anyone wish Ron Luciano was still around?

kylejt · #1 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 10:25am

Quote:

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I still wish he were still around, as in living. I took the question to mean that, not that he could be an umpire at age 72.

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I watched Joe West in person in Baltimore last week, and I'd take a 72 year old Luciano over him, dead or alive. Joe can't move at all, and can't raise his hands over his shoulders any more. He was U1, and on a towering fly ball near the pole, he never left the dirt, and never made a call. None. And what's he going to do on a trouble ball to the gap? Phone a friend?

MLB is in the entertainment business, like it or not. The way they hire their umpires, and keep them around FAR past their prime is stupid. I'm not saying we need entertainers as arbitors, but they need a higher quality out there the match the players on the field. As it is, these guys stay on the field FAR too long. And having West as their boss won't change things.

Luciano got me into umpiring at age 11. His antics made the game fun to watch, and I emulated those calls when I was a kid. Gunning guys out at first, blowing the smoke off the barrels, and reholstering them was part of the fun. Right or not, I watched games when he umpired.

UMP25 · #2 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 10:38am

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylejt

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MLB is in the entertainment business, like it or not. The way they hire their umpires...

You mean passing up qualified white guys just to hire more minorities simply to look good in the eyes of the public? Discrimination is wrong regardless of color. Too bad MLB doesn't realize this.

Durham · #3 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 10:54am

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMP25

You mean passing up qualified white guys just to hire more minorities simply to look good in the eyes of the public? Discrimination is wrong regardless of color. Too bad MLB doesn't realize this.

Didn't the most qualified guy who happened to be white get the job?

UMP25 · #4 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 10:59am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durham

Didn't the most qualified guy who happened to be white get the job?

Not necessarily.

Durham · #5 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 11:02am

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMP25

Not necessarily.

Ok, maybe a friend of yours is more qualified, but didn't Chris get the job and if he isn't white, he is the lightest skinned brotha that I have ever seen.

UMP25 · #6 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 11:05am

No, no friends involved; and I didn't say that every guy hired was a minority over a white. Believe it or not, MLB was seriously considering bypassing Chris and going to the next guy on the list. Thankfully, they didn't go that route.

JRutledge · #7 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 11:10am

So every time someone white gets passed over by someone of color, the person of color was not "qualified?"

Things like this always make me laugh.

Peace

Durham · #8 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 12:17pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMP25

No, no friends involved; and I didn't say that every guy hired was a minority over a white. Believe it or not, MLB was seriously considering bypassing Chris and going to the next guy on the list. Thankfully, they didn't go that route.

No, the guy they were thinking of was actually 3rd on the list. But I can't wait till the give Angle a full time job, he will get one I just hope he doesn't have to wait 1000 games. He is the best umpire in the system of the guys coming up and he is the most humble guy in the world. I hope for him and his family that he doesn't have to wait 1000.

Raymond · #9 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 03:03pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by UMP25

You mean passing up qualified white guys just to hire more minorities simply to look good in the eyes of the public? Discrimination is wrong regardless of color. Too bad MLB doesn't realize this.

Qualified people of color have been passed over for years and years, decade after decade. What's the difference? Why is it an issue now all of a sudden?

SanDiegoSteve · #10 (**permalink**) Tue Apr 28, 2009, 07:48pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Qualified people of color have been passed over for years and years, decade after decade. What's the difference? Why is it an issue now all of a sudden?

What color? I'm a person of color too, otherwise I would be invisible, then I could really make the big bucks!