HokieUmp has made some very good points as have others, but I would like to clarify a couple of issues. First HokieUmp wrote:
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But my organization used to do the Peninsula Pilots games in Newport News, so now, another door in my umpire career has been closed, but not necessarily because of talent or lack thereof."
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That is not true. While some of the umpires in his association may have worked the Peninsula Pilots in Hampton, his organization did not "do the Peninsula Pilots." The Coastal Plain League had its own separate staff of umpires, almost all of whom were on Division I staffs and large portion of those were Conference tournament umpires or NCAA regional or super regional umpires. The staff had some of the most talented DI umpires in the southeast. The game fee was $125 for two man. So a lot of very good umpires are without the ability to work the highest level amateur baseball available to them during the summer. I don't, however, think most of them will not work, so there will be a "trickle-down" effect into other levels of baseball. It will be an interesting summer in the southeast.
To my knowledge all but 1 umpire on that staff did not work minor league baseball during the strike. So, as a group, the CPL staff was extremely supportive of the AMLU. No one on the CPL staff including the umpire "supervisor" new of the deal to bring the PBUC umpires into the CPL. (In fact it was thread on this board that made the staff and its "supervisor" aware that a deal had been made.) So initially, there was some confusion and even anger by some staff umpires toward MiLB umpires for no other reason than initially there was no separation in their minds between PBUC and AMLU. Thankfully some of that has abated.
I am very thankful for the AMLU's support of the CPL staff in this issue.