Another classy move by the AMLU

[left coast]

I guess they can't just take their $h!tty agreement and go back to work.

http://www.enybaberuth.org/scabs.htm

[BigUmp56]

You're just as complicit as they are in this by posting a link to their "Hall of Shame" list here.


Tim.

[SCUMP]

My Name Is On The List.......i Am Not Ashamed Of It, So I Do Not Mind!

You Spelled My Name Right, Got My Home Town Correct.

Hey Who Could Ask For More!!!!

God Bless You All And God Bless America........were We Still Have A

Choice!!!!

Thanks For The Press Amlu......rock On!!!!

[ctblu40]

Blah blah blah....

[SAump]

Whoa, that list was longer than I thought it would be. Now that some of those guys who never went to school got a free shot at the big leagues, Jim and Harry should have no trouble finding candidates for the class of 2007. Enrollment should SOAR.

[SCUMP]

Blo40 R U Still Not Ready To Play Nice??????

By The Way The List Is Not Accurate.

I Know Of Two Guys At Least That Are Not On There Because We

Worked Together.

Thanks Again For The Recognition!!!!! I'm Honored That You Would

Take The Time To Comprise Such A Nice List.

[SCUMP]

It's Nice To Be Noticed.....

[SanDiegoSteve]

They shamed their families! Give me a break. LMAO. Get over it and put that $30 to good use.

[pdxblue]

I can think of a couple of guys I worked with that are not on that list. Also, they mispelled a couple of names! They got mine right though!

[His High Holiness]

All,

I would like to correct one of the entrys. I was assigned games under the umbrella of Nick Zibelli. After his name on the list is written "...lied to his umpires to get them to work."

That statement is itself a lie. Nick Zibelli wrote each of us a long email outlining the possibilities of working Minor League Baseball. He theorized on where this might be headed. It was clearly an opinion and in no way can be construed as a lie.

I liken it to an economist who forecasts 3% inflation for next year. When inflation comes in at 4.2%, we do not say that he lied. Only an idiot would claim that the economist lied. Nick's statements were clearly labeled as opinions about possible future outcomes. Each of the readers with IQ's above 80 understood that Nick was outlining his opinion of what might happen in the future. Reasonable men of average intelligence understood that Nick has little control over the future just has economists have little control over inflation. Only if the econonmist happens to be the Chairman of the Federal Reserve does he have control of inflation and even that is tenuous. Only if a man is Commissioner of Major League Baseball does he have control of baseball labor relations and even that is tenuous.

Peter

[GarthB]

I guess the email they've received worked. The page is gone.

Or, perhaps the number of complaints that Steven Tellefsen, CEO of Babe Ruth, received may have played a role.

It's amazing that a Babe Ruth League would allow their site to used in such a way.

[BenedictArnold]

Hey SCUMP....aren't these the same teams you worked during the strike? It's OK Dave, I'm sure they aren't talking about you. There is no way that a guy who worked the Atlantic League would have had trouble in the Carolina League. Hey Dave, if you like the press so much, why not give everyone your real name. I can do it if you like. Then you can thank me for the free press.

Nick Zibelli did lie in his message. If you don't feel comfortable calling him a liar, there are a few other names that come to mind which he also earned.

You know what the best part of threads like this are...in every thread about the post strike at some point it comes out that the players, managers, fans and everyone else are relieved to see the real umpires back, you then resort to point out that they only made a few extra dollars. That is the only leg you have to stand on. What a joke. You guys will never be as good as those guys, so you cannot claim that they are inferior umpires. You guys are pathetic. The bottom line here is that based on umpiring, you guys aren't even close.

Remember where you stand in this process...third choice at best. You know who is really laughing now, me. I just can't believe that you guys still think you belong. Hey, I hear there may be a move made in the big leagues in the next couple weeks...every scab should keep their phones close, that call may be coming.

Maybe they will even call a guy like me. Sure I haven't umpired in professional baseball for about ten years, but these AMLU guys just aren't as good as us amateurs. I think I got a shot...Nick Zibelli told me so.






Boys in blue welcomed back
June 16,2006

You hear it at every ballpark at every level, the cry of the eternally disgruntled fan: “Hey ump, you’re missing a good game!”In the first half of the Carolina League season, it would’ve worked well in reverse: “Hey game, you’re missing a good ump!”

Only a few games have been played since minor league baseball’s umpires returned to work this week, and the reviews are already rolling in.

Nothing against the anonymous guys who filled in until the strike was resolved, but rarely have baseball people been so glad to see umpires.

“Just their presence,” Kinston manager Mike Sarbaugh said when asked the biggest difference between the replacements and the pros. “You see more confidence, just a feel for the game with positioning on plays — just overall approach. Even the first day back, you noticed a difference.”

Indians first baseman Stephen Head agreed, citing the new and unusual practice of complimenting the guys everyone loves to hate.

“We’ve even said in the dugout (after a close play), ‘He was on top of that call,’ ” Head said, referring to the pros. “Whether or not he missed it, you could tell he had his own point of view; he wasn’t guessing.”

Said Indians third baseman Matt Whitney, “These guys just seem relaxed, like they’ve been there before.”

But positioning isn’t where the pro umps really stand out. It’s clear they’re more comfortable out there, but the real difference has been situational.

Take a May 27 fiasco in the Indians’ game against Winston-Salem. That night, a throw from second base pulled (or didn’t pull) Warthogs first baseman Chris Kelly off the bag, and the base umpire called the batter, Brian Finegan, out.

After a conference, the plate umpire (again, these guys were anonymous) overturned the call. Winston-Salem manager Rafael Santana bolted onto the field for an animated argument that lasted about 10 minutes. No less than seven Warthogs players surrounded the two umpires near first base and Kelly, his shirttail hanging and arms flailing, joined Santana to put up an argument that would’ve made Earl Weaver blush.

Still, amazingly, not one person go the the thumb.

“Maybe they knew that they screwed up and they didn’t want to make things worse,” Santana reasoned that night, surprised they didn’t at least run him.

Looking back, Sarbaugh said the pro umps wouldn’t have tolerated the display for long.

“There would’ve been probably at least two guys gone by then,” Sarbaugh said Thursday. “I just think (the replacements didn’t know), at times, how professional situations are handled.”

And take last night, when a pair of pro umps quickly diffused what could’ve gotten ugly after Kinston’s Brian Barton was plunked by Lynchburg’s Yoann Torrealba and both benches cleared.

That’s why it’s nice to see professional umpires once again doing a professional job with professional players. It wasn’t so much that the replacement guys were bad; it’s more a testament to the fact that the professionals — the guys who do this 140 nights a year — are actually good.

Even the pros make mistakes, but there’s way more to umpiring than balls, strikes, safes and outs. In the minor leagues, being a quality umpire is as much about knowing the nuances of the professional game as it is being able to make a fast, informed decision from the proper angle.

Still, Sarbaugh said, the replacements deserve some gratitude.

“I give them credit for coming into a situation that, at times, wasn’t a great environment,” he said. “But they hung in there and did the best job they could. We can’t play without umpires, so you’ve got to thank them for coming in in a tough spot.”

“These guys, they came out and 95 percent of them really tried,” Epperson continued, “and they did the best they could.”

Whitney agreed.

“It was just overwhelming for them, I think — the speed of the game and the other things surrounding it.” he said. “But they had to do what they had to do. I think it was all right.”

But it’s good to see the pros back where they belong.

[SCUMP]

Hey Arnie The Porker....onk Onk

I Never Worked In Kinston, Just Myrtle Beach.....i Worked 23 Games There.

I Spent Three Years With The Atlantic League
1 Year With The Northern League

Evans Academy 2000 At Age 38

Had A Blast Working....no Regrets, Would Do It Again, If You Don't Like The Fact That I Worked Guess What.....i Don't Give A Rats A$$

When Ever Your In Myrtle Beach If Your Feeling Froggy.....well You Know The Rest

Now Smile And Get Back To Your Slow Pitch Beer League Would Ya!

[NIump50]

Originally Posted by BenedictArnold

Boys in blue welcomed back
June 16,2006

“Just their presence,” Kinston manager Mike Sarbaugh said when asked the biggest difference between the replacements and the pros. “You see more confidence, just a feel for the game with positioning on plays — just overall approach. Even the first day back, you noticed a difference.”

“We’ve even said in the dugout (after a close play), ‘He was on top of that call,’ ” Head said, referring to the pros. “Whether or not he missed it, you could tell he had his own point of view; he wasn’t guessing.”

The AMLU member who authored this piece is really reaching.
In other words- All College umps are guessing on their calls. And are mindless robots with no point of view.
But suddenly, if you go to pro school you are given a 'point of view'

The first time one of the pros boots a call in favor of Head's opponent, I want to hear his quote. "It's Ok, I don't mind the pro booting the call, it's his point of view that matters"

Originally Posted by BenedictArnold

Still, amazingly, not one person go the the thumb.

“Maybe they knew that they screwed up and they didn’t want to make things worse,” Santana reasoned that night, surprised they didn’t at least run him.

Looking back, Sarbaugh said the pro umps wouldn’t have tolerated the display for long.

“There would’ve been probably at least two guys gone by then,” Sarbaugh said Thursday. “I just think (the replacements didn’t know), at times, how professional situations are handled.”

Amazing, the first time I've heard a rat complain he didn't get tossed.
Had there been ejections, this AMLU author would have found a quote by someone saying had the pros been here they would have found a way to diffuse the situation without tossing anyone.

Originally Posted by BenedictArnold

Even the pros make mistakes, but there’s way more to umpiring than balls, strikes, safes and outs. In the minor leagues, being a quality umpire is as much about knowing the nuances of the professional game as it is being able to make a fast, informed decision from the proper angle..

Earlier the author was implying the replacements were guessing and had no point of view. Now he's implying they made fast, informed decisions, but just didn't have a handle on the nuances of the game. I'm confused.

No matter how you look at it, this AMLU author has total disdain for the amatuer umpire.

[pdxblue]

I watched a AAA game the other night with a bunch of umps. "We" all noted a few problems.

1 - Nobody on, ball hit down the first base line. U1 signals fair, then follows the ball down the line (at PGE park, there is an area that is in play down the line that you cannot see unless you go down there, so anything on that line you go out!). Anyway, plate ump never left from behind the plate, when clearly the mechanic is that he follows the batter runner. Had their been a throw back at 1st base, nobody would have been there to call it!

2 - Plate blue was VERY fast coming up on called strikes, and especially fast on called third strikes! We noted that MANY batters were "turning" on his calls, and about 5 throughout the game stayed to "jaw" on him. Interesting. I didn't get that many looks, nor had that many turn on me when I did the plate. But that is another story!

3 - We gave up guessing which side of the mound U3 was going to be on with runner on first, less than two outs. Generally, he would be in deep B, EVEN when a left handed batter was up. But, we also seen him go to deep C with a right handed batter up. We seen him change positions in the middle of the at bat twice. It made no rhyme or reason, and I tell you what, I would NOT want to be that guy on the strong side of the batter making a check swing call being out of a good position to call it. Anyway, he generally looked like he didn't really know WHERE he should be. Oh well.

4 - We observed that the plate ump sure seemed to be looking for trouble after any close call he made. He ALWAYS looked over at the dugout the call was against. To tell you the truth, it looked like he was baiting them to say something to him. Classy!

Overall, I didn't see this crew do anything "better", or look any sharper than any of the replacement crews I worked on. I certainly seen a few replacement guys call MUCH better games at the plate than this AMLU guy did!!! Every time I worked the plate, I got a compliment and a "thanks" from both catchers. I seriously doubt this guy did!