"real umpires"

[SanDiegoSteve]

And what about those umpires who are trained well, and work Varsity HS baseball, and also choose to work any level of baseball presented to them, just because it's baseball?

I began working Varsity in my second season, and that's all I worked as far as HS went. But I also would work any lower youth ball level, adult semi-pro leagues, collegiate wood bat leagues, and any other games that I was assigned, including Little League (which pays $40 for Majors here, BTW) because I love baseball, and I don't care what level game it is.

I still can't figure out why the line seems to be drawn at Varsity HS to be a real umpire. HS ball is not at all difficult to umpire. I'm sorry, it just isn't! I would argue more that none of us are real umpires unless we are working MLB. Those guys don't consider us real umpires, any more than we consider Little League umpires to be real umpires.

So, unless I see you on Sports Center every night, don't consider yourself a real umpire. I worked Varsity steadily from 1987 through 2005, and I still am not a real umpire. Damn.