Scab Umpires

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Yesterday was a dark day in Toledo Mud Hens baseball. The Mud Hens opened defense of their 2005 International League Championship yesterday evening losing at home to the Charlotte Knights, 1-0. But that is not what made it a dark day. It was dark because scab umpires officiated the game. The umpires names were not announced or shown in the box score, but an article in today The (Toledo) Blade stated that the umpires were amatuer umpires hired by the IL. The scabs should be ashamed of themselves.

MTD, Sr.

[LMan]

How did they do?








Just curious.

[wsttxump]

Amateurs call Hens game
Minor league umpires call a strike, so they were out



By JOHN WAGNER
BLDE SPORTS WRITER


The Mud Hens' opening day game yesterday featured replacement umpires. Earlier this week, the Association of Minor League Umpires called a strike when the union and the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation, which oversees the umpires, were unable to reach a new contract agreement.

The names of the umpires for yesterday's game were not announced, and the umpires were not allowed to speak with media after the game. All questions about the situation were directed to International League president Randy Mobley.

Mobley said the umpires were amateur umpires that the league has been pursuing ever since the threat of a strike was first raised in November.

"We have secured the best available umpires," he said. "These are amateur umpires with varying amounts of experience, and they are not necessarily just from the local area of each team. We have investigated umpires for months, and these are the best available."

The union is asking for raises in salary and per diem along with improvements in travel, insurance and umpire safety. Management has offered a $100 a month raise and a $1 a day increase to the per diem, though the deductible for health insurance would rise from $100 to $500 a year as well.

Salaries for umpires range from $5,500 for a three-month season in the rookie leagues to $15,000 for five months of work in Triple-A.

Mobley said the biggest problem is a philosophical difference between the union and minor league baseball as to the nature of the job.

"In the past, being a minor league umpire has been treated as an apprenticeship toward becoming a major league umpire," he said. "Now the union leadership wants to position this as minor-league umpiring being a career."

On the Association of Minor League Umpires Web site, union president Andy Roberts said, "A strike is a serious step, and it's not what we wanted to do. But reports of league officials talking about firing umpires who strike has backed us into a corner."

The Web site also quotes John Hirschbeck, the president of the World Umpires Association - the union for major league umpires - saying his union "fully supports our minor-league umpire brothers and their union."

Last night the toughest calls were at first base, with all three going against the Mud Hens. One came in the third inning with Ryan Raburn on first and one out when Ryan Ludwick hit a high-hopper down the third-base line. Charlotte's Josh Fields backhanded the ball and threw to first. The ump called Ludwick out, even though replays showed Ludwick beat the throw.

Another close play came when Nook Logan tried to beat out a bunt leading off the eighth. Knights pitcher Paulino Reynoso picked up the ball, which was bunted down the first-base line, whirled and threw to first, where Logan was called out on a very close play.

On the final play of the game, Jack Hannahan hit a slow roller to second base, but the throw by Andy Gonzalez just beat Hannahan to the bag.

"The guy at first had some tough calls. There were some bang-bangers over there," Toledo manager Larry Parrish said. "Those were plays that would have been tough for anybody to call. I didn't see a glaring problem there. And the [ball-strike calls] were good enough."

Local umpires also worked spring training.

"It's just something that everybody has to deal with, " Parrish said.

[wsttxump]

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?

ADVERTISEMENT


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

[briancurtin]

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.

[LMan]

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....

[3appleshigh]

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.

[JRutledge]

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

[Texas Aggie]

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.

[irefky]

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.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Yesterday was a dark day in Toledo Mud Hens baseball. The Mud Hens opened defense of their 2005 International League Championship yesterday evening losing at home to the Charlotte Knights, 1-0. But that is not what made it a dark day. It was dark because scab umpires officiated the game. The umpires names were not announced or shown in the box score, but an article in today The (Toledo) Blade stated that the umpires were amatuer umpires hired by the IL. The scabs should be ashamed of themselves.

MTD, Sr.

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who throws the word SCAB around is just trying to be inflammatory.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Rich Fronheiser

As far as I'm concerned, anyone who throws the word SCAB around is just trying to be inflammatory.

You might be right, but like it or not that is the terminology that is being used. I know for a fact that is the terminology that many Minor League Umpires are currently using.

Peace

[big]

If the rest of the country is getting the quality of umpiring that the Texas League is getting the AMLU is in trouble! I haven't heard much out of the Western (Southern) Division but the Eastern (Northern) Division is doing just fine. I also hear that the Oklahoma Redhawks (AAA) are getting some really great D1 umps too.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I've read some beautys from his fingertips, but this one is right at the top.

The AMLU boys are calling them 'scabs'. Wow! The MiLB administration and most news reporters are calling them 'replacements'. They are replacing the boys that are getting fired for job abandonment. 'Scabs' implies that they are filling in temporarily until the AMLU boys get their rightful jobs back. PBUC already said that ain't so.

Do you want to know what some rednecks refer to African Americans as? That's about as stupid as the statement you made. Of course those boys will besmirch the good name of the replacements and use hateful terms. They are now on the outside looking in and like asking a scorned wife what she thinks of her ex-husband, you get only one side of the issue.

In reference to how they replacements are performing, even the skipper of the losing team acknowledged that the plays were tough to call and any umpire would be put to a test. I've seen dozens of calls by MLB umpires that were incorrect when reviewed by videotape. I guess those AMLU guys forgot about the League Championship and World Series calls. According to their way of thinking, the guys making those calls are light years ahead of them because of their training and commitment. Hmmmm...maybe we should use replay if the best can't get them right either.

The idea that those working as replacements will be jeopardizing their amateur careers is ridiculous. If a local assignor chooses to blacklist an umpire good enough to work as a replacement, then he deserves to make those 11pm calls begging for fill ins for his contests. If you don't want to work them don't; that other guy may really need to work them for the money and you are going to judge him?

Finally, this thread was started by a union member and sympathizer. Enough said...

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Originally Posted by big

If the rest of the country is getting the quality of umpiring that the Texas League is getting the AMLU is in trouble! I haven't heard much out of the Western (Southern) Division but the Eastern (Northern) Division is doing just fine. I also hear that the Oklahoma Redhawks (AAA) are getting some really great D1 umps too.

That simply can' be true...I mean, two months ago when I suggested that this would happen, the AMLU guys said that I was crazy. It seems that water does seek its' level. Most D1 umpires live for the challenge of the best athletes performing in front of them. This is not as difficult a transition as some would imply. The proof is in the press clippings.