They Are Usually Right, but Go About It Wrong Way : Umpires: Scully says their signs aren’t as easy to read as in days gone by.

From time to time, fans and baseball people still get angry at umpires, usually after close plays.

Here it is only May, and in some places there is already an undercurrent of uneasiness.

Are the umpires ever right?

“They’re almost always right,” a baseball expert, Vin Scully, said the other day. “My (complaint) isn’t with their calls. My concern is with the way they make the calls.

“Over the years, the way the umpires call safe or out has changed. Their (signs) aren’t as clear as I’d like. They aren’t as visible as they used to be in the old days.”

Scully can tell you a lot about the old days. He has been broadcasting Dodger games since long before Don Drysdale began pitching for the club in Brooklyn.

And if he were in charge of baseball for a day, Scully said, he would “ask (the umpires) to do it the way it was done” in Brooklyn 35 years ago.

Question: How did the umpires used to signal safe?

Answer: With a complete extension of their arms from their body--like an airplane taking off.

Q: In the Brooklyn days, what else did they seem more certain about?

A: Their hand went high in the air to indicate out. If it was a strikeout, they also made that call with a firm hand--so there was no doubt that it was a strikeout. Today, many umpires are hard to read. I’m often not sure whether the guy is safe or out--and if I have a problem, everyone has.

Q: Conceivably, some umpires feel intimidated in the bigger stadium in Los Angeles. Is the problem related to the larger crowds here?

A: My theory is that it’s related to television. When I first started (broadcasting) Dodger games, television was also just then on the scene. And the old-fashioned umpires--the (pre-TV) umpires--were very good with their calls. I first noticed the change in the younger (umpires).

Q: What happened?

A: When a close call went against a player, he’d get on the umpire for showing off for TV. The (umpire) was just making a call that would be easy for everyone in the park to read--but when he turned around, the player was growling: “TV showboat!” Then you could hear it from the bench: “TV showboat!” They kept drumming it into the younger fellows.

Q: Is that enough to make umpires change the habits of a lifetime?

A: They’re sensitive. And they’re very human. That’s the big forgotten thing about umpires. It’s instinctive to want to make changes if you’re getting a lot of criticism.

Q: Even if you’re right?

A: Well, most of the time, of course, they are right. After the biggest rhubarbs, it usually turns out that the umpire was right.

Q: Are today’s players more or less likely to be bothered by the umpiring than the last generation?

A: I think that most players and managers have always judged an umpire on two things. Does he make good ball-and-strike calls? Is he consistent? Nobody wants a moving strike zone. What they want most is consistency. If a pitch is a strike when it’s three inches low and off the corner, that’s OK if that pitch is always a strike.

Q: Is the umpiring more consistent now than when you were a young announcer?

A: Two changes have helped. They used to wear greatly different chest protectors in the two leagues in the old days, and the perception was that American League umpires couldn’t see the low pitch over their big outside protector. In those days, American League umpires also worked directly over the top of the catcher’s head. In the National League, they worked off the catcher’s shoulder, left or right, depending on who was batting. They do it more uniformly now. It’s more consistent.

Q: What else do players like to see in the umpiring?

A: They’re most critical about an umpire who isn’t in position to make a call. If the guy doesn’t hustle into the outfield for a call on a (possibly) trapped ball, that’s almost worse than making a wrong call.

Q: Are most big league umpires as well trained as they should be?

A: In their early years, they’re observed and rated like ballplayers. They’re as well (trained) as the ballplayers. There are a couple of umpiring schools, but most umpires get most of their education in the school of hard knocks. There’s a lot of college ball, then they start up in the low minors.

Q: What does it take to make a good umpire?

A: What it takes is what most of them have. They know the rules, first. They remain far above the melee of the game. They don’t get emotionally involved. They can’t be intimidated by players or fans.

Q: Will they ever get the signs right?

A: Will there always be TV?