[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Morning gang, I'm still not feeling my own 'devils advocate self' but I saw this thread and wanted to weigh in.

Nick, please be careful generalizing about the replacement umpires. Some of them were former MiLB hires and many had pro school under their belts. Still others worked full time college schedules and brought many years of experience to the park. While we had a few tragic examples of officiating by some replacements, those stories always make the news. The fact that the spin machine was in full gear only exacerbated the issue. Hundreds of games went on, counted and had no more issues than any other night.

Your analogy of a sinking ship is not spot on either. MiLB was in fine shape and didn't founder when the replacements walked through the gates. These guys may not be heroes to the AMLU membership, but they are to the people who count on the income they earn from the MiLB program in their town. Without the replacements, the season would have been scrubbed and careers may have ended.

Please don't fall for the line that the amateurs out there were an embarassment. It took a lot of guts to do what they did. Some were threatened, blackballed and harassed in person and online. They still went out there and made the calls - some of the toughest ones that they'll ever see. They didn't do it with dreams of a professional contract either. That fallacy was perpetuated by Jiggy and a couple others. The replacements went out there to maintain America's greatest game.

I've been to enough small ball parks in our country and have witnessed a pretty cool phenomena. In rural America (where many small clubs are), the family goes to the park as a special treat. When you see the face of a seven year old kid as he gets to sit fifty feet from the game, it is something special. They sit there with their mitts and hot dogs, praying that a foul ball comes their way. A lot of memorries get made at those small town ball parks. Sure, I'm making this sentimental but I think that's only fair when you consider that one group wanted to take those memories away. The game went on thanks to another group of guys who took up the challenge. They earned a few bucks and a couple of stories in the process. That's all right by me.

The umpire is never bigger than the game.