Is anyone else sick and tired ...
 

Is anyone else sick and tired of watching Tim McLelland mail it in? Can't he step aside and allow someone who isn't bored with umpiring have a shot? It doesn't even matter anymore. He kicks calls and strolls around like the game's an annoyance to him.

What happened?

Since he stopped working from a knee (injury), he's been like Lerch behind the plate. Just awful. And that's a shame, because he used to be one of the best.

But you can't fire these guys, and no one has the balls to tell him he can't work any more, I guess. Pity.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Lurch.JPG

Has he missed calls? Been out of position? What's the problem?

Yup. Padres vs. Rockies, 2007 one game playoff. Game ending play at the plate.

Plus, announcers have come to hate him because his calls are now so dreadfully slow. They don't know if it's a ball or a strike.

I know some MLB umpire lovers think that these guys have earned the right to do whatever they want to do on the field. Not me. I think they should be the standard bearer of what umpires should be. The best of the best.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

And, honestly Kyle, the comparison with Lurch is a little unfair. Lurch regularly showed more quickness and interest than McClelland. Nice try.

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.

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.:)

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

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.

Yeah, and I always defended Greg Bonin for his "timing," but McClelland makes Bonin look like Frank Pulli in comparison. At least when Bonin called them, there was enthusiasm.

Saw T Mac work tonight. I thought he did great job. His timing isn't as slow as described in any post.

He just isn't as herky jerky as most umpires.

I'm still trying to figure out just how Tim is "an embarrassment to his profession." Just who is embarrassed? I'm certainly not, and my peers who are familiar with Tim aren't, and I doubt Tim's MLB peers are embarrassed.

Oh, okay ... I guess he's a source of pride, then.

And, watching him somnambulate through his U1 performance last night is what got me going. His laziness and disinterest are more glaring out there than when he works the plate.

Geez, I remember when I liked him ... and defended him. It's sad when any baseball performer hangs on too long.

Kevin - so what your saying basically is: MLB either knows he's a poor umpire and condones it, or isn't aware of it because they don't watch/evaluate their umpires, and because he has longevity they refuse to take any action?

MLB umpires have a powerful union, and the hiring/firing decisions are not quite as cut-and-dried as your dilemma suggests.

In fairness, while working third last night, McClelland lazily strolled to a point that was fairly near a good position and correctly called Torii Hunter safe at third on a missed tag after the ball beat him by 12 feet. I would have expected McClelland to call him out to shorten the inning as he usually does on close ones, but instead he got it right.

You have to give credit when it's due.

This thread is ridiculous.

Yeah, I agree. Anytime people say things I don't like or don't want to hear, I say it's ridiculous as well.:rolleyes:

Actually I never made any posts in this thread other than "what happened?"

My main contention is that it reflects poorly on the profession of umpiring to have a lazy, disinterested veteran performing questionably when there are scores of qualified and keenly interested umpires champing at the bit to get a shot.

Have some pride and step aside. It's the big leagues.

Kyle I do not think we will ever get the "best of the best" unless the dinamics change.

In other professions you can make a decent living at the apprentice (learning ) level before you move up. In other words while you are "earning your stripes" you are not starving.

Look at the pay scale of a minor league umpire. Heck you can make more money by being a manager at Walmart.

Also, I believe you have so many years in the minors to "make it" after that you simply get a letter from MLB telling you MLB no longer requires your services. No severance pay no nothing.

How is that kind of system going to attract the "best of the best" It attracts those that can Live within those perameters. Ie; no family to support or if you are lucky a wife who makes good bucks etc. etc.

Also, being a MLB umpire is like being on the US Supreme Court meaning you are there for life for all practical purposes. How many spots are open each year? It is not that many

Therefore, until the dinamics change IMO, you will not see the best of the best.

Pete Booth

I find it just amazing that the same folks who always bash Froemming are willing to fall all over themselves to defend McClelland. Bruce at least went through the motions of hustling.

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?...

Perspective police, please!

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.

Kevin,

Nope. I have not experienced any symptoms of either illness or fatigue due to watching Tim McLelland umpire a baseball game.

Thank you for your concern.

JM

;) :d

Post of the Month nominee!:cool:

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.

Every time I see this thread title, I think "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.":p

Well, I think Kyle knows that. I happen to agree with his idea but I know a plan like that will not happen anytime soon.