That type of pontificating is exactly what the AMLU boys did prior to walking out. (By the way, it is possible to walk out without a contract - check the language used by the Teamsters during the NY City garbage strike. The local 813 reps repeatedly said that they were walking out since they have been working without a contract since November.)

The MiLB umpire's union begged amateur umpires to support their decision by not accpeting their schedules. They pleaded and muttered about all umpires knowing how it feels to be abused and maltreated. Then...sit odwn for this, they turned on their brethren. Yes, the very same souls they tried to influence were now the targets of their terror. You cannot deny that their photo gallery was shameful - posting names and petty comments was really beneath them. These professional umpires espoused back street mentality - threats, retaliation and intimidation. Compound that with the hubris of a certain IL crew chief (I don't print names - this guy deserves no more attention) saying that the Delmon Young incident likely wouldn't have occured if a professional umpire had been on the field and you've got a new moniker: AMLU - Association of Men Lacking Understanding.

I have no qualms saying that I would support any umpire who chose to work those games. Obviously you have no qualms acting in such a shameful manner. I can't understand how you can justify what they did to their fellow umpires.

You claim to be of some influence in the basketball world. Do basketball officials regularly mock their colleagues and threaten their safety?

Most of us supported the need for our apprentice brothers to seek better salaries. A few of us took issue with the suggestion that the union wanting more say in player punishment and monitoring. Others felt that if you didn't want to accept the salary for the chance at glory, step aside - the schools are full of candidates. I considered the issue to be union brass driven. I almost always took specific issue with the when driving that bus into the ditch. I find little fault with the guys who are grinding it every day. That was until they started their senseless barrage on the amateur arbiter. Replacement umpires were necessary because the game is bigger than any umpire. Judging by the continuous stream of similar sentiment, I'd say I'm not alone in this judgement. You may want to ask around, but I'm pretty sure that glass house you're living in has a few cracks.

It appears that the AMLU voted the contract down, good for them.

If this is true, they may be awakening to what fools pass for their leadership. One needs only to look at the release of last Thursday:

The strike cannot officially end until the AMLU's membership votes to approve the deal, but that seems likely because the union bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that the deal be approved. That vote will be done by May 1, and if approved, the regular umpires should be back on the field by May 8. Details of the compromise were not immediately available.

"Our committee is pleased that the mediation process we proposed has resulted in a deal that will get our membership back on the field where they belong," union attorney Robert Weaver said in a joint release issued by the union and PBUC.

You and I rarely agree, Garth. If you go back over the last six months worth of posts about this topic, you'll find that I have long held that the AMLU brass are inept. I have not heard whether it passed or not, but if this is the case, my idea of disbanding the current union and signing individual contracts may prove fairly sound. Some of those boys should be out there right now, proving their worth and enjoying the talent they've been provided. Setting on the side getting rusty and bitter is a waste of time. I pray that they didn't just waste the last month.

Good for them
 

What will PBUC do?
a) Provide an incentive for AMLU to return to work for the good of the game.
b) Quickly invent an entirely new rating system that isn't any better over long run.
c) Spend the year rating new farts who have already past the picket line.
d) Train new umpires who will also ask for pay raises once they feel well qualified.

$90 bucks or BUST.

Here is a refreshing take on the replacement experience. Take note of what the local Skipper says about the umpires. Here is another example of a qualified umpire working those games because he enjoys the challenge and needs the money. I couldn't help snicker at the fact that as a league sanctioned 'emergency fill in' last year, he was paid $60 a game. This year, he makes $90.

http://citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.d...D=200660426057

Before the other side start saying that this podunk paper means nothing, I remind them of their postings and how they dismsissed the replacements as little better than LL umpires. Hmmmmm.......

$90 bucks or BUST. ??????????????

spend you time trying to get into a good college conference.

Try 200 - 300 per game.

Its not a refreshing take. I read the article and the guy is a scab.

MTD, Sr.

I put forth this idea. Since the AMLU and it's supporters seem to like calling names, take pleasure in seeing other umpires assaulted, and have resulted to intimidation, threats and public humiliation of those who are just trying to make a living, I purpose that all union supporters now be called scum.

I feel that this is only fair since they insist on denigrating those who would exercise their right to work and disagree with the "union" philosophy.

How about that Mark? Can we now refer to you as scum since you like to throw around the scab moniker so easily?

How does it feel to be called scum by the way? Does it make you mad? Get you angry? Do you feel like it is unfair and derogatory?

Now you know how we feel when your union supporters use the word scab so freely.

Yeah, that will catch on. :rolleyes:

Peace

Mark must have missed the part where the manager said that he realized that he needed to act like a professional and accept that errors are made by all umpires.

Mark continues to accept the idea that it is more professional to ridicule and terrorize your brethren in blue than to spend your time reorganizing the brass. The majority of MiLB umpires are good guys and deserve to work those games. They've been sold a bad batch of goods by the boys up top their union.

Go ahead and call teh replacements names and perpetuate the myth that they are incompetent. Calling the replacements 'scabs' is about as grating as referring to the AMLU guys as 'apprentices'. Except, one is getting the job done and being paid for it.

Personal item to MTD - You cavalierly dismissed that article. That was the one of the first replacement umpires I've seen, who isn't hiding and proud to admit that he is providing a valued service. As a former minor leaguer, he is more than qualified to work those games. How is the game suffering again?

I missed the memo that said I had to support unions. Can someone tell me when that directive came out. Everyone has a right to be pro or anti union, or not give two hoots either way. Anyone with a dissenting opinion is a scab or a scab lover? Bullsh*t.

Its not even a matter of whether one is pro-union or anti-union. It is just plain unethical and unprofessional for other officials to be umpiring these games while their officiating brethen are trying to bargin for better working conditions.

MTD, Sr.

Greener pastures
 

Just trying to help out, save the game, live the dream.

Taking a job before someone else takes it.

I'm sure he appreciates the extra $30 SCABS make.

So mumuch cheese and I'm not a FAT man.

Whoa, padnah'...it seems you've gotten tangled in your reins!

Here's a test: What is more unethical...

1) Posting the photographs, names, addresses and emails of the replacement umpires to further the terrorizing of those 'brethren'?

2) Making veiled threats that umpires may find their automobiles vandalized?

3) Threatening to blackball them within their local organizations?

You continue to dismiss these replacements as taking money out of the pockets of the 'real' minor league umpires. The 'real' umpires made the decision to not work those games. They walked away from their responsibilities and opportunities. The replacements often need the money just as much. Their bills seem to be less important than the AMLU guys' in your opinion.

The AMLU gang made a tactical error. Amateur umpiring has reached exceptional levels. Better schooling, desire and resources have shrunk the disparity that once existed between the ranks. They continue to resist the notion that they have been successfully replaced. PBUC has always had the upper hand and it is a shame that the AMLU guys failed to realize it. They blinked...

I do not like unions. Often they create better training programs and offer assistance to those who may need it. However, they also create a sense of complacency and mediocrity. That is not to say that some union members aren't prideful and provide superior services for the money. More often than not, the world see unions as greedy and corrupt. The better members are glossed over and forgotten. This is a case that displays terrible strategy and even worse bargaining skills. It is not Christmas and they weren't going to right a decades long wrong in one fell swoop.

Being anti-union does not make me hate the individual member umpire. I take issue with the way they have collectively tried to defame the amateur umpire. Indivdually, I have taken issue with Jim Shaw and Clint Lawson for pretending that this is only about economics. It is about power and desire to be recognized as more than trainees. The system pays them what they are worth. In an irony not lost on me, the replacements are making better salaries than some regulars. Do you still wonder why they crossed the picket line? Maybe that replacement umpire knows that his twenty games will pay for Junior's orthodonture or Missy's school clothes. I know, they are just 'scabs' who are taking advantage of someone else's misfortune. Keep telling yourself that...we all make choices based on what is important to our families. I don't call up the husbands of old girlfriends, shout names and threaten them for stealing relationships though. Stop trying to justify what they are doing as professional.

Go check out that AMLU roster again and see how many are married and have children. You'll be very surprised at what you see.