Why be in the Minor league Union to begin with

[JIGGY]

It is just that- total control of the process. The two schools are completely independent of professional baseball (by the way the "pros" is minor league and major league baseball) and each other. They are simply the only two to meet the standards set by professional baseball. The reason they don't just pick good college guys is because there is still a huge gap between college umpires and professional ones, a gap bigger than the one between college players and professional ones. First off, the average age of a college umpire is far far older than that of a professional one. Starting off with two man mechanics on diamonds featuring world-class athletes, a 45,55, or 65 year old man is going to struggle over the course of a season (the 25 year old guys sometimes do.). Minor league baseball is full time, though seasonal job; few if any of the college guys would give up their "real" jobs for an umpiring gig. They also are looking for MLB umpire prospects. a 45 year old doesn't make for a very attractive prospect because by the time he puts in his 6-10 years in the minor's (which is absolutely necessary) he is 55 going to the bigs. They just invested all of that time and money just to get maybe 10 years out of him before he retires and takes them for the big league retirement. That's just bad business. None of this takes into account the fact that there is no standardized training for college umpires. Some are very good umpires, others are horrible but at the exact same level. The amateur ranks work on a system in which assignors are God's and decisions are often made less than objectively. College umpires also use some (not all-most of the mechanics are the same and have trickled down from pro-ball) mechanics that are very much frowned upon by professional baseball. Not to mention the way in which situations are handled is COMPLETELY different. There is a completely different attitude at the professional level. Simply put, college umpires and professional ones live in totally different worlds. The pro schools are the only way because professional baseball wants things done their way and only their way so as to maximize the umpires chances of survival and make sure there is standardized training at the professional level. The two schools teach students that way.