So let me get this straight. A guy worked as a replacement and now thinks that the AMLU instructors are going to want this person in their union? You are suprised by this? I think this guy got some bad advice. Did you say he was your student, WWTB? I say let him reattend Evans Academy. If he is good enough then so be it. But if this guy thinks he will be accepted with open arms, he will be sorely mistaken. Of the few AMLU guys I still talk to, none of them have treated replacements poorly. They are good guys that understand that someone was going to work their games. But I wouldn't expect any of them to want someone that worked to enter their union. The guys I know are good people that were caught in a bad situation. But your student needs to realize that his decision to work those games was not a good decision if he intended to go back to umpire school.

I am trying to be more civil here since I am trying to move on from this subject. But tell your student that if he thinks he is good enough to go back. But odds are he wasn't selected the first time and he won't be the second. Not because he was a replacement, but rather because he probably wasn't good enough. Again, not a jab at the replacements, this is based on the fact he wasn't selected in his first year of umpire school. The odds are not in his favor to get a job the second time around.

Isn't "good enough" relative to the competition? In any given year/class, it could be an exceptional group of guys. The next year a bunch of dud's!

Certainly, the best umpires are not still in minor league ball. They kick guys out to make room for the rookies every year. What a deal!

I appreciate the honesty. He was a student of mine long ago, when he first grabbed a mask and I was fleeter of foot. Since then, he has worked his way up the ranks and got the bug a few years ago to attend Evans mini school. He received high marks and was eager to prove himself but like most kids his age, didn't have the money. He got a taste of the action and that thrilled him. I have spoken with him about a dozen times suring and after the strike. He feels that he is ready to make the jump and wants to prove it in pro school. His mistake was that he approached a couple of AMLU guys and asked if he could tak with them after the game. They agreed and tore him a new one. These are single A guys and have little room to toss around any attitude. You and I were both there...most A umpires are mutts.

He then found his name on the website that was mentioned in another thread. This guy called everyone he knew and asked why he was being treated so badly. Word got around and he recieved an email telling him that if he showed up at either school, they would ride him into the ground and make sure he never got offered a chance to work in the Minors. That is totally classless and not the least bit professional.

I've taught guys that got good enough to merit my assignments. I didn't resent them and am mature enough to know that being passed by is part of life. He was offered games based on his ability. He accepted them and was encouraged by the League Director to go to school and get hired. If these schlubs stand in his way, the tirade against AMLU will endure. I cannot fathom how you can justify those guys not wanting the best available umpire out there in teh field with them. I've worked with guys who do all kinds of crap off the field - I don't care. I only want the best umpire along side me when the deuce hits the fan. These AMLU guys are fooling themselves if they think the next batch of hires doesn't think they made a huge bargaining mistake. Like my friend, he just wants a shot to prove himself. Maybe that will be the downfall after all. Enough guys will realize that they don't want any part of the union so it will implode. Unions do that you know.

WWTB,

I don't support many of the things that AMLU did and said about amateur umpires working as replacements and I've told a couple of them how I felt. I did support thier belief, as I think you do, that they needed better pay and treatment for the job they do. With all of that said, I'd have to say your friend should have thought about the consequences before he took an MiLB game as a replacement.

The people I knew who worked those games did them for a few reasons 1) To see if they were good enough in their own mind to be a PRO umpire 2) Because either they or their assignor had an established relationship with the GM and they felt like it was just another assignment 3) I can't really put it into words but one guy had a reason about an umpire that had been released and treatly unfairly (still don't get all of the logic on this one). At any rate, none of them were looking to be professional umpires in the future.

Whether it's right or not, it's likely that most AMLU guys aren't going to want a replacement to join their ranks even if he goes through all of the legitimate steps to get to PRO ball. Since the instructors at schools have wide latitude over who they recommend/reject for PBUC, if they don't like a guy because he is a replacement, then that's they way it will go. I also think (based on the chronology I read into your post) it was suicide for him to go meet up with a couple of current umpires after he had recently been a replacement.

I do not question anyone's motives who served as a replacement. I was not asked to serve but would have declined and I have my reasons. All I have said is like anything else, choices have consequences. If you are prepared to live with those consequences, then how you choose is up to you ....

Lawrence

Food for thought...

Anyone recall which replacement umpires were hired by MLB when their umpires went on strike? I'm pretty certain that they were happy to prove themselves and realized that by accepting the opportunity to fill in, they would make the transition tougher. Yet, they still were allowed to don the AL and NL with pride. It seems that the MiLB guys might need to learn a thing about professionalism as well as business negotiation.

another avenue?
 

WWTB, what about your friend contacting PBUC directly? I heard they might be starting their own umpire school.