Disappointed in AMLU

[left coast]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I think people who assign umpires pick the best people. If you feel that someone "took your job" then it was not your job to begin with. Or at the very least you were not good enough to stay there. I have been working all Minor League guys all spring and they have not hurt my schedule in any way. Even if the strike had ended, I think anyone that has the opportunity to work any game can work any game. Amateur baseball for the most part has an "independent contractor" relationship. Leagues and conferences can hire who ever they want to and when they want to. It just happens that many umpires are currently in a strike.

Peace

Is that a one way street, or does it go both ways?

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I could have sworn that he once wrote that he gets his college assignments 'simply because he is available'. That doesn't sound like the best umpire is being put on the field.

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Jiggy still doesn't get it. Only one side needs the negotiations to renew. MiLB has not made a new offer and has not initiated talks since the union voted against the arbiter's offer. The matter will not get settled by MiLB yielding any more and he knows it.

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The person who began this thread should have known better than to do what he did. Six months ago I was chastised for telling this board that the AMLU guys would begin taking the plums as soon as they saw the writing on the wall. I guess those reserves didn't last as long as they thought - or the strike went much longer than they ever imagined.

The local AMLU guys will grab those indie games and many NCAA/NJCAA post season assignments. They will suck up the American Legion tournaments and any adult baseball they deem worthy. They will argue that they are just as entitled to apply for those assignments as an amateur working as a replacement for MiLB games. The problem with that is they swore they wouldn't do it and a couple of you fell for it. Can you find that entreaty on the AMLU site any longer? Lah me!

[Sal Giaco]

Originally Posted by PWL

: They (AMLU) asked for support and got none. Looks like they read the writing on the wall so to speak.

OK then - I guess "all bets are off" - I didn't realize it was so obvious. The door is officially open - amateurs take all the MiLB assignments you want because the AMLU is taking any assignments they want.

Originally Posted by PWL

: Now I guess the lower level D-1 umpires that were expecting to get playoff assignments are hacked off.

For your information, I received post season assignments at both the D-II and D-I level. That's neither here nor there. The point is their are a lot of amatuer umpires that have put their time in at the NCAA level and would have gotten their shot to work post season if the AMLU guys didn't accept the assignments like they said they wouldn't... unless it was an emergency.

[Sal Giaco]

Originally Posted by PWL

Sal,

FYI, I am on the same page with you and I apologize if you thought I was calling you a lower level D-1 umpire. I was only speaking in general. I understand exactly where you are coming from. I believe you to be one of the more stand up guys on this forum. I was only bringing up points from previous posts. As umpires we should check our egos at the door and support one another. It has nothing to do with the union issue whatsoever. We should allow these guys from MiLB the opportunity to improve their wages and working conditions. I feel like they get a raw deal from PBUC. That is my issue with the "amateurs" crossing the picket lines. Nothing more, nothing less. Congratulations and good luck in the post season. Hopefully, I will see you on TV one day at the CWS. Also, have a great year calling the Independent League.

It's going to be a long time before this wound heals.

PWL,
I guess I'm confused. I never said you called me a lower D-1 umpire and it will be a long time before I would even be considered for the CWS, if ever at all. I must have misunderstood your post because I thought you were saying that it was ok for AMLU to take "non emergency" post season assignments from amateur umpires.

I'm not upset with you (I apolgize if I offended you) but I am disappointed with the choices of certain MiLB umpires. This has been going on for a while and I have chosen to ignore it. But now, when I know that guys who have worked their a$$es off for a long time get passed over because a Professional umpire accepted an amatuer post season assignment (when clearly directed not to by his union), I get a little pissed off.

I think I've vented enough. I felt this needed to come out and be known so that perhaps, this issue can be addressed. Hopefully, somebody from the union will comment on what's going on..... but I'm not holding my breath for it.

[Durham]

Sal,

If SoCal and BA are who they say they are then, they know who is working where. I understand your frustration, but there is no reason to single out 2 guys when there is at least 20. If SoCal and BA don't believe you, then fine, but they should already know which guys are working playoffs at the HS, JC, conference championship level.

Sal, if you supported the guys because you thought they were all going to support you then do what you have to do. Like every one of us, you just have to make a decision that you can live with. Like I said in our email, good luck with the rest of your season and this summer.

Left Coast, if you are going to to name people and not just give us your opinion then please give us your's so we know where the credit can go.

[left coast]

Originally Posted by Durham

Sal,

If SoCal and BA are who they say they are then, they know who is working where. I understand your frustration, but there is no reason to single out 2 guys when there is at least 20. If SoCal and BA don't believe you, then fine, but they should already know which guys are working playoffs at the HS, JC, conference championship level.

Sal, if you supported the guys because you thought they were all going to support you then do what you have to do. Like every one of us, you just have to make a decision that you can live with. Like I said in our email, good luck with the rest of your season and this summer.

Left Coast, if you are going to to name people and not just give us your opinion then please give us your's so we know where the credit can go.

I was merely answering the question that was posed.

I do have a question for the union guys out there. I have never been in a union and do not have much knowledge about them. If someone is in a carpenter's union and they go on strike, would it be OK for that carpenter to go to a non-union shop and work? I am not trying to throw any gas on any fires, I just don't know. As far as whether the AMLU guys should work or not, that is the same decision that the guys who crossed the picket lines were faced with. Everyone needs to do what they feel is right for their own individual situation.

[Durham]

Originally Posted by left coast

I was merely answering the question that was posed.

I do have a question for the union guys out there. I have never been in a union and do not have much knowledge about them. If someone is in a carpenter's union and they go on strike, would it be OK for that carpenter to go to a non-union shop and work? I am not trying to throw any gas on any fires, I just don't know. As far as whether the AMLU guys should work or not, that is the same decision that the guys who crossed the picket lines were faced with. Everyone needs to do what they feel is right for their own individual situation.

Then answer this one! Do you feel it is ok to post others' names and not your own?

As for the union question I cannot answer it, because while I was an AMLU memeber and I am a teacher's union memeber, I am not a strong union person. But I know Sal personally and I know Angel personally, and I personally know several other AMLU guys that worked non-pro games this year and guys that worked and are working as replacement and I still consider all of them friends. This thing will end one way or another and if one party has a problem with a specific other, then call them and talk to them, don't post their name here.

SoCal, you are an AMLU suppoter, why would you post that question here and not with the AMLU guys?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by left coast

Is that a one way street, or does it go both ways?

It is only a two way street when both streets match. You cannot compare the Dan Ryan to the Tri-State equally.

Peace