The Umpire School

[ukce1861]

The Umpire School

So I ran across this today... Thoughts? This is at MiLB's facility and looks to be run by PBUC.

[Umpire in Chief]

I think it is very interesting. And I'll say what may be on others' minds- Will they show favoritism to their own students at PBUC. Not saying it will,but it I think it lends itself to the question. You will now have 3 schools sending people to PBUC some coming from PBUC's own school I hope their interest is finding the best umpires whether from PBUC Wendelstedt or JEAPU. I think if it does turn out to happen it will be a complete failure.

I'm also very interested in who specifically will be the instructors? And will there be any repercussions to the MiLB guys who are working at Wendelstedt or JEAPU?

I just see the huge potential for conflicts of interest.

Imagine you are a Wendelstedt or JEAPU grad on the bubble for a spot and it goes to a PBUC guy....

My biggest question is what is not being provided by the two existing schools to where this was deemed necessary.

[widac]

I think it is very interesting. And I'll say what may be on others' minds- Will they show favoritism to their own students at PBUC. Not saying it will,but it I think it lends itself to the question. You will now have 3 schools sending people to PBUC some coming from PBUC's own school I hope their interest is finding the best umpires whether from PBUC Wendelstedt or JEAPU. I think if it does turn out to happen it will be a complete failure.

I'm also very interested in who specifically will be the instructors? And will there be any repercussions to the MiLB guys who are working at Wendelstedt or JEAPU?

I just see the huge potential for conflicts of interest.

Imagine you are a Wendelstedt or JEAPU grad on the bubble for a spot and it goes to a PBUC guy....

My biggest question is what is not being provided by the two existing schools to where this was deemed necessary.

Just looking for a way to make some money?

[ukce1861]

I think it needs to be one or the other: if you want to do the training in house - fine; if you want to sub it out - great. But like you said this just leads to too many conflicts.

[JaxRolo]

I think it is very interesting. And I'll say what may be on others' minds- Will they show favoritism to their own students at PBUC. Not saying it will,but it I think it lends itself to the question. You will now have 3 schools sending people to PBUC some coming from PBUC's own school I hope their interest is finding the best umpires whether from PBUC Wendelstedt or JEAPU. I think if it does turn out to happen it will be a complete failure.

I'm also very interested in who specifically will be the instructors? And will there be any repercussions to the MiLB guys who are working at Wendelstedt or JEAPU?

I just see the huge potential for conflicts of interest.

Imagine you are a Wendelstedt or JEAPU grad on the bubble for a spot and it goes to a PBUC guy....

My biggest question is what is not being provided by the two existing schools to where this was deemed necessary.

Just looking for a way to make some money?

Specially with the computer based training. Is anyone really going to pay for that?!!

[sdix00]

I think it is very interesting. And I'll say what may be on others' minds- Will they show favoritism to their own students at PBUC. Not saying it will,but it I think it lends itself to the question. You will now have 3 schools sending people to PBUC some coming from PBUC's own school I hope their interest is finding the best umpires whether from PBUC Wendelstedt or JEAPU. I think if it does turn out to happen it will be a complete failure.

I'm also very interested in who specifically will be the instructors? And will there be any repercussions to the MiLB guys who are working at Wendelstedt or JEAPU?

I just see the huge potential for conflicts of interest.

Imagine you are a Wendelstedt or JEAPU grad on the bubble for a spot and it goes to a PBUC guy....

My biggest question is what is not being provided by the two existing schools to where this was deemed necessary.

Just looking for a way to make some money?

My perspective as a guy with a 15 year old son who might be a perfect candidate in a couple years:

I honestly don't think this would be a money issue. I did the math on the tuition on the 5-week school and it is an incredible deal for what you get. There is no way JEAPU or WUS makes any kind of real money.

I'm with Warren. What precicely is the need that this school is filling?

If they really wanted to address a gap, they could locate themselves in AZ instead of FL. Alas, no.

[midmoump]

Here's a press release on the camp

[UMP45]

Guys as far as the PBUC school guys having an edge on the other school guys it stands to reason that they will. With that being said remember if you can umpire you can umpire. When the evaluation course is given after graduation PBUC will take the best umpires....period. They will know the PBUC school guys better but they are still going to take the best no matter what school.

[hckyosgood30]

Guys as far as the PBUC school guys having an edge on the other school guys it stands to reason that they will. With that being said remember if you can umpire you can umpire. When the evaluation course is given after graduation PBUC will take the best umpires....period. They will know the PBUC school guys better but they are still going to take the best no matter what school.

I agree with you that they will take the best guys. And you can't hide a great umpire for long. However this is my thing and I'm not saying its bad. Say in 2011 theres 50 guys for eval to PBUC 25 and 25. And say there's 32 slots available... ok great you know your odds. Now say in 2012 there's the same 20 and 20 from Harry and Evans five less from the year before, and now we add 20 from PBUC. So we have 60 guys now and the same 32 slots. However 20 guys know there evaluators and have had 28 days head start to know there dislikes and likes and network with them. You would say they "should" have a competitive advantage. This will bread alot more cut throat competition. Which I'm all for, however I know some won't be. And as long as it stays on the up and up like many have said and not turn into a conflict of interest.

just me $0.02

[Mr Umpire]

One thing I see it as is a persuasive way to go for those who truly want to aspire to be a pro umpire. They will see this as an edge to how their instructors see their progression and see if they may make it. Those at JEAPU and WUS don't have that luxury. It is a much shorter time for PBUC to see their skills. And, 1 mistake could cost them more than if 1 who makes that same mistake from TUS b/c the evaluators "know" he is better than that.

I see a conflict in a situation like that being more likely than one of 2 being on the bubble and the one who went to TUS gets the job and not the other. The bad thing is all evaluation is subjective for those who are not evaluators. So, if someone doesn't get in, human nature kicks in and automatically think "I am better than him but I didn't get in b/c he went to their school".

It is a touchy situation no matter what. And, goes on every where else but is much more prevalent in a situation like this. PBUC does lose part of its credibility by doing this. Favoritism may occur whether they like it or not. I think it is a bad move on their part for reasons outside the confines of umpiring. It looks bad.

[yawetag]

Easy fix: Have PBUC instructors at JE and HW as well.

[UMP45]

PBUC is where they are taught the way they want it done at the professional level. Guys coming from Harry's have to be taught this. Evans takes the PBUC manual and teaches from it. In my opinion this new school can only help. The other 2 schools will either get better, become an upper echelon amature school, or close.B)

[mstaylor]

It is a touchy situation no matter what. And, goes on every where else but is much more prevalent in a situation like this. PBUC does lose part of its credibility by doing this. Favoritism may occur whether they like it or not. I think it is a bad move on their part for reasons outside the confines of umpiring. It looks bad.

It could go the other way too. Two guys on the bubble and to keep from the look of fravoritism hey pick a guy from the other two schools.

[detailshp]

I looked over this stuff pertty closely, and agree with all posted on the bubble stuff and so forth. Maybe, though, the "vero beach" authority wanted something for their facility for 4-5 weeks in Jan-Feb? After the Dodgers left, they had some pretty big shoes and money holes to fill. Maybe this is nothing more than the MiLB or the MLB trying to find more and more ways to get revenue out of the Vero Beach facility.

[midmoump]

I emailed Justin Klemm, Executive Director of the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp. (PBUC), and he answered a few questions about The Umpire School:

http://midwestump.bl...ol-at-vero.html

Justin tells me that there are no plans to increase the number of invitees at the PBUC evaluation course, the PBUC evaluators are the same instructors at The Umpire School, and there are no plans to decertify the Evans or Wendelstedt professional umpire schools.

Recently there have been criticisms of professional baseball's lack of oversight in training and developing umpire talent. The MiLB official line quoted in several stories states that the opening of The Umpire School is a "natural extension of Minor League Baseball’s ongoing efforts to enhance umpire training and development." It appears to me that MiLB wants a greater hand in recruiting talent in order to quiet some of the critics. But that's just speculation on my part.

[Umpire in Chief]

Good to know Pete...

[Mike Prince]

One of the instructors from the new school presented to our association last night, very impressive guy. I signed up for a free one-day clinic they are having in NC next month to promote the new camp, looking forward to that.

From the sounds of it the new school will take a different approach than the other schools from a duration/intensity perspective. If I was in a position where I could take 4 weeks off from work I would attend.

[UmpTTS43]

Justin tells me that there are no plans to increase the number of invitees at the PBUC evaluation course, the PBUC evaluators are the same instructors at The Umpire School, and there are no plans to decertify the Evans or Wendelstedt professional umpire schools.

Last year they had to cut the number of invitees due to the lack of teams, facilities, from 25 per school to 19. Add another school and the cuts will be about 12-14 per school. Hopefully PBUC will be able to get the numbers back up.

[UMP45]

I hope they keep it the same. By keeping the number low the schools will be sending their top 10-15 per school. There were some guys working rookie ball this year that made you wonder how they made it out of school let alone PBUC evaluation!

[Umpire in Chief]

When looking at MiLB umpires you need to remember that you are looking at some young, rough talent who are under a lot of pressure to perform. Especially at the lower levels. Many most have very limited experience before going to school. But every game they're developing and gaining a ton of experience. That is one of the better things about the MiLB structure, you either develop quickly or you don't make it.

It's a tough life.

[sdix00]

I hope they keep it the same. By keeping the number low the schools will be sending their top 10-15 per school. There were some guys working rookie ball this year that made you wonder how they made it out of school let alone PBUC evaluation!

I never saw any rookie ball since we don't have it in SoCal. LOTS of high 'A', though. The quality of these umpires is OUTSTANDING. I see them make mistakes, but they are few and far between and their hustle more than makes up for any kind of slip up. I imagine the issues you saw in Rookie ball must have been nerves.

[sdix00]

They made a video.

[Kevin Finnerty]

They made a video.

http://www.youtube.c...be_gdata_player

They made a HORRIBLE video.

[Lindsay]

- Why not AZ?

It stands to reason that PBUC prefers their umpires and schools to be consistently accredited and licensed, and Florida is the national leader in accrediting non-traditional educational institutions such as an Umpire School. Florida's Commission for Independent Education regulates, among other things, nondegree-granting, nontraditional educational institutions. All three Florida Umpire Schools have been accredited by the CIE. It stands as an insurance measure for both umpire students and the three schools, in that CIE, by virtue of its licensure of PBUC/JEAPU/WUS, protects students from unfair business practices, while the schools are protected from certain limited liability issues.

Arizona on the other hand grants licenses via the State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. AZ's Vocational Program License doesn't offer the same benefits as Florida's version of accreditation nor does it require the same standards for licensure. Again, PBUC could place a school in Arizona, but that would create disparity and an inconsistency in licensing standards.

I see they've taken over the old Dodgertown at Vero Beach... but decided not to replace the mural which Klemm is standing in front of.

[Umpy]

My main take away from that video was that PBUC is pronounced P-Buck, and not P B U C.