The AMLU's Birmingham Folly

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by DIV2ump

I'm just saying that many people would trade their daily grind for the "grind" of going to a pro ballpark each day. I've seen umpire and other facilites in new minor league parks and they're really nice.

Yes, they've come a long way from the "nail on the wall to hang your clothes" stories I heard when I first started umpiring.

[lawump]

Originally Posted by MrB

Lets' look at a AAA guy making $2800/month during Spring, AAA, instructs he would make about 22,000, and when the guys that get back from the Caribbean, they are carrying anywhere from $8000-$12,000, cash with them.

I did not calculate Winter Ball (Carribean) at all. I have no idea what they make for that. The numbers I suggested were only for 7 months of work (175 days of work). They did not include AFL (instructs) either. I have no idea what they make for that...I could have asked, but haven't. I've given a mea culpa on the Spring Training...obviously I counted SPring Training as one of the 7 months, but did not count it in the salary figure of $15,000. As I said above they would thus be working 175 days (games) for a more than $15000. The exact amount varying depending on which club you were assigned to.

I have no knowledge of what they get paid for AFL or Carribean work...but I did not include that in the 175 work days a year, either. And the majority of umpires (AAA and others) are not lucky enough to work those in any given year.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by MrB

Starting Teacher makes about $28,000 for 9 months of work and no meal money and no mileage to drive to work. Should they be paid more? Probably. What did they spend on their professional training? $50,000, minimum!

Where is this teacher starting their job at? I can tell you the Chicago Public Schools start new teachers out about $40,000 and will give them breaks in loans to find housing in the city limits. I know teachers that have several years of service can make $60,000-$80,000 depending on what they teach and what they do for the school. None of this includes benefits and insurance packages if a teacher is faced with health care issues. Now this is a major metropolitan area I am talking about and they are a great need for teachers across the board. This might not apply to other parts of the country. I know if you gave someone $28,000 in the community I grew up in, it might not be a lot of money, but the money would go a lot longer because the cost of living is not as great.

This is why I feel we should not compare different professions in this debate. It really is not a fair comparison.

Peace

[MrB]

I got my info off of the US Dept of Ed website, the min for the US is 28k, I went back and looked and the minimum starting in Illinois is 32k with the average salary of 49k for all teachers.

As for the programs and perks, there are programs and perks in every job. One of the perks of being a MiLB umpire, is when you get out, you can work NCAA ball without playing politics and make more in 12 weekends then you made in a year of MiLB ball.

[left coast]

Originally Posted by DIV2ump

Are the AMLU guys including their spring training pay in the nubmers they are throwing around? I didn't get the impression that they were including it in those numbers so you can count march if they aren't.

I think its hard to compare an umpiring job to people working 8 or 10 hour days. A lot of people would love to go to the ballpark for work.

Your thoughts on the difficulty of travel are valid.

MiLB negotiated a new deal for the umpires this year to get paid $100 per day (not game) during Spring Training. MiLB did not need to do this, but negotiated with the teams on behalf of the umpires who were threatening to strike.

[fromthe757]

Not entirely true. The umpires were offered 100/day, but only because MLB ballclubs went to PBUC with the offer. For years PBUC has said they can't do anything about what is paid at spring training.

[DIV2ump]

Originally Posted by fromthe757

Not entirely true. The umpires were offered 100/day, but only because MLB ballclubs went to PBUC with the offer. For years PBUC has said they can't do anything about what is paid at spring training.

Do you think MiLB can tell MLB clubs how much to pay? I'd be surprised if they could.

So the minor lg umps turned down $100 per day? Did that include per diem and housing or is that separate?

[bobbybanaduck]

$100/day was pay and food. housing is a horse of a different color. a FEW are housed in apartment complexes while most are put up in hotels and live 2 to a room, which is BS.

[MPHump]

Would that horse be considered a minority horse?

[BlueLawyer]

Originally Posted by DIV2ump

Don't want to get into the middle of this fine lawyer talk but I understood from talking to some umps that MiLB has absorbed all of the health care premium increases and the gasoline charge is reimbursed at the IRS rate. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. So MiLB would be paying those inflationary costs. Also, in some leagues (Double A maybe) the leagues provide and pay for vans.

Some current or former umps can elaborate but I've also heard that umps will often get special perqs like discounted or free golf and health club memberships because of minor league club's deals. I'm sure the IRS would consider this income, not that anyone in america would report it as such. And from what I understand the umps load up on the free hotel breakfast and get fed at the park, so often it's one meal a day and snacks that we're talking about with per diem.

Don't have the energy (or courtroom skills!) to tackle the other points. I'll leave that to the perry masons on the board.

What I have come to understand in my visits with my AMLU friends is that MiLB is seeking to raise the heath insurance deductible by $500 per year (from whatever it is now), effectively wiping out most of the proposed "raise." I could be wrong. I have been before. And when I'm talking about gas prices I'm talking about what they (or their significant others) pay to put in their personal vehicles- not that they get to drive them around during the season.

I'm sorry, but I just can't get there with you on the Hampton Inn breakfast bar or the dressing room fridge stocked with Snickers. $22 a day doesn't buy much in the way of healthy food in a restuarant in most markets. And forget it if you want to have (gasp!) a beer.

Strikes and outs!

[lawump]

Originally Posted by BlueLawyer

I'm sorry, but I just can't get there with you on the Hampton Inn breakfast bar or the dressing room fridge stocked with Snickers. $22 a day doesn't buy much in the way of healthy food in a restuarant in most markets. And forget it if you want to have (gasp!) a beer.

I know that there are a lot more hotels offering free breakfast today than 8 years ago...However, many of the hotels I stayed in during my first year in the game were mom and pop hotels (or the only hotel in town) that did not offer a free breakfast. Its ironic, but it is during the first year that an umpire could really use that free breakfast the most as his salary and per diem is at their lowest point for his entire career. (And yes I used the word "career")

As for free food at the ballpark? On the Single "A" level, that is not guaranteed. Far from it. When I did get a free meal, 95% of the time it was hot dogs and a drink. I got sick of damn hot dogs. (In fact, I still haven't eaten one in years). Props to Charleston, SC, though, who served us shrimp!!!

So what did we do? We slept through breakfast (admittedly not hard to do). Ate a cheap lunch (fast food) and then went out to eat at a chain-type place for supper (applebee's, etc.).

Not the healthiest lifestyle.

I found it ironic at the time that they (PBUC) were harping on our physical fitness (we were the first class after John McSherry's death, so there was a heightened awareness) but then gave us enough money to make eating healthy very difficult.

[bobbybanaduck]

if it is a minority horse i hope it's a US resident OR in the game already, cuz they won't being paying for it to get to work from overseas...

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

Admittedly, it is difficult to eat healthy on $22 a day. I lived on five dollar breakfasts and lunch at Hardees and McDonalds while coming up. Yeah, those hotdogs get tiresome - so do nachos and local sponsor fare. My partner drove that first year and he packed a cooler full of stuff for us. We would take the cracker packets, individual ketchup and mustards, salt and pepper shakers and whatever we could get our hands on at the park, friends' places or restaurants. We ate tons of cup o' noodles and figured out fifty ways to make mac n' cheese better. We grumbled and got by without getting fat.

That said, NO ONE FORCED US TO SIGN ON AND TAKE THE JOB! We knew going in that it would be tough. Hell, most of had just finished college and knew what it was like to live that way. I ironed my clothes on the floor of the locker room. I took plenty of cold showers, slept in the car and learned to say, "Shhh, you'll wake my partner." when in a flea bag somewhere. That is part of the deal. That first season is rough - the pressure is intense and the lifestyle lacking. Anyone who signs up for the next season and complains is just a joke. Did you think things would change going to the next level?

What's the adage - "Fool me once...

[briancurtin]

Originally Posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

We ate tons of cup o' noodles and figured out fifty ways to make mac n' cheese better.

nothing beats mixing one pack of 'easy mac' with one pack of 'ragu express' - its delectable.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Where is this teacher starting their job at? I can tell you the Chicago Public Schools start new teachers out about $40,000 and will give them breaks in loans to find housing in the city limits. I know teachers that have several years of service can make $60,000-$80,000 depending on what they teach and what they do for the school..

Peace

In Washington state teachers' starting salary is 30,380. With a masters degree and 15 years experience, they make 50,530. They cannot reach $80,000 no matter how long the teach or how many degrees they obtain.