[lawump]

Really, didn't you just write that there wasn't a strike in 1979?

Uh, no. I wrote that 1999 was not a strike...1979 was a strike. You swung and missed on that one.

But, the replacement umpires weren't as dedicated, skilled or equipped. The current crop of amateurs is better prepared for the game.

Tell that to all the players, coaches and managers who voted John Shulock one of the top 5 umpires in MLB six or seven years ago. I think John's long career speaks to his "skill" and "dedication". He wasn't the only one to go onto a long MLB career. In fact many of the replacement umpires in 1979 were former AAA umpires.


Yep, that's what some of us keep reminding them. They have a 5 MONTH JOB and want a 12 month salary.

Let's work on our math. March (spring training) through September (playoffs) equals 7 months the last time I counted. Then if in AAA you become classified as an "MLB prospect" you have AFL and overseas winterball. (Edited to add: In the interest of fairness: My subsequent posts should clarify that the $15,000 for an AAA umpire does not include spring training. They do get a pittance more for spring training.

Face it, amateur umpiring was a good ol' boy network back then....Those replacements were good but not as prepared as some high school guys today.

Don't know in 1979 as I was getting ready to play my first tee ball season. I'd take your word for it, but then everything else you've said so far has been off base so maybe I shouldn't.


That's a slightly biased assessment - 16 leagues and countless games every day...how many stories about bad umpiring?

Biased? It is an (my) opinion and I hold it out as such.

Are more and more stories about the umpiring situation being reported? In my opinion, yes. That seems like a tremendous waste of time...are you out of work or just fixated?

No more of a waste of time than your incessent need to go through other posters' posts and add your comments with your magic red font.

Has the majority of editorials...been pro-AMLU? I would say the vast majority that I have read have been. Did you read these is small town rags and umpire sites? Hmmmm

I don't call the New York Times "a small town rag". You might...that's your right. I also guess, from your tone, that in your view there are no small town newspapers producing quality journalism. In your world a newspaper must be in major city/metropolitian area to be of good quality, otherwise they're just a "small town rag". I think there's something wrong with one's logic when one determines the quality of a newspaper by its circulation size.

Does their (sic) appear to be more and more stories coming out about managers, GM's and minor league directors being upset about the replacement umps? ...Four weeks after the AMLU began the strike and they are still clawing for press. They have taken shots at amateurs for doing a thankless job and a few beat reporters have taken the bait. I haven't witnessed the MiLB turmoil on ESPN, MSNBC or the big 4 much. They probably don't have enough reporters looking for the 'news'.

The MLB union in 1979 sought out the press right to the end of their strike. The fact that the AMLU is still seeking out the press now far from suggests that the strike is not going well.

They have taken shots at amateurs. Agreed. I have posted elsewhere that this is pointless and a tactic I do not agree with.

There you go again...if a story doesn't appear on a major broadcaster or in a large circulation paper, then its not a "story". I don't follow that logic. Do a yahoo news search with "umpire" as the key word and one will see a steady increase in the number of hits (returns)...but of course since they're in a small newspaper or small market local TV station its not a "story" in your world.

(For the record, IMHO, the Young incident would have happened with or without the AMLU guys working the game. However, I don't share the same opinion about the forfeit.) We do agree on Young...history shows his tendencies and he will be a marked man from here on out. The SL melee was a joke in more ways than one. The Barons skipper was quoted as saying, "There was no one in charge out there." Uh...buddy...what's your job?...

LOL. The proudest moment I ever had on the field in my MiLB occured when I shut down a bean ball war. I won't go into all the details except to say that after everything was said and done (ejections given, warnings issued, fines (for leaving the dugout) issued) before the very next pitch, the batter turned to me and said, "Damn, its nice to finally have someone in control out here."

Your take on the recent situation shows that you obviously don't have any clue of "game management" on the pro level. Right or wrong players and managers expect you to control the situation, its a skill taught at pro school, and its part of the job description.

I personally think the strike is going well, and the AMLU is just beginning to get some momentum. I personally thought it would take longer than the 6-week MLB strike because it would take the AMLU longer to get the media to pay attention because this involves MiLB rather than MLB. Most of us figured that the AMLU was p*ssing in the wind on this one. No matter how long they were out, they would look bad. So far, that's exactly what is happening.

Talk about bias. As I said, the final result of this labor dispute will decide if they were p*ssing in the wind, or if the "strike went well". That's your opinion that "that's exactly what is happening". Again, one reading all these stories/editorials (oh, wait they're not "stories" in your world) would likely get the impression that the AMLU "looks good" in that they are "in the right".

Of course, the final judgment as to the success of the strike will be when a CBA is signed. Okay...are you done now? We all figured that the strike would end when a new CBA was enacted or when they wised up and formed a new union.

I'll be more blunt since it appears I have to connect the dots for you...The terms of the new CBA will likely dictate whether the strike was a success or not. Either MiLB makes concessions or they don't.

As to your first question...My first job after leaving the minor leagues (and before going to law school) was as a Sports Information Director at an NCAA Division 2 school. I made $30k. I provided as much of a service to society as an MiLB umpire does. Your value to society does not dictate what your salary is. Really, counselor...

True (after all I am currently way underpaid), but the original poster to whom I was responding, asked what I thought their salary should be based on their "service to mankind". I simply changed it to "service to society" in error. I should have left in the word "mankind".

In this position I had minimal duties from mid-may to mid-August (not quite as long of an "off-season" as AMLU members). Not quite??? 3 months off versus 7??? What law school did you go to?

See my response above in this post for my opinion of your math.

I think that salary (which is double a "AAA") salary is justifiable. For the record, that is what I think they should make...not what I'm predicting they will make after this strike. I don't want someone coming back and posting a month down the road that I claimed that a "AAA" ump would make $30k after the strike. I just think (1) that is what they should make IMHO (2) MiLB and MLB have both seen record growth over the last six years and as a result there is more than enough money to easily fund this salary level. Let's see a starting WUA umpire makes $80,000 for working an impossible level of baseball. He works an extra month, is scrutinized up the yingyang and travels his *** off. If the AMLU wants you to believe that the pressure between amateur ball and MiLB is night and day then so it is with MLB and MiLB. We saw what happens when you put AAA umpires in the WBC.

I've never umpired MLB so my response to this question is based solely on knowledge gained from my continuing friendship with people who are "still in the game". First, MiLB umpires travel their *** off. From what I can gather travel is worse in the minors. You drive 4,6,8, 10 hours after a ball game to stay in a mom and pop hotel and then you go out to eat when you get there...only oops you have hardly anything left in that great per diem you get so you grab another grease job at McDonalds. In MLB you fly (often first class) stay at first class hotels (at least the ones that I know are the MLB umpires' hotel) and everytime I've gone out to eat with an MLB umpire...I've eaten pretty damn well. Also, one MLB umpire told me that the "pressure" of the MLB spring training and majority of the regular season was "high but surprisingly not that bad". Although, to be fair he did say that NOTHING compares to the pressure of umpiring a series between contenders in September or in the playoffs. Of course I am not suggesting that this one umpire can speak for the entire MLB staff.

If you had applied yourself a little, making 75K a year may have happened. ROTFLMAO

Wow, that's so tasteless and classless and such an assumption, that I won't say anything further.