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Originally Posted by BlueLawyer
Since you didn't ask me what I think, I'll explain it to you.
No, being an umpire does not rank up there with the professions you listed (the only one of which, by the way, that I can tell gets paid what is worth is a doctor).
Your statement that it is "not rocket science" is true but incomplete. I am amazed that anyone who officiates baseball would make that kind of statment. It's not turning burgers, either. Have you ever umpired a baseball game before? That is not meant to be flip- if anybody could do it, anybody would. Tell me you have never been on the field with some jackass fan behind you yelling about your strike zone or your lack of rules knowledge and you thought to yourself, "If it's so easy, smart guy, get out here and do it."
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I think at some point we need to stop comparing one type of job to another. You cannot compare a professional umpire to a teacher. Hell we cannot even compare a college professor to an elementary school teacher with each other and pay structures and issues related to those levels. This issue is about what MiLB can play and what they are not willing to pay. This is a system that is supposed to train umpires to one day work at the Majors. I do not think anyone wants a bunch of guys that only experience is working a local league and one or two teams in a very small area. The union guys have made a commitment to work this level and to take a chance on maybe getting a shot at the "show." These replacement umpires will likely never be considered for anything but working games in place of union members. You see they did not just call up anyone to cover the MLB Umpires when those guys went on vacation. They hired guys that have training and years of pro ball experience.
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Originally Posted by BlueLawyer
This is my opinion and it is worth what you are about to pay for it. I have umpired baseball and refereed basketball. Basketball is naturally more physically demanding, but in terms of judgment, rules knowledge and situations, there is nothing harder to officiate than baseball. You are expected to get the routine right 100% of the time, react to the arcane and weird correctly, and at the same time listen to grown men behave like little boys and little boys sometimes try to behave like grown men- while all the time avoiding throwing them out until there is no other option.
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I can have a game off working baseball. I cannot have a game off working a basketball game. And part of what makes basketball hard is the fact you have to hustle to get into position all the time. You do not have to work that hard to get into position working a baseball game. Even in a two man game during baseball, all I have to do is take a couple of steps and I can see the play clearly. Also in basketball I do not know of any kind of play being called "routine." Players in baseball can make us look great if they make plays or very bad if they do not make plays. As a baseball umpire I do not control the pace of the game or the style of play nearly the same way a basketball official does when working a regular game. Also this is irrelevant to this discussion of what the union should get. Basketball officials at the same level can make more money in a shorter period of time than the current Minor League system for working 5 months.
Peace