player doesn't get thrown out (some managers thinks this fires up their teams, to show that he has their back). This can happen even when the manager knows the umpire was right. Scott tells a funny story when this happened with Twins manager Tom Kelly after an interference play; Kelly made a big show of running out on the field and yelling and pointing, but the whole time he was saying things like "I can't believe my guy doesn't know the difference between running here *points* and running here *points*! And you made a great [expletive] call!" He had to tell Scott not to laugh because the cameras were on them!
- In 1999 there was a big umpire union dustup as they were negotiating a new contract with MLB, and Scott got an anonymous threat from another umpire that if he didn't fall in line, he would be publicly outed! (the fact that he was gay was somewhat of an open secret among other umpires)
- One time in the minor leagues (in a game Scott wasn't umpiring), all four umpires were gathered around a manager while he yelled about some ruling. The manager got more frustrated and said "You're all a bunch of [expletive]s!" Three of the four umpires immediately ejected him - then the manager pointed to the fourth umpire and screamed "It must be you! You're the [expletive]!"🙂
- Scott tells the story of how after he ejected manager Lou Pinella for arguing balls and strikes, Pinella ran out of the dugout to home plate, and yelled and kicked dirt onto home plate. (16 kicks!) When it looked like he was done, Scott responded "Hey Lou, you missed a spot" to which Pinella responded "Oh, [expletive] you!" and scooped four more handfuls of dirt to finish covering the plate with dirt!
- When Scott came out publicly in 2013, he got nothing but supportive comments from players! Very sweet.
Odds and ends:
- When Scott was umpiring in the Cal League, at a particular ballpark a couple had season tickets and were always yelling at the umpires. One day Scott and a fellow umpire went to an ice cream shop and realized that the couple owned the shop, so they started saying things like "You call that a scoop? C'mon, you gave us a bigger scoop than that!" and so on. When the couple kicked them out, Scott asked "Were you upset that we're yelling at you while you're working?", and when they replied that they were, he said "OK, well, that's sorta how we feel when you yell at us. We're the umpires. See you tonight!" (I realize this is kind of a jerky thing to do, but, you know, pretty funny!)
- Scott talks about umpiring in the Dominican League, and how every stadium had sections where fans would place bets with other fans about almost anything. Scott said he would call a strike on the first pitch of an inning and hear boos and cheers from just one section of the stadium, and it took him a while before someone told him what was going on!
- Scott would leave comp tickets to games for his boyfriend's mother, and she would sit in those seats and yell at him about ball/strike calls! Eventually his boyfriend told her to knock it off🙂
- Billy Martin was the manager of the Yankees in the 80's, and he got into it with a lot of umpires. After he kicked dirt on Scott and accidentally kicked him (he was trying to kick the dirt but it was wet; he then gave up and picked up dirt and threw it at Scott; the video is pretty funny) Scott ejected him. A few months later Scott was scheduled to work a series in New York, but the umpire crews were switched out and he didn't go. Scott didn't know this at the time, but the league had received a threat that if Scott came to New York again, he'd be leaving in a body bag! And according to Billy Martin's biography, he had tried to find a mob guy to kill Scott. Crazy!
- A strategy you see sometimes is when a player gets mad at an umpire, the manager will run on the field to intervene and take over yelling at the umpire so the player doesn't get thrown out (some managers thinks this fires up their teams, to show that he has their back). This can happen even when the manager knows the umpire was right. Scott tells a funny story when this happened with Twins manager Tom Kelly after an interference play; Kelly made a big show of running out on the field and yelling and pointing, but the whole time he was saying things like "I can't believe my guy doesn't know the difference between running here *points* and running here *points*! And you made a great [expletive] call!" He had to tell Scott not to laugh because the cameras were on them!
- In 1999 there was a big umpire union dustup as they were negotiating a new contract with MLB, and Scott got an anonymous threat from another umpire that if he didn't fall in line, he would be publicly outed! (the fact that he was gay was somewhat of an open secret among other umpires)
- One time in the minor leagues (in a game Scott wasn't umpiring), all four umpires were gathered around a manager while he yelled about some ruling. The manager got more frustrated and said "You're all a bunch of [expletive]s!" Three of the four umpires immediately ejected him - then the manager pointed to the fourth umpire and screamed "It must be you! You're the [expletive]!"🙂
- Scott tells the story of how after he ejected manager Lou Pinella for arguing balls and strikes, Pinella ran out of the dugout to home plate, and yelled and kicked dirt onto home plate. (16 kicks!) When it looked like he was done, Scott responded "Hey Lou, you missed a spot" to which Pinella responded "Oh, [expletive] you!" and scooped four more handfuls of dirt to finish covering the plate with dirt!
- When Scott came out publicly in 2013, he got nothing but supportive comments from players! Very sweet.
September 21, 2024
First compliment I have. Hear the audio book to. Dale is the narrator himself. He hits the high and low points with you his voice. Which I love!!! Other audio books sound like a robot. Great job!
I have read lots of articles and books. I had to read for academic reasons, then some for personal reasons. Some were audio and some just reading. This is probably one of the best books I’ve read.
Might be because I’m an umpire. But I think really articulated of perspective his own personal life and professional career wrapped out in one biography. Some biographical stories especially sports figures either talk about their experiences in the sport or personal. His book did both and blended it well.
He made the impression that important parts of his life and career were impacted tightly together and various times in your life very clearly. Then when he wanted to talk about his personnel and umpire life separately he made the reader understand the difference.
Finally, he makes the reader know he is just a regular person like everyone else in this world 🌎 just you was umping on TV every day. Lol.
Over all, A+
I have read lots of articles and books. I had to read for academic reasons, then some for personal reasons. Some were audio and some just reading. This is probably one of the best books I’ve read.
Might be because I’m an umpire. But I think really articulated of perspective his own personal life and professional career wrapped out in one biography. Some biographical stories especially sports figures either talk about their experiences in the sport or personal. His book did both and blended it well.
He made the impression that important parts of his life and career were impacted tightly together and various times in your life very clearly. Then when he wanted to talk about his personnel and umpire life separately he made the reader understand the difference.
Finally, he makes the reader know he is just a regular person like everyone else in this world 🌎 just you was umping on TV every day. Lol.
Over all, A+
July 12, 2022
This is an excellent baseball book, because Dale Scott, with great humor, insight, and candor takes us into the world of the game through the eyes of an umpire in a way that feels fresh, unique, and totally honest. Above and beyond that story line, it's Dale Scott's life journey that is the best and most meaningful revelation of this memoir, as he shares his life story as a closeted gay man and how he came to find love, acceptance, and finally share his truth with the world. I'd been looking forward to this book as a fan, because I knew Dale Scott was on the field (and off the field) in some pivotal moments in baseball and its history, but it was his voice sharing his life story off the field that I will take away from this book the most. Excellent reading!
May 13, 2022
Great Read!
A fast read that was written well! As an official in other sports, I appreciate anyone willing to do what it takes to "strap it on!" The dedication and sacrifice not only by the person, but their support system, as well! Dale does a great job of bringing you inside the locker room and psyche of a professional, always presenting the human side, which can sometimes turn things sideways - as he describes - but which also resolve in the end. His lifestyle is his choice. And like anyone else, the only thing that should matter is his and Mike's happiness! Well done, good and faithful servant!
A fast read that was written well! As an official in other sports, I appreciate anyone willing to do what it takes to "strap it on!" The dedication and sacrifice not only by the person, but their support system, as well! Dale does a great job of bringing you inside the locker room and psyche of a professional, always presenting the human side, which can sometimes turn things sideways - as he describes - but which also resolve in the end. His lifestyle is his choice. And like anyone else, the only thing that should matter is his and Mike's happiness! Well done, good and faithful servant!
July 5, 2023
I’m a baseball fan so the look behind the scenes and out on the field was interesting reading. I’m glad for Dale Scott that he finally felt comfortable enough to come out as a gay man, providing encouragement to other gay men who want to work in sports.
While tell-all books can be entertaining this one made me somewhat uncomfortable, even as he described known a-holes in baseball. Lots of name calling on Scott’s side. In my opinion, just describing the behavior gets the point across. Calling people pricks, pieces of shit, etc really wasn’t necessary.
While tell-all books can be entertaining this one made me somewhat uncomfortable, even as he described known a-holes in baseball. Lots of name calling on Scott’s side. In my opinion, just describing the behavior gets the point across. Calling people pricks, pieces of shit, etc really wasn’t necessary.
July 18, 2022
The book was fine, but I expected more. I've heard Scott give some engaging interviews and enjoyed several of Neyer's books. It had some interesting stories about Scott's career, particularly some of the umpire labor issues during his career, but there are more entertaining umpire autobiographies out there. I had expected the sections on his coming out during his career to be more interesting, but it sounds like it really was not a big deal to him when it happened.
July 14, 2023
Regardless of your orientation this is a great book for baseball fans. As a gay baseball fan it was especially enjoyable, if only because we don’t hear much from gay ball players. His overall take on the game and candid observations about everything from umpire school to the initiation of replays and all in between was enlightening. Everyone should read at least one book written by an umpire, they are eye opening. After reading Scott’s book I think it would be a blast to meet him.
December 8, 2025
Really interesting book about the live of a Major League umpire. This is a biography and Scott takes you through his rather interesting life, but the more interesting part for me is the "umpire" industry and all the work, pressure, frustration and stress that go with it. Scott is also gay and he covers living and then coming out in a rather biased industry, but the book does not come across as social activism. Really well done.
May 19, 2022
Dale Scott is a pro and his story is unique in the annals of sports and human culture. His book is a perfect blend of great umpiring stories and his own personal triumphs. As someone who has followed a similar path, many of Dale’s experiences ring near and dear to me.
Some of his baseball anecodotes are familiar (they are mentioned in crewmate Durwood Merrill’s book from the late 90s) but there is plenty of fresh material and several “laugh out loud” moments.
Baseball (and umpiring) misses guys like Dale Scott. This book is a time capsule to a better time!
Some of his baseball anecodotes are familiar (they are mentioned in crewmate Durwood Merrill’s book from the late 90s) but there is plenty of fresh material and several “laugh out loud” moments.
Baseball (and umpiring) misses guys like Dale Scott. This book is a time capsule to a better time!
July 1, 2022
Enjoyable
A nice enjoyable read with a ton of great stories. A nice change of pace to get the umpire's perspective. Definitely recommended for any baseball fan
A nice enjoyable read with a ton of great stories. A nice change of pace to get the umpire's perspective. Definitely recommended for any baseball fan
September 22, 2022
Dale Scott's book seamlessly tales the story of his umpiring career and his story as a gay man in sports.
January 16, 2023
An utter delight. Dale Scott is a fantastic storyteller and Rob Neyer does a wonderful job of capturing his voice.
September 10, 2024
Entertaining stories told from a unique perspective
November 20, 2024
Upbeat, snappy chapters. A coming out memoir and a career MLB Ump memoir all rolled into one. A Great read
February 4, 2025
Seriously one of the best books I've ever read. The personal touch to it beyond baseball is great! Dale is a one of a kind guy. Super story!
September 4, 2025
There was a lot of details about ejections but i enjoyed some of the baseball stories
May 29, 2024
Fascinating life as an MNLB umpice!
July 9, 2023
I got through 95% of this book then moved on. I enjoyed it a lot and learned a lot about baseball. It’s a book that essentially is an old guy telling stories over a drink. Calm and fun.
January 22, 2023
as compelling as I knew it would be
Knowing a handful of the MLB and MiLB umpires Dale has worked with over the years I had very much looked forward to this book being published. It didn’t disappoint. I came away thinking even more highly of Dale as both a person and as an umpire. He weaves the whole history of both his career and his personal journey in an exceedingly engaging way with true transparency and genuine integrity. Look forward to going to the book signing soon at Powell Books in Portland to tell him all of this in person. Thanks Dale.
Knowing a handful of the MLB and MiLB umpires Dale has worked with over the years I had very much looked forward to this book being published. It didn’t disappoint. I came away thinking even more highly of Dale as both a person and as an umpire. He weaves the whole history of both his career and his personal journey in an exceedingly engaging way with true transparency and genuine integrity. Look forward to going to the book signing soon at Powell Books in Portland to tell him all of this in person. Thanks Dale.
March 29, 2023
Loved the book from beginning to end. Being a die hard fan and working in professional baseball for 13 years of my youth and young adult life, Dale's life story is not only entertaining but also courageously true to one's self. A great read!
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