Demoting MLB umpires

[MikeStrybel]

John,
I was at a clinic with Tim Tschida shortly after the Clark's story broke. He was hesitant to say but a bit of prodding from the umpires present brought out allegations of memorabilia abuse. Clark had worked some high profile games and allegedly marketed baseballs from those games. It turned out that the balls were frauds. MLB discovered the activities. Apparently there was a history there and fellow umpires knew. He was prosecuted for it if I remember correctly. It's too bad, he was one of the first to wear glasses on the field and brought some levity to the game. The Dave Pallone firing was far more troubling. The Commish at the time was a homophobe who feared bad PR. Maybe you remember the umpire's name, I am on my Droid and won't look it up, who was fired for trying to unionize MLB crews. More bad PR.

Hope all is well. Saw your name attached to the Fall Ball D1 clinic next month. Dress warm.

Mike