As They See 'Em takes the reader into the world of the professional umpire. Far from being the lazy incompetents the baseball fan believes them to be, umpires are members of a proud fraternity who aspire to bring integrity to the game they love. Every profession has its own culture. In order to enter the culture of professional umpires and take the reader with him, Weber began by attending umpire school to learn what it takes to become a major league umpire and then spent two years umpiring amateur games and interviewing umpires in both the major and minor leagues. (He eventually was given the opportunity to umpire a pre-season major league game.) The reader comes away from this book not only feeling sorry for umpires because of the way that Major League Baseball treats them but also admiring umpires for the skill and work ethic they bring to their profession. The reader also gains an appreciation for the dangers (which can and does include death threats) of their job. Very few professional umpires ever make it out of the minor leagues, as there are seven times as many openings in the major leagues for players than there are for umpires, so when we look at those who are serving in the major leagues, we are seeing men who are both skilled and driven. Weber discusses the reasons why what the fan sees is different from what the umpire sees, the effect of technology on the profession, the difficulty women and minorities experience in becoming major league umpires, and the effect of the 1999 mass resignation of umpires on the profession, on individual umpires, and on the game. Although all of the book club members said that they would not have read this book on their own, they rated it a 4* title for book discussions.