Is anyone else sick and tired ...

[johnnyg08]

Would it have made a difference if he sold the heck out of it and still "got it wrong" in the eyes of the other side?

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

Would it have made a difference if he sold the heck out of it and still "got it wrong" in the eyes of the other side?

Speaking as a Padres fan: Absolutely.

It's one thing to miss a close call (who hasn't done that). But quite another to just stand there like you're in a fog. It just looks bad.

[mbyron]

Oh right. MLB should hire and fire umpires based on fans' and announcers' opinions.

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Oh right. MLB should hire and fire umpires based on fans' and announcers' opinions.

Well, maybe.

MLB is in the entertainment business, like it or not. It's a show. If part of that show isn't working, you may want to rethink it.

In a pure sense MLB would be evaluating umpires, and have the best product on the field every year. Obviously that doesn't happen. These guys have become like line workers at a GM plant. Complacent.

Look, I get why these guys don't want to leave these gigs. The money is FINALLY worth it, and they've got nothing else to fall back on. They're not like NFL officials, who actually have other jobs. This is all they know. They've given up a good hunk of their lives to get there, and don't want that paycheck to end. I get it. There just should be a better way, as these guys hang around far too long.

[mbyron]

Yeah, it's the show. MLB isn't hiring flashy, attractive umpires. They're hiring guys who get it right virtually every time.

You have found a case where (you claim) McClelland missed a call 2 years ago. I submit that this rate of errors is within league tolerances.

McClelland is still top-rated by players and managers, for whatever that's worth.

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Well, maybe.

MLB is in the entertainment business, like it or not. It's a show. If part of that show isn't working, you may want to rethink it.

In a pure sense MLB would be evaluating umpires, and have the best product on the field every year. Obviously that doesn't happen. These guys have become like line workers at a GM plant. Complacent.

Look, I get why these guys don't want to leave these gigs. The money is FINALLY worth it, and they've got nothing else to fall back on. They're not like NFL officials, who actually have other jobs. This is all they know. They've given up a good hunk of their lives to get there, and don't want that paycheck to end. I get it. There just should be a better way, as these guys hang around far too long.

Kylejt.. how many calls do you miss a yrs?.... Im sure more than 2.. The guy misses a call and all of a sudden he should be fired?... Ok next time you miss a call, can we fire you?...

[Kevin Finnerty]

Perspective police, please!

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

Kylejt.. how many calls do you miss a yrs?.... Im sure more than 2.. The guy misses a call and all of a sudden he should be fired?... Ok next time you miss a call, can we fire you?...

Hmmm...I believe the title of the post was "Is anyone sick and tired..." Who asked for other commentary unless you are among the sick and tired? He wanted to know who is sick and tired, not who isn't.

[Ump153]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Hmmm...I believe the title of the post was "Is anyone sick and tired..." Who asked for other commentary unless you are among the sick and tired? He wanted to know who is sick and tired, not who isn't.

The question "Is anyone else sick and tired of watching Tim McLelland mail it in?" can be answered in either yes or no. If the OP only wanted to hear from those who agree with him, he should have said so.

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

Kylejt.. how many calls do you miss a yrs?..

Plenty, (not really, maybe one) but you're missing the whole point.

Here's the problem, as I see it. It starts at the beginning. Want to be an MLB umpire? First you need to go to the five week school in Florida in January. If you have a job, you can kiss it goodbye, 'cause nobody can take a five week vacation. In college? Five weeks off in January kills your Spring semester. So now you've narrowed the pool of eligible candidates down, and not for the good.

So now you've got a group of guys that have been through the school, and made the cut. Congrats! Now get in your Toyota Tercel, eat at McDonalds, and sleep in endless La Quinta Inns for the next eight years. Now you're 28 years old, and have nothing to show for it. Well, unless one of the guys in THE SHOW either dies, or has some sort of amputation.

Then, if some sort of miracle happens, and you do get pulled up, you'd think you'd do everything possible to stay there. The money is FINALLY worth it (not really. Not going home for months on end can't justify that money to me), and you've MADE IT. Cool. But then you look around, see guys Cadillacing it, and getting their 30 years in. So what's their incentive to have the same crisp mechanics and hustle they had down in Rookie league? None. And that's the problem. They answer to no one.

Possible solution: Create a large pool of umpires from AA and up, and rotate them into MLB games. Instead of the same, tired souls you see day in and day out, you'd see a group of go getters. Make the pay decent, with a bonus for MLB games. Do a good job, you'll get asked back. Don't, and you won't. Then you get a bigger(better) group of folks willing to make this a career.

Just a thought.

[mattmets]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Plenty, (not really, maybe one) but you're missing the whole point.

Here's the problem, as I see it. It starts at the beginning. Want to be an MLB umpire? First you need to go to the five week school in Florida in January. If you have a job, you can kiss it goodbye, 'cause nobody can take a five week vacation. In college? Five weeks off in January kills your Spring semester. So now you've narrowed the pool of eligible candidates down, and not for the good.

So now you've got a group of guys that have been through the school, and made the cut. Congrats! Now get in your Toyota Tercel, eat at McDonalds, and sleep in endless La Quinta Inns for the next eight years. Now you're 28 years old, and have nothing to show for it. Well, unless one of the guys in THE SHOW either dies, or has some sort of amputation.

Then, if some sort of miracle happens, and you do get pulled up, you'd think you'd do everything possible to stay there. The money is FINALLY worth it (not really. Not going home for months on end can't justify that money to me), and you've MADE IT. Cool. But then you look around, see guys Cadillacing it, and getting their 30 years in. So what's their incentive to have the same crisp mechanics and hustle they had down in Rookie league? None. And that's the problem. They answer to no one.

Possible solution: Create a large pool of umpires from AA and up, and rotate them into MLB games. Instead of the same, tired souls you see day in and day out, you'd see a group of go getters. Make the pay decent, with a bonus for MLB games. Do a good job, you'll get asked back. Don't, and you won't. Then you get a bigger(better) group of folks willing to make this a career.

Just a thought.

And the odds of the union letting this happen are.....slightly less than my working an MLB game next week.

Part of the problem with sleeping in your Tercel after eating McDonald's in the La Quinta parking lot is that the AMLU and MiLB see umpires as completely different things. And until that changes, there will be a trickle-up effect as you mention above.

[Kevin Finnerty]

You're in a tough fight defending this guy. He has become an embarrassment to the profession. Just look at him whenever he is on the field. His posturing is as lazy and unprofessional as you will ever see. And that fog that Kyle referred to: he's in it virtually all the time.

He only kicked two calls in last night's game, but it's not completely about that. It's about being and appearing diligent and professional, if not merely awake. If he got most of his calls right like you claim, it would be a somewhat different story, but he doesn't do that either.

When he got stuck in the wrong spot on that season-ending call that he blew against the Padres, he told Tim Tschida afterward, "I didn't really see it, but he must have been safe."

It's disappointing that a vocation that I care so deeply about is being represented at the highest level of competition by someone so lazy and disinterested. Give it up and let a true pro take over. It's the big leagues.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

You're in a tough fight defending this guy.

I'm not defending him. I don't know enough to do that. I'm rejecting the argument that it's time for him to go because the fans and the media don't like his mechanics.

[johnnyg08]

If his ratings/game performance is indeed that bad, wouldn't they phase him out? He misses them just like every-other-umpire...to blame the Padres loss on one play alone is ridiculous. If a person really wanted to argue a point, one could argue that they shouldn't have put themselves in a position for a one game playoff, then to put themselves in a position where seemingly "one call" ended their season.

Pick a game that the Padres lost (any one of the probably more than 50 that they lost that year). Man, if Peavy wouldn't have hung that slider...

Also, I don't personally know any major league umpire...so I don't have ties to any of them so I'm not sniffing anybody's anything.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

Would it have made a difference if he sold the heck out of it and still "got it wrong" in the eyes of the other side?

He got it wrong in the eyes of everyone who has eyes. Hey, I'll let it go when I'm over it, and clearly no Padres fan is over it yet.

Originally Posted by mbyron

I'm not defending him. I don't know enough to do that. I'm rejecting the argument that it's time for him to go because the fans and the media don't like his mechanics.

You are right, he should go because he really blows.

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

If his ratings/game performance is indeed that bad, wouldn't they phase him out? He misses them just like every-other-umpire...to blame the Padres loss on one play alone is ridiculous. If a person really wanted to argue a point, one could argue that they shouldn't have put themselves in a position for a one game playoff, then to put themselves in a position where seemingly "one call" ended their season.

Pick a game that the Padres lost (any one of the probably more than 50 that they lost that year). Man, if Peavy wouldn't have hung that slider...

The bottom line is that Holliday still hasn't touched home plate, and that was indeed the game breaking call. All that talk about how they shouldn't have been in that situation is irrelevant, and is no excuse for missing what was such an obvious call. McClelland acted as if he was tired of the game and just wanted it over, so he called the guy safe. That may not be the case, but it is the image he projects when he makes his "relaxed" (read: weak looking) calls.