Change in CPL (long-ish post)
 

I'm fairly certain I'm going to ripped for this, but I just want to express an opinion on something...

I recently read - either here or on another board - that PBUC and MLB (maybe it was MiLB?) have made an agreement with the Coastal Plains League to fill their umpire positions with those what didn't get a contract from PBUC at the end of their camp. I've thought about this hard for a few days, and I have to say, I think it stinks.

As I mentioned earlier on this board, I went down to Evans this year. I had a great time, I think I learned things, and I should be a better umpire for it (hard to say yet, as I've had all of five games this year). I also didn't make the cut for a pro job. Fair enough; I had some hopes, and thought the numbers might turn out, but I wasn't good enough. I have no regrets going, and I don't know about anyone else, but MY mid-life crisis will end up being tax deductable. :)

With that, though, a door has closed on part of my umpire career. I'm not getting into the pro game, unless I work my way into being a fill-in in my area. So I'm limited to college, and the college summer leagues, and the like. But my organization used to do the Peninsula Pilots games in Newport News, so now, another door in my umpire career has been closed, but not necessarily because of talent or lack thereof.

Full disclosure: I am not at the level in my association to do those games yet, but it was an aspiration of mine. Despite fittyump's accusation of my ego being fragile in a (since deleted) recent post, I think I have the ability to get there, but I'm a 2nd year guy in this association. I've long games with college-age player in Australia; maybe not quite to CPL level, but certainly above the average HS game. So I could have probably gotten a game there one day, but now that's over.

I don't think it's right for the pro aspirants to take jobs from we amateur lifers. Yes, I'm aware there are college summer leagues that take pro school grads, to give them some more seasoning for another try; we had several at Evans 2008, and it must have worked, since what little I know of "The List," several of them were 2nd years with Northwoods League experience. But, and this is important, those that go to Northwoods and the other leagues that were in Kissimmee recruiting, still competed for those jobs. Yes, pro school grads - those that came well regarded, at least - got top priority, but it was still in theory a competitive gig. This CPL deal is pushing out qualified people with the PBUC people.

And yeah, on that part of my disappointment, I'm sure it's some "sour grapes" - it potentially closes a door to me, so I don't like it. I wanted a shot at something more than just FED games. So, I'm human - that's how most of us generate our opinions on something.

The other part is where I'll probably really get ripped, since some have made it very clear where they stand on unions and all that. I know the AMLU probably had no say in this, and their current members wouldn't be the ones bumping people from slots; I get that. But at the school, during group discussions, there was a lot of talk about the union, and some talk of solidarity within the umpire community. No one was overtly political about it - that happens more here - but it was all understood.

Let me say that although I didn't get to know the instructors THAT well at Evans - that's not what you're there for, to socialize - they all were very hard working, and were all approachable, and seemed genuinely happy to answer a question or explain things. And they generally seemed likable guys. AND I know they get paid f--k-all to do their jobs, and that is a huge shame for a $6B industry.

But it does make it hard for me to man the barricades and show my solidarity, when something like this ends up happening. Again, I know it's not current guys, but some that work the CPL will get tapped by PBUC, so it's an issue of pro guys pushing amateur guys out. At least, that's the way I read it. If it turns out the AMLU pushed against it, either publically or behind the scenes, I'd love to hear about it. But when one wonders, if it ever happens again, how a person might decide to scab down the road, these are the things that get filed away for when it comes time to decide.

Go ahead and fire away, forum. But please know that although I'm unhappy about this development, I'm genuinely conflicted about it, as my above paragraphs might show. I just wanted to vent a little "publicly," since writing to MLB or PBUC to voice displeasure would be the biggest waste of my f'ing time, ever.

....and besides, the weather and physics discussions were getting boring.

Hokie:

Your comments regarding AMLU getting the blame for something they did not do and, indeed, are against, are exactly what I and RichMSN predicted last week, and what the AMLU will need to publicly address at some time in the future.

I can assure you, they are not happy about this, either. It will be interesting to see how they address the issue with PBUC and how they address it with the amateurs. I wish them well.

Keep your chin up
 

Well written and well placed. There are umpires on here with the k&e to respond to your post. Beware of underlings w/no experience and a biased opinion, such as myself. It boils down to who wants to work 9 innings for less than $90/game. Apparantly, the line is still longer than the need.

As far as solidarity is concerned, I find very little in place before or after the strike. Each person is an island. While some stood together, many groups were standing on opposite sides. What you will not hear, here, however unfortunate, is about the mass resignations that took place after the 07 AMLU strike. Some well-known people in high places with more $$$ than you and I can shake a stick crossed the picket line to get off their jollies. Many ex-AMLU members crossed the picket line against their former comrad's well-wishes. You may hear the BS betwee amateur/NCAA and milb/pro umps seeking the best for themselves, but that was just the overcast clouds hiding the real thunder and lightning show between PBUC and AMLU.

The amateurs that go to the Coastal Plains League are potential future AMLU members. I would think there isn't much they can do about it. From the looks of things the Evans and Wendlestadt schools could be in trouble as far as sending trainees to PBUC, if PBUC decides to take over their own training and supply these college summer leagues with umpires. It may what the future holds as change is always a constant in the labor force.

Everybody saw how well the last strike worked and PBUC more than likely now knows that it can get any umpire that crawls out of the woodwork to do it's games. The AMLU is not at this present time able to flex any muscle as far as major labor issues are concerned. Their best bet right now is taking care of it's members and setting it's sights on the future. AMLU needs to prepare for changes and recognize those changes that come along as to whether they are harmful or actually benefit the union.

They already have one poster squawking about how it isn't fair that he might not get a chance to to summer collegiate ball. This country is in a recession and companies are going to get as lean and mean as possible. If PBUC and the CPL decides this is the best and cheapest option, I guarantee it will happen in spite of the wishes of a few amateurs. The AMLU needs to protect all future potential members if it wants to play ball and forget all this nonsense that solidarity exists. I wish them well, also.

Imagine that. My post gets deleted but it was important enough to make an impression on you. Which is why I replied as I did.

Besides nothing. The sooner you learned that pro ball isn't a real option for 90+% of the Class A umpires, much less you, the better off you aare.

Garth & SA hit it on the head. AMLU has zero to do with this - all PBUC & CPL. I doubt anyone here knows all the facts (Did PBUC go to CPL or the other way around? How long was this in the works?)

It would be very interesting to ask Justin Klemm for a comment and see what happens ...

though most of you already know this, i'll precede this post with the disclaimer for those that do not. even though i retired from the game, i am still serving as the 1st vice president of the amlu. that being said, i can assure you that this issue with the CPL is something that has been talked about among the board members. we are still in the process of getting all of the info before we address it publicly.

what i can say is that we, meaning the minor league umpires and the amlu, had NO input whatsoever on this recent development. we were not contacted prior to the agreement, and, in fact, it caught us by surprise as we heard it second hand from graduates of the schools that had attended the pbuc evaluation course. we have fielded numerous calls from our amateur brethren voicing their concerns; which were very similar to the one voiced in the original post.

as i stated above, we are still trying to get all of the info straight before addressing it, and when we do, you can be sure that we will. what i am willing to say publicly is that many, if not all, of the umpires that worked in the CPL in seasons past supported us during our work stoppage, and we greatly appreciate that fact. if this development comes to fruition, i would hope that any doubts that these guys had about not working in our stead would be put to rest as the effects of the long arm of pbuc will be felt outside of the professional ranks for the first time.

as far as solidarity between amateur and professional umpires and the goings-on of the strike in 06, these are things that the new board has been learning from and trying to roll with. obviously there were mistakes made, and hindsight, of course, is 20/20. we can't go back and change the past, but we can strive to make things better for the future. that is the mindset of the current amlu executive board, and hopefully it will spread throughout our membership.

Wow, thanks....
 

Actually, the entire thread was deleted, for some reason. Don't know if my response to that was ever seen, much less replied to.

Thanks for that insight. You stay up all night pondering that? I would say my end of camp review told me pro ball wasn't an option. And yet I'm still trying to be as good as I can be. Imagine.

You're posting behind an internet alias. You're not saying anything publicly.

Tom, isn't it?

CPL Issues
 

HokieUmp has made some very good points as have others, but I would like to clarify a couple of issues. First HokieUmp wrote:

That is not true. While some of the umpires in his association may have worked the Peninsula Pilots in Hampton, his organization did not "do the Peninsula Pilots." The Coastal Plain League had its own separate staff of umpires, almost all of whom were on Division I staffs and large portion of those were Conference tournament umpires or NCAA regional or super regional umpires. The staff had some of the most talented DI umpires in the southeast. The game fee was $125 for two man. So a lot of very good umpires are without the ability to work the highest level amateur baseball available to them during the summer. I don't, however, think most of them will not work, so there will be a "trickle-down" effect into other levels of baseball. It will be an interesting summer in the southeast.

To my knowledge all but 1 umpire on that staff did not work minor league baseball during the strike. So, as a group, the CPL staff was extremely supportive of the AMLU. No one on the CPL staff including the umpire "supervisor" new of the deal to bring the PBUC umpires into the CPL. (In fact it was thread on this board that made the staff and its "supervisor" aware that a deal had been made.) So initially, there was some confusion and even anger by some staff umpires toward MiLB umpires for no other reason than initially there was no separation in their minds between PBUC and AMLU. Thankfully some of that has abated.

I am very thankful for the AMLU's support of the CPL staff in this issue.

I'm in the same boat as HokieUmp on this one, in more ways than one.

I live within 1 hr of 3 of the teams and a 4th coming soon. Many of the college guys in our association do call these games. As I'm working my 4th point of contact off to move up the ranks to be considered for college level ball and some of these CPL games. I have no asperations of going pro, but want to raise as high up the amateur ranks as possible. Now to see this opportunity slip away from me is disappointing.

the alias is/was used because posting on public forums is specifically addressed in the CBA as something that isn't allowed. upon my retirement i "came out" since the CBA no longer applied to me. i thought about changing my user name, but i didn't think it would really make a difference. furthermore, even if my user name read "amluvicepresidenttomclarkefrommassachusetts" it could still be considered an alias as anyone could have created an account with this name. that is why i preceded my post with the disclaimer. and finally, there is a difference in me saying something publicly on this forum, and the amlu saying something publicly to the world, which is why i said, "what I am willing to say publicly..." sorry if there was any confusion about who was speaking.

my bad....
 

Whoa, big fella! Taking the word "games" after "Peninsula Pilots" changes the meaning completely!! :)

Anyway, thanks for that clarification on how the CPL was staffed. I didn't know that's how it worked. I've only been around for one CPL season, and the one time I went to a game, it was two guys from my association, so I translated that into "our association works the games here." My bad.

Like I said, I figured the AMLU didn't have any say in the matter, and may also have been caught as off-guard as the college guys affected. And that's part of the reason for my ambiguous feelings on the matter.

I mean, look, would it take food off my table? God, no; if I were umpiring to keep my household running, well, I wouldn't be. The pro game doesn't pay well until you're at the top, and at least in my association, there's a lot of guys working, and not enough games - to make it a "living," that is. I'd have to work other sports to do that, and I'm not willing to do that. I'm an umpire, and that's it.

My angst is more over a chance to work a "bigger" stage, if you will. Or as big a one as I can. Just find me the right target at which to vent my anger, then, and it's all good. :)

Dude, I didn't think it was squawking, but okay... all right, maybe it was. And it's squawking well ahead of when if affects me, but as tcarilli mentioned, it's not like the college guys in various associations won't get games. So there's a pushback all the way down our chain of command.

And look, let's not blame a recession and the economy for this. MLB is already lean and mean when it comes to offciating. They make big bags of money every day, since fans don't hold the game accountable, and spend nothing on the officials at the pro level. And although I really don't know THAT much about PBUC, from what I've been taught about the process, it's that PBUC and MiLB hold all the cards, and minor league umps don't have much choice, since there's always someone else coming through pro school. AND, MiLB also makes lots of money, too - they get fans at the gate, and farm systems get good money from the parent club.

If anything, the economy will be used as an excuse to justify the move. Something like "well, we see potential in these umpires, and don't want them to spend more money on pro school in these hard times, so we're creating our own little "farm system" to oversee their progress." Or something like that.

I don't think this has anything to do with the economy. This seems to me to be move by PBUC to have a "stable" of on-call guys that they know are working a reasonably high caliber of wood bat baseball while they are waiting for a slot to open up in the minor leagues. I think the logic behind this move is reasonably clear from a PBUC standpoint.

The effects of this move on all of those involved are much more complicated. I don't know how many umpires were on the staff of the CPL but it was definitely over 20 umpires as the league stretched through 3 states including my home state of NC. I know guys affected by this move and the only one I have spoken to is not happy. I can think of several guys I know who work in my American Legion association who also work CPL. Will they be effecting how many AL games I work this summer? I don't know.

Pete Bock is the president of the CPL. Pete was an umpire in college baseball (as well as GM for the Durham Bulls) when I was an undergrad. I would hope he considered the effects on all those involved before he agreed to this...

Lawrence

I think a wait and see attitude may be best here. Depending on how things go (to date at least one reserve has been called) it may end up less an issue than we think.

From prior experience I would guess that at least 1/2 the reserve list will either decide not to umpire CPL or will be called up to MiLB by June. It's not uncommon to lose, for a multitude of reasons, several short season / A umpires between spring training & July.

That's when it is likely to get interesting in and for the CPL.

It will depend on the final agreement. Initial plans called for replacing those reserves who got called up with other reserves to maintain a certain number of MiLB umpires. Should they run out of PBUC reserves, it was mentioned that they may ask the school for names of other grads who did not make it to PBUC to maintain that number

It sounds as if PBUC is preparing a statement on this and some clarification could be forthcoming.

Hi Garth:

Is the aforementioned effecting your son?

Also, in your opinion depending upon what happens will the PRO Schools start to lose potential umpires because the PBUC will be conducting their own training?

OR

will baseball start to draw Professional officials the way football / basketball do.

Thanks

Pete Booth

No, the CPL issue involves this year's reserves and possibly a few pro school grads who did not attend PBUC. It affects the amateur umpires who formerly worked CPL the most.

My son and I do not discuss political issues. I enjoy watching him work and learning about new mechanics and rule enforcement from him, but I don't debate union or PBUC issues with him. He's the pro umpire in the family, not me, and those issues affect his life, not mine.

Matt's just a second year guy and wants to concentrate on getting better and moving up. He has his opinions, but pretty much confines them to the AMLU meetings and fellow AMLU members.

If PBUC, as first rumored, allows reservists who worked CPL but who did not get a contract to come back to PBUC the following season without returning to proschool, it will reduce the number of spots that the two school have to offer their grads. This is obviously a concern to both schools.

Some feel that this is the second step in MLB/MiLB efforts to take over the training of umpires; the first being "Camp Compton." I don't know how true that is. It's interesting though, that despite the "Major League" hype about Camp Compton, the instructors were primarily Evans and Wendlestedt instructors. The MLUmpires, according to one ML official, were "window dressing."

Yes it does affect CPL umpires a great deal. Many of those umpires have been working in the CPL since its inception eleven years ago. Many depended on the income from those games to supplement a variety of things. Many used the CPL as a way to hone their abilities.

It will be very interesting to see what happens when umpires who did not attend PBUC (ie, the guys not good enough to be honors grads) begin working the CPL. While the level of baseball may be similar to that which first year umpires may experience, handling college "all star" teams is a very different matter than handling professional teams with big clubs laying down rules for acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

Read. It's right there in front of you, Booth and it has beeb for years now. MLB wants to control their umpires cradle to grave. They want to dump the fat ones, get more minorities, etc. MLB is going to shoot the old schools and their Old Guard in the head.

One reason is this redikulous reserve against replay and technology. Old Gurad stuff that will, thenk the Lord, do them in.

Here is where I pray that Dummie Reagan was right and that trickle-down works. :D

How, then, does one explain the number of MiLB umpires that have been persuaded to post at Rob Drake's site?

Garth,

The initial info was that it was going to be OK for the pro guys to post. As we have seen the past couple of days MLB has asked Rob to take the site down, so I guess that changed.

My bad. I hadn't looked at it in a couple of weeks. I didn't know it was gone.

I was confused though. A number of MiLB umpires had explained that, as Tom said, the CBA prohibited their participation in public boards. When Rob started requesting they "join" his board, I knew some were hesitant, but followed through when they saw MLB umpires posting there.

It is regrettable that it's gone. RIP.

Challenge
 

Guys, 50 of your breathren are losing their jobs, no fault of their own.
They could play hardball and find how quick the CPL can hire 50 new and improved replacements.
Wouldn't it be better to include those 14 young men in your new group of 64 and mentor them?
I know the concept is stange. But it also allows you the opportunity to set them straight.
If you do a good job, most of them won't show up for the 1st ballgame.
The rest will leave as soon as it gets too hot for them.
Once, your down to 50 again, or accept 1 or 2 of the best of them, its back to baseball for the rest of you.
No one cares about your position, nor your feelings, nor hesitate to find their place on an empty CPL diamond.
There are 100's of other umpires waiting for some opportunity to work in the CPL and your walking out and making room for them.
Just thought I would take the opportunity to mention it 2 months before you walk away from a good thing.

PS: I'm available June thru August. Have place to stay in DC, Knoxville, Raleigh and can rent place in between. :p

You still don't get it.
 

I will try to explain again. I am sorry that I have been ineffective at describing how the CPL has been staffed over the last 11 years. So let me try again:

The CPL hired a staff of 50+ umpires most of whom are D1 staff umpires to work its games. The CPL decided to contract with PBUC instead, for 14 umpires to make up its staff. There is no association that books the CPL, so there is no association for the new 14 to join. The CPL staff was released on mass by the league to make way for the 14 umpires who may or may not have been to the PBUC evaluation camp depending upon how many jobs there ultimately are. The CPL, from what I understand, plans to pay these umpires between $50 and $75 per game. The former CPL staff was paid $125 per man per game.

I hope I have done a better job at making this clear. If I haven't, I will try again.

There are those who care about the positions. No one has asked anyone to care about his feelings. Again, the CPL umpires did not walk out.

If you are interested in working the CPL, while the DC and Knoxville living arrangements probably won't be helpful the Raleigh arrangement may be but I don't see how under the current agreement with PBUC. I would suggest that you contact PBUC or the CPL directly because there is no association, group, chapter, or whatever that has covered or will cover the games in the CPL. Although it is my understanding that you will, at least initially, have to complete the PBUC evaluation camp and failed at getting a job in the game.

Stick around
 

That was a wonderful explanation.