
Spending at least one season as a Major League Baseball umpire is an accomplishment that umpires from all around the world work towards in their careers. And while many MLB umpires come and go, Gerry Davis, who today gives back to the game as Little League® Senior Umpire Consultant, took that dream to the next level throughout his own career, serving as an MLB umpire for an impressive 40 years.
During his four decades on the diamond, Davis etched his name in the record books on multiple occasions, including in 2021, when he umpired in his 5,000th career game in a matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. Davis also holds the record for umpiring the most career MLB Postseason games, including 11 League Championship Series and six World Series.
Since 2017, he has become an integral part of the Little League program, starting with his involvement with the first-ever Little League MLB Classic. That year, he became the first umpire to officiate a Little League Baseball® World Series (LLBWS) game and MLB World Series game in the same season, taking the field at Howard J. Lamade Stadium for an inning before heading to historic Bowman Field later that night. Shortly after, he joined Little League as a member of the Little League International Volunteer Umpire Advisory Committee and has since provided support at the Little League International Congress, multiple Little League Umpire trainings, and its LLWS umpire orientations.
In his current role as Senior Umpire Consultant, Davis continues to focus on improving the education and experience for Little League umpires by analyzing the organization’s training and education resources, reviewing the selection process for tournament umpires, developing umpire retention practices, and more.
To learn more about Little League’s goals for the umpire program in 2025, Stu Hartenstein, Little League Director of Umpire Development and Operations, sat down for a Full-Count Conversation with Davis:
1-0 Count: How are we increasing the pool of umpires at the local league level?
To do this, we are spending time listening and learning from local leagues and districts on what our leagues have found to be successful so that we can compile and share best practices throughout the program. We are learning that what works for some may not work for others, and that is okay.
For example, some leagues hold a robust Junior Umpire Program by working with area schools to recruit interested young umpires and provide training on their days off from school. We have also learned that many successful Junior Umpire Programs work with the schools’ baseball and softball programs to recruit umpires who play high school sports in addition to working with volunteer clubs or service-hour requirements. When it comes to recruitment, we have learned about leagues that require managers and coaches to umpire, while other leagues seek volunteers by targeting specific local community groups or businesses that value or require volunteer service.
1-1 Count: What are we doing to provide resources to develop umpires?
We have recently expanded our online resources to include a 30-minute, free online training course for umpires. The Umpire’s Training Course is part of our overall volunteer training opportunities at LittleLeague.org/Training and helps umpires understand where to stand, what to call, the very basics of umpiring the plate, and the key “Little League Rules” to know.
This new online training course is also supplemented by the breadth of umpire resources available on Little League University and the Umpire Registry to help provide umpires with easy to understand, accessible training that equips them with the basics to feel confident and empowered to step out onto the diamond. Not only can these resources be used by individual umpires, but many local league and district Umpire-in-Chiefs, as well, to prepare for local clinics.
2-1 Count: How are we enhancing Little League’s in-person training events for umpires?
Throughout 2024, we spent time observing umpires, gathering feedback, evaluating, and compiling data to really understand what Little League’s strengths and weaknesses are as umpires and as a training program. This has led us to understand what we need to target in our instruction and to offer a few more specific clinics new to the program this year, such as our Plate Mechanics Clinic and our Tournament Preparation Clinic for all umpires.
We have also reviewed and revised our Umpire Academy curriculum to be a more updated, hands-on, and engaging extended learning experience focused on the rules and mechanics of umpiring Little League Baseball and Softball.
To help lead and enhance our training events, we assembled a National Instructor Team (NIT) that is trained not only in our standardized curriculum, but also in understanding adult-learner theory to apply more interactive, hands-on, and engaging instruction during our clinics and umpire academies to improve both the quality of instruction and the experience for all of the umpires attending our in-person training events.
2-2 Count: How can we expand the ways Little League trains, develops, and identifies high-performing umpires?
Certainly, our robust training events and instruction will assist with this goal, as does our tournament preparation and instruction provided to our Region and World Series Tournaments. This also requires us to constantly evaluate our current selection process and the use of ID Camps, not only for our domestic umpires but for our international umpires.
These efforts aim to help find the right balance between creating opportunities for new umpires and the need for mentorship, leadership, and support, both on and off the field, provided by returning and experienced umpires.
3-2 Count: Why is it important that we collaborate with and learn from fellow umpires and officiating organizations?
With so many issues challenging officials in all sports, such as abuse and a shortage in numbers, we seek to team up with fellow umpire and officiating organizations to address these major concerns and help provide solutions to increase the number of umpires, improve the treatment of umpires, and to encourage and support individuals to try and continue umpiring.
This collaboration also provides our program with the opportunity to learn from these organizations about their recruiting, retaining, and development initiatives so that we can continue to evaluate our own practices and experiment strategically with new ones to help grow the game, support umpires, and improve the experience of all who take the field.
Interested in becoming a Little League umpire? Visit LittleLeague.org/Umpires to learn more.