[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Tim, we have often disagreed but I am not posting this just to exacerbate old issues. You cannot compare two separate unions anymore than you can say that high school umpires in Idaho should get the same as college umpires in Florida. The WUA contract if for a very select few that have proven themselves. They are the CEOs of the umpiring world. The Rookie league guy has a trunk full of equipment and a couple weeks of schooling. They are not in the same ball park.

They do need to be babied and brought along slowly. You don't jump from Rookie to AAA no matter who you are. The average stay is almost seven years of constant hand holding and criticism.

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from another:

Dear Sir, you have a few facts in error.

1. MiLB umpires only get paid during the season.
2. Very few winter ball slots are open
3. With the exception of Rookie/ Short A, the MiLB season runs from April to Sept. How do you get two seasons work? - there is no decent paying ball played Oct to Feb.
4. Starting pay in MLB is ~$85-$90k (Depends on how many years of AAA/MLB fill-in one does before being called up full-time).

I agree that MiLB would survive without the umpires. Over time there would be significant issues that MLB would be forced to correct, as there is going to be many openings there in 10-12 years.

I wonder how MiLB would feel if the unions (AFL/CIO, Teamsters, etc) banded together with a "Don't go to the ball park" campaign ....

1) Most employees only get paid when they actually work. What is your point? Are you saying that they should get when they don't work? I hope my employees don't read this.

2) Again, what is your point about Winter slots being open? If they are available, they can accept the assignment. I simply offered that there regular season is only 3-5 months. They have other opportunities to get assignments or instruct. All of them do.

Dick Butkus used to have to sell cars during the off season. Ernie Banks sold insurance to make ends meet. They were well trained and future stars, but their bosses decided that they should be paid a certain wage and they lived with it.

You really shouldn't argue that MiLB umpires are incapable of additional income. I made more teaching during the off season than I did from my contract.

3) I believe that many of our members can shed some light on the warmner climates our country has too offer. In Texas, Arizona and Florida baseball is played year round.

4) So what is my error? That the AAA umpire who works a five month season gets 20% of the salary of an elite guy who works seven months? I hope you don't use that logic at work. "Boss, I'm here the same hours as you, yet I get only a fraction of your take home pay. That's not fair."

Are you kidding about the don't go to the ball park schtick? Now I know you never lived in rural American or worked the Appy or Gulf Coast leagues. The only entertainment in some of those small towns is the local ball club. Dime beer night is a big draw for those union boys! Did you really think that the unions would stay away from MiLB ball parks to support 230 guys who are some of the least loved in those towns? I am LMAO.

MLB will fill their vacancies the same way that the NFL and NBA do. It won't be long before we see a foreign big league umpire. We saw them during the Olympics and will see many in the upcoming Classic. They are just as good and deserve a shot. Plenty of D1 guys will gladly accept Spring Training assignments. The pros already get their talent from college, now they'll glean the best from those ranks as well. At best we are talking about two or three slots a year for the next decade. If you do the math, you'll find that it makes perfect sense to the bottom line MLB.

[Edited by WhatWuzThatBlue on Feb 2nd, 2006 at 08:39 PM]