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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 09:49am
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Minor league baseball begins season with anonymous replacement umps

By JOEDY McCREARY, AP Sports Writer
April 6, 2006

PEARL, Miss. (AP) -- A big question surrounded the mysterious replacement umpires working the Double-A Mississippi Braves' season opener.

Who were those guys?

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Minor league baseball's season began across the country Thursday with regular umps striking over wages and working conditions, and fill-in umps taking their place.

At a Southern League opener in suburban Jackson, secrecy shrouded the three-man crew calling the night game between Mississippi and the Huntsville Stars.

"The replacement guys, I'm confident they're going to umpire to the best of their abilities," first-year Mississippi manager and former big leaguer Jeff Blauser said. "They have a lot of pride, obviously, in what they are doing. And they have a lot of passion for the game, or they wouldn't be here."

Still, there wasn't much made known about these replacements. Their names weren't announced over the loudspeaker. They weren't mentioned on the team-distributed scoresheets. They wouldn't even identify themselves to -- or discuss their new jobs with -- reporters.

Each league was responsible for assembling its umpiring pool, with many believed to have come from the junior-college and college ranks.

Major League Baseball sent a memo to its teams on March 29 requesting that franchises and staff be patient with and respectful of the replacements, and Blauser agreed.

"We all know the situation -- those umpires, regardless of whether they're in the big leagues or in A-ball, they have good days and bad days," Blauser said.

The replacements filled in for the regular minor league umps, whose contract expired after last season. The union voted last month to authorize the strike and boycotted spring training.

The union was formed in 2000 and has about 220 members in 16 leagues. The umpires say their salaries average $15,000 at Triple-A, $12,000 at Double-A, $10,000 in full-season A-ball and $5,500 in rookie leagues.

George Yund, a lawyer representing the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp., has compared minor league umpiring to an educational program rather than a lifetime career and has said umps receive annual raises because of increased service time even though the scale itself hasn't increased.

Yund has said umps refused to work rather than accept a 42 percent increase in spring training compensation, arranged by the PBUC with major league baseball. But Andy Roberts, president of the Association of Minor League Umpires, has said any management-offered increases in the contract would be wiped out by rises in health care payments.

The union has filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The association alleges management threatened to fire employees who went on strike and asked several of the unionized umps to work as replacements.

The union claims it was told two months ago by management that talks had reached an impasse
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 09:54am
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was this thread necessary...at all?

every single day, at every single park, at every single level - "scabs" will be working. i think we all knew that.
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 10:01am
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Well, prolly too soon to tell the quality of the umpiring. 3 judgment calls at 1B on bangers says nothing. I, personally, will be interested to hear/see more serious matters like rules knowledge/application, rotations, game management, things of that nature. Time will tell.

There's a AA team in my town so I may have to buy a couple of tix soon....
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 11:01am
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You have an issue, Go get a tissue!!

The MiBL ump union does next to nothing for thier own people ask some of the guys that were not renewed this season, including guys who were just waiting to get called up to the next level, but no one there was released, so they were. STUPID. I say GO SCABS GO.
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 11:25am
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I hope the opportunity to work those games is worth it for those that decided to go out there. I can tell you this might affect them in ways they do not realize at this early stage. Do not think people are making notes and finding out about them. Word gets around.

Peace
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 11:53am
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In some parts of the country, it MIGHT affect them, but in most places it won't. Outside of heavily unionized areas, there isn't much sympathy for unions in general. There's a belief that the union protects lousy work habits and raises prices by artificially keeping wages too high. I'm sure that really isn't the case with the minor league umpires and I think the pay listed is abysmal.

However, there are many officials for amatuer sports that think we are underpaid as well. Our option? Quit and do something else. So there isn't much sympathy for striking officials. Either way, I think most upper level college assignors would see it as a plus to bring on a guy with some limited AA experience. They are going to like the fact that they are available and willing to work.
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Old Fri Apr 07, 2006, 12:03pm
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First of all I support the Minor League Umpires and really feel that they have been short changed for a long time. I am not sure how they make it on this type of salary in the first place.

I remember a few years ago were the current major league player through MLBPA cut a percentage from the current players to help former players who were not fortunate to make the cash they do today.

Has anything been asked of the current MLBUA to do this? I am not sure of what these guys make but they all come up through the ranks of minor league baseball and know the day to day struggles.

These umpires, are they local high school umpires? How do they afford to leave their work to do these games? It seems that it would be hard to find umpires who are employed to work day games.

Myself, there's no way I could just drop my job and work games at this level unless they were all played during the evening.
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