Umpiring Politics

[UMP25]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Other sports are relevant if you said that baseball umpiring here has the worst politics.

When compared to baseball umpiring in other areas. I don't work other sports and don't have as many contacts in other sports, so I'm not commenting on those. I'm comparing apples to apples.

If there is all this drama as you suggest (which I honestly do not see that much), then who the hell is getting hurt? I see a lot of umpires working games without having to prove ability or get to certain levels without having to attend any special camp or pay money out of their pocket.

Often a clear illustration of politics at work--when someone who shouldn't be working a certain level is because he's part of the good ole boy network. I see a lot of that in other organizations, and I hear complaints from guys in the many organizations to which I belong. I personally am not affected; I'm just stating what I have seen with my own eyes and from what I've heard from others.

And if you are only talking about the D1 level I can somewhat go there with you. But I worked D1 games and it was without a lot of effort as compared to trying to get a D3 game in two other sports.

It's not just the D1 level. Case in point: I heard strong grumbling coming from several respected umpires about a certain individual who this year worked a D3 Regional and this year's D3 World Series in Appleton. This umpire is not overly good (I've worked with him several times over the years), but that's not the main issue; rather, he has a criminal record, having been arrested (IIRC for assault or battery) not too long ago for an on-field altercation with his partner at the end of a D3 college game. This was even a story in Referee Magazine when it happened.

The common rhetorical question I was asked by guys who were grumbling about this: "How the heck did a guy like that get those assignments?" Let's just say not based on his overall umpiring abilities. I had no dog in that show; it was no skin off my back that the guy was working it. I'm just providing this as an example.

Now this is just my opinion and it does not mean it is right. But I laugh when people try to make baseball umpiring around here as if no one can function without someone pulling them down.

That's the problem--too many guys here think of baseball umpiring around here as a zero sum game and as a situation where they have to pull someone else down in order to bring themselves up. I'm addressing only baseball here and am not concerned about other sports; those aren't germane to this specific thread.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by UMP25

It's not just the D1 level. Case in point: I heard strong grumbling coming from several respected umpires about a certain individual who this year worked a D3 Regional and this year's D3 World Series in Appleton. This umpire is not overly good (I've worked with him several times over the years), but that's not the main issue; rather, he has a criminal record, having been arrested (IIRC for assault or battery) not too long ago for an on-field altercation with his partner at the end of a D3 college game. This was even a story in Referee Magazine when it happened.

That's OK -- a few years ago someone worked in Appleton who had previously lost his HS license for inappropriate behavior with young girls/women -- he also lost a teaching job over it and continued to work HS sports until the NEXT incident. Then he worked the D3 WS.

He was subsequently arrested for felony stalking of a minor female and spent time in jail, was paroled, and re-incarcerated for (I guess) violating his parole.

Frankly, I didn't think he was much of an umpire, either.

[UMP25]

A role model for umpires, isn't he, Rich?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

That's OK -- a few years ago someone worked in Appleton who had previously lost his HS license for inappropriate behavior with young girls/women -- he also lost a teaching job over it and continued to work HS sports until the NEXT incident. Then he worked the D3 WS.

He was subsequently arrested for felony stalking of a minor female and spent time in jail, was paroled, and re-incarcerated for (I guess) violating his parole.

Frankly, I didn't think he was much of an umpire, either.

And then he was promoted to doing D1 ball, right?

[JRutledge]

Ump 25,

Remember you brought this up, I do not recall anyone making this claim or not making the claim about Chicago area specifically, I am just commenting on your statements.

And yes other sports matter when many of the baseball umpires I work with, also work other sports. And the college baseball umpires I work with, also work other college sports. So I am often dealing with the same people. And if there is backstabbing as you suggested, it does not seem to hurt anyone. And I can tell you the multi-sport officials are not phased that much either based on the conversations I have with them. And often I have work with people that have much less experience than I and often are breaking into the level we are working. And they certainly have not passed me in my assignments. I am not seeing the issues you raise. Which also makes me think attitude that you bring to the table plays a role on some level. Because I would not know what a big time assignment is other than post season games. And even in those cases when I have gotten a so-called big time assignment, there are people that have no idea I worked the game or was assigned.

Again, I am sure this is more about perspective than whether there really is this politics you claim are so bad. That does not mean what you and others does not see is real, but I would bet most umpires that work football or basketball will scoff at claim of how bad it is, when they really have seen some issues in those other sports. Then again I do not buy into the whole politics issues anyway for a lot of reasons I have stated over the years.

Peace