Mike didn't make it because of who his father was. He busted his A$$ in the Minors all throughout the 90s.

I am not saying he did get their without work. And I am sure that his education and being around his father helped him in ways it would not help others. But when you are giving more than one jobs in multiple sports to guys that dad was a former professional official, that just wreaks of nepotism. And that is part of the problem, because it does not seem like the best are getting hired in many cases. Again, all I am wondering is why can the MLB have a better staff and why they cannot get rid of a guy or two. We all know guys that just do some goofy stuff and those guys never get fired. I know that this is in large part because of the union contract, but MLB should have some power to get better guys into place. It is embarrassing to have guys that are so big that could not get hired to work HS games and screw up, but they keep their jobs. A college guy does not make weight and they get rid of them without much fanfare.

Peace

Maybe he needs to sleep with all the Selig family since he is a lecagy.......:D

His dad died long before he ever became an umpire. Nepotism had zero to do with it. He didn't get any breaks because of who his dad was, he earned his way due to merit. I was there.

Nepotism is not limited to what happened in this specific situation. I know many people that an individual's parents and got breaks based largely on that association. Again, I think you are focused way too much on this guy rather than the overall point I am making. My point is if this guy or others keep making bad calls like this that would get us fired at HS games if tape showed, then why is that not something that could eventually get a guy fired from MLB if they cannot keep up with the rest of the staff? There have been a lot of very bad misses this season and in past post seasons but those individuals seem to keep their rank. That is all I am asking, not whether this guy earned his spot. But even in the other sports there is a similar claim that the sons of former pro officials earned their spot too, but that does not mean there is no nepotism involved either. I am sure there are thousands that could and would be qualified to work just like the guys that are there now.

Both the NFL and NBA gets rid of a portion of their staff every year for their performance.

Peace

You were there?

Ten years in the minors is a long time. I suppose the failed resignation fiasco didn't hurt his chances either.

I was there during his long minor league career, and since he was a member of my association, we heard of his progress continually.

BTW, What is a "lecagy?"

No it's not. Guccione and Drake spent that long in AAA. Unless your name is Wendlestedt, ten years is not long at all.

Does it wreak of nepotism when the child of an athlete makes it to the pros or major Division 1? Griffey? Ripken? Jordan? Alomar?

I'm not saying you're wrong about ML umpires sticking around when they can't cut it, but claiming nepotism is at play doesn't seem accurate to me. It could simply be that the natural tendencies that made their fathers ML umpires were passed on to the children.

Two out of hundreds that never make the cut is a pretty low precentage rate.

It's a secret word for jock sniffer.....................:)

Agree with your point.

Save 'wreak' for what you do with havoc; you want 'reek' here, which is the stinky one.

Damn spell checkers. :)

??

Your statement was that ten years in the minors is a long time...as if it were unusual. It is not. In fact, with a few exceptions it is the norm of those who move up in recent years, and looling at the line up in AAA, it will remain the norm.

Your attempt to change the comparison to those who make it and those who do not is meaningless. There are more who do not make it than do at every stage of MiLB umpiring, regarless of years in service.

Shut up.

I was just copying Jeff.

I blame Reagan.