Question about Minor League Umpire Lodging

[CentralOhioUmp30]

I was reading through the bargaining agreement that was accepted last year and I ran across something I thought was interesting and I was hoping to get some clarification on as well.

LODGING. During the season the Employer will arrange and pay for lodging costs of employees. Employer will endeavor to make arrangements designed to provide clean, safe and convenient lodging. Each umpire in the Triple A, Double A, and Single A (full season leagues) classifications shall receive his own room. Umpires in other leagues who are lodged two to a room will have two beds.

Did it used to be that umpires in all full-season leagues got their own room before the most recent agreement, or is this the first time this is happening?

My understanding with all the articles I've read and what I've heard about minor league umpiring is that sharing a room for the entire time a person would be in the minor leagues was just accepted.

I was just wondering if this was a new thing and if any umpires have had experiences with it.

[mstaylor]

I can't speak to AA and AAA but I can't imagine they would stick three guys in one room, so singles is the only good solution.

[dumbdumb]

Here is an article about the pay in FSL (class A) back in 1986.

Disclaimer--as MST and many others can attest---my skills at dragging in the article I am reading do not work many of the times.

http://news.google.c...pg=2499,1397152

On $50 dollars a day and not one penny of expenses for anything (room and meals) (gas money?) (that was probably even less 5 years prior to this article), I kind of doubt the umpires had their own rooms.

I am trying to search any old articles to see if the AA umpires (who probably did not make much more at this time) with probably no expenses paid either and using 3 man crews, booked 2 rooms or brought a cot into the room for the 3rd crew member to save on expenses.

I would imagine from reading old stories, it was not until AAA (with a little better pay) that umpires might have started getting their own rooms, or at least letting the crew chief have his own room, while the 2 junior members split a room, especially if that crew chief or even if another crew member was on "call up" status.

Now, apparently the pay has moved up a couple hundred dollars a month at each level (not very much-AAA guys only earn $110 to $120 a game and a 100 per month(i.e. 3.33 per game seniority raise), but all umpires get the free room provided by the league and they get about 30$ per day meal money that was not provided for in the old days (I do not know what rooms without worrying about crabs and mites and bad mattresses that hurt your back cost now (2012 that you do not have to pay for) versus the old days (1986 that you had to pay for) in the minor league cities without having to stay 50 miles from the city to get a lower rate.

If I find any other old articles, I will post.

Those who went to the school recently and have friends who made it can give you a current up to date, and those who have talked with Senior members of the umpiring staff at these schools telling stories (right from the horse's mouth rather than old articles) of the hardships of the old days can weigh in here.

http://news.google.c...pg=2499,1397152

http://news.google.c...pg=6727,1615882

[cookie]

I had several friends who worked the NY-Penn League (Single A - short season) and by MiLB contract the GM of each team provided each 2-Man team with a good quality hotel room (for 2) - Quality Inn, Holiday Inn, etc. - with a $35 daily food allowance for each umpire and a current year car rental (equipped with GPS). In addition, they were paid $1800 per month.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

Now, apparently the pay has moved up a couple hundred dollars a month at each level (not very much-AAA guys only earn $110 to $120 a game and a 100 per month(i.e. 3.33 per game seniority raise), but all umpires get the free room provided by the league and they get about 30$ per day meal money that was not provided for in the old days (I do not know what rooms without worrying about crabs and mites and bad mattresses that hurt your back cost now (2012 that you do not have to pay for) versus the old days (1986 that you had to pay for) in the minor league cities without having to stay 50 miles from the city to get a lower rate.

I don't believe this is the case anymore. From reading the agreement, the leagues must make arrangements for clean, safe and convenient lodging and the list of motels/hotels used must be sent to the union before each season. I have never heard or read anything related to what cookie is saying, but I certainly don't doubt what he is saying. But the consensus I've gotten is that there shouldn't be instances of umpires being housed in unsafe and completely unsanitary conditions now that unions will have the list of hotels.

As you wrote though, the conditions are nowadays are obviously much better than what previous umpires had to deal with. So it is obviously a step in the right direction.

The whole reason for this post was me just getting as much information as I can before I head down to one of the camps next year to pursue my dream. I was thrilled to see that all umpires in full-season leagues get their own rooms guaranteeing umpires at least some time to themselves.

[johnnyg08]

Okay, I have to ask...is having your room vs. not having your own room the X factor in determining whether or not you go to umpire school?

[Umpire in Chief]

Okay, I have to ask...is having your room vs. not having your own room the X factor in determining whether or not you go to umpire school?

I think it is a valid question because I've heard some nasty rumors, just as I'm sure some of you have, of bunking up in roach motels, or even sleeping in their rental minivan.

[johnnyg08]

Okay, I have to ask...is having your room vs. not having your own room the X factor in determining whether or not you go to umpire school?

I think it is a valid question because I've heard some nasty rumors, just as I'm sure some of you have, of bunking up in roach motels, or even sleeping in their rental minivan.

I think it's a fair question too.

[mstaylor]

I only have first hand knowledge of our local A club. They house them at the Microtel that is pretty nice and within a mile of the stadium. I was also made aware that next year they will be in rental vehicles, not their own.

[johnnyg08]

Yes, I my understanding is that it is a year rental of a current year car w/ GPS.

That's a huge perk.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

Okay, I have to ask...is having your room vs. not having your own room the X factor in determining whether or not you go to umpire school?

It's kind of a moot question since every umpire in full-season gets their own room, but I'll answer anyway. It wouldn't have been the deciding factor at all. But the fact that the working conditions have improved (and in some cases have dramatically improved) because of the single rooms, better motels/hotels and from what I've heard in this post, the rental cars, my decision is even easier and I'm more excited to go down there and get this started than I was before if that's even possible.

[mstaylor]

One thing that I had never really thought about is to make sure your driving record is in good shape before you go. The other thing that just dawned on me, many rentl companies won't let under 21 yr olds drive their cars. They may have an exception because of the leagues is doing the rental but it is a good question to ask.

[Haid D' Salaami]

I only have first hand knowledge of our local A club. They house them at the Microtel that is pretty nice and within a mile of the stadium. I was also made aware that next year they will be in rental vehicles, not their own.

every league including rookie ball has rental cars.. part of the new CBA

[Haid D' Salaami]

One thing that I had never really thought about is to make sure your driving record is in good shape before you go. The other thing that just dawned on me, many rentl companies won't let under 21 yr olds drive their cars. They may have an exception because of the leagues is doing the rental but it is a good question to ask.

ask your boy why having a clean driving record does to your chances in pro ball..

[CentralOhioUmp30]

One thing that I had never really thought about is to make sure your driving record is in good shape before you go. The other thing that just dawned on me, many rentl companies won't let under 21 yr olds drive their cars. They may have an exception because of the leagues is doing the rental but it is a good question to ask.

I'll have just turned 24 before I go down, so this won't be a problem.

[UmpTTS43]

To be brutally honest, lodging and transportation should be the least of your worries if you are attempting a go into professional baseball. If you make it through the process and have an opportunity to enter pro ball, then you can give it brief consideration.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

To be brutally honest, lodging and transportation should be the least of your worries if you are attempting a go into professional baseball. If you make it through the process and have an opportunity to enter pro ball, then you can give it brief consideration.

Sorry if this post came off the wrong way. I didn't mean to insinuate that the process/ steps I need to take is of less importance (or even on the same scale of importance) as my OP. I am collecting any and every piece of information I can about the process of becoming an umpire, the actual umpiring itself and the lifestyle.

Everyone I've discussed the topic of my going to umpiring school has been VERY supportive and all the information I've received from stuff as trivial as this topic to the realization that those who attend umpire school within the next five years are entering the profession with arguably the greatest odds of attaining full-time MLB umpire positions in history has given me incredible clarity. I'm excited to get ready for the challenge!

[dumbdumb]

You got to remember, this is your written word, and we are not there in front of you to pick the true vibes of what you are asking. I took your original comment, like I think? UmpTTS43 might have, but that is OK also. Each person is allowed, just like in seeking a marriage partner, to decide their deal breaker issues.

Listen to UmpTTS43 comment. If you are going for a job, you are going no matter what the conditions are. If you are worried about the conditions in the minors, you may just want to stop right now, but on the positive side, just think how they will be in the Big Leagues.

All right. Here is what I have found reading over the years, and someone I ran into that went to the school back in the old days, who did not want a job and asked a lot of questions. Is everything 110% accurate? No, but I think this is still in the ball park and I was hoping others who knew guys from the old days would chime in.

They do not want career MiLBU's nor do they want career MiLB player's. Tommy Lasorda summed it up best in a TV interview, we want the players who are hungry for the Big Leagues, not the minor leagues. We want them to want to get the hell out of the minors. That's why all the pay and benefits are in the Show and the Show only. Same for umpires, although Tommy was not talking about them, just the player side.

Hopefully, at 24 you already have a skill of some type, just in case you are derailed in your quest, due to a career (just umpiring) ending injury. You can immediately fall back on that skill for an immediate job, no matter the economy.

In the old days from the article I gave you and some other articles I have read over the years, the umpires were paid a monthly fee, and the driver (their own car) in the crew was paid the government rate (I guess) for gas from one town to another, not for the time driving in that town. That means like in the FSL (1986) article, they were paid $50 per game when you break that down into a 30 day month, and the driver would be paid mileage when they left Lakeland and drove to Tampa which is 40 miles times the government rate per mile in 1986.

So, they were probably able to get a decent room (just 1 room, so yes, everyone had roomates) for $50 (less at a "less decent" place to try and save money) a night with double beds and that left each umpire with $25 for the rest of the day. If you want to eat sh$t food like burgers 3 times a day go ahead. But, if you wanted to dine healthy, a big chunk of that $25 would go towards food, and if you relax and get 3 sit down meals a day, remember the tipping. Let's say that they could eat 3 healthy meals a day for $15 a day, that leaves a whopping $10 dollars a day towards anything and everything you wanted to do for the rest of that day and other "incidentals"(toiletries, washing your personal clothes, etc., and don't forget the fee for the club house attendant's to take care of washing your game uniforms. Golf? I doubt it, not even then, on $10, and certainly not with a cart. So, whatever you wanted to do for 140 days a year on the road with $10 dollars a day, was up to you. You can see how some guys would get in the red, or how hard it would be on the married guys who wanted to send money home. Remember, some of that 50 a day was taxed. Apparently the League use to break the money up into 60 or 70 percent expenses and 30 to 40% taxable to help the umpires out. You can see, that only left enough money, many times, to just read your rulebook and look at 4 walls. I believe I read where a lot of guys just played cards. Sounds like old reruns of military shows, doesn't it.

The farther back you go the worse the conditions, and the less the pay.

Moving up to the current day.

You can see from one of the other posts, that first step in the NYP, that the money hasn't really drastically changed from that 1986 article, although NYP is short A and was probably 1,100-1,300 a month back in 86 (just a guess) Long A ball is probably only a couple hundred more, and if you go to a League a 2nd year you probably get an extra $100 a month seniority pay which that guy told me from the old days.

However, at least now, and this is huge, you get a paid for rental car, so you do not have to use your own car, I will assume some gas money for the car, a free room at a decent hotel, and of course 30-35 meal money. Now, you can keep all your salary after taxes and use all of it how you please. That's a huge difference from the old days where everything came out of your check, although still not adequate in the scheme of things. Like Lasorda said, we only want it to matter in the Show. Time and again it has come out in both MLB and MiLB, that they could do better for the umpires, but they could care less. Umpires are like bases, you got to have them, but they are still bases.

You may still have to double up in short A (70 game season) in a room, but I couldn't quite tell.

One big thing from the old days, and this is huge, you could get to the Show faster. Ed Montague (yes, the one whose dad signed Willie Mays and is now a supervisor) went right to the Cal League for a year and then skipped AA entirely and went right to the PCL. Same thing with John McSherry going right from the Carolina League to the International League. Many others went right to Long A ball and only spent a year there, a year in AA and then right to AAA in their 3rd year.

Now, you must start in short A, then Low Long A, then High Long A, then AA and then AAA. So, like Bellino, you cannot get to AAA quicker than the start of your 5th year. Bellino got no ML games that year. The next year (his 6th) he got 1 game (Chicago no less) and his 7th year he got 31 games. So, that was about 31k + 12k in the minor leagues, since he missed a month of minors. 47k, not bad in your 7th year. His 8th year was 111 games which would be over 100k. How many med students in residence are making over 100k after 8 years of schooling. Of course he became FT in his 9th year at 125k. How many going to med school make 125 in their 9th year? I am not busting on medicine, I am just trying to give a comparison of a highly paid profession that requires time to make it big. And, once again, does everyone who wants to be a doctor make it to the big time starting from day 1 all the way to the end?

You go to the umpire school, just like getting into medicine after high school, knowing that not everyone will make it. All you need is just one opening, and that opening will be you, right. Think of the years involved in med school. Does everyone make it. What happens if you get all through the schooling and internships, yet you flunk the final exam. How many years did you spend trying. How much did it cost for no guarantee. Do you make 125k with your first year as a family physician. Do you make over 370k after 25 years, although it is not as good on a per game basis as the NBA or NFL. So, like Dan Bellino, you go and get a job out of school, and you show them you are the greatest thing since sliced bread and leave them drooling to get you to the Big Leagues. It is up to you to figure out how to do this just like Bellino did, and many others before him. I think, if you are that phenom, they will not want to lose you no matter what. Who wants to lose the next Babe Ruth of umpiring. They will get you there if you are that phenom.

Now, just like the old saying, if you do not go to the school, you will never know whether you would have made it or not. You cannot win if you don't enter.

However, most anyone who went to the school, whether they made it or not, felt they learned a hell of a lot and would not trade that experience for anything. Disclaimer--there may be a few but not many.

Most have said that it helped them move up the ladder quicker as a professional umpire working amateur games than if they had not gone. Most of the major D1 conferences seem to want that 5 week course on your resume or at least some of the 1 week courses these organizations occasionally put on. You could come back and eventually be working D1 games on down the road.

From what I can gather, if you are in a job that allows you the freedom to do a lot of D1 umpiring in the major Conferences all the time, you could work 5 games a week for 15 weeks and make around $2000-3,000 a week, which is what a AA-AAA guy makes in a month. If you go past 15 weeks you are now into the regionals ($1,800), super regionals, ($1,100), and WS (4,100) and you would have worked the Regionals prior to the WS.

Remember, even at the D1 level, the pay for baseball has and always will be way behind D1 basketball and football on a per game basis, if you want to know the true situation. Basketball can get you 3000 per game and some work 100 games a year and football can get you 1600 per game from the major conferences.

And

If you like reading or would like to read articles about the MLB situation over the years, there are many articles, although they may not all display (my normal problem) now, and some may be pdf files, under the book section of this forum, working the plate by the late Eric Gregg.

[mstaylor]

One thing that I had never really thought about is to make sure your driving record is in good shape before you go. The other thing that just dawned on me, many rentl companies won't let under 21 yr olds drive their cars. They may have an exception because of the leagues is doing the rental but it is a good question to ask.

I'll have just turned 24 before I go down, so this won't be a problem.

One thing that I had never really thought about is to make sure your driving record is in good shape before you go. The other thing that just dawned on me, many rentl companies won't let under 21 yr olds drive their cars. They may have an exception because of the leagues is doing the rental but it is a good question to ask.

ask your boy why having a clean driving record does to your chances in pro ball..

Exactly what I was thinking when I posted. That and my son just got his suspended for six months for two tickets and an accident. Days after he was offered a job touring doing lights.

[johnnyg08]

To be brutally honest, lodging and transportation should be the least of your worries if you are attempting a go into professional baseball. If you make it through the process and have an opportunity to enter pro ball, then you can give it brief consideration.

This post above ^^^ by UmpTTS43 is what I was also implying early on this this thread. Seems as though the young man clarified his thoughts.

[CentralOhioUmp30]

I know this all more of a numbers game than anything else, but am I right in assuming those who start their careers in one of the rookie leagues (advanced or not) spend an extra year in short season ball, while those who start in the NYP or NWL are more likely to continue on to Low A ball the next season?

[Haid D' Salaami]

To be brutally honest, lodging and transportation should be the least of your worries if you are attempting a go into professional baseball. If you make it through the process and have an opportunity to enter pro ball, then you can give it brief consideration.

Sorry if this post came off the wrong way. I didn't mean to insinuate that the process/ steps I need to take is of less importance (or even on the same scale of importance) as my OP. I am collecting any and every piece of information I can about the process of becoming an umpire, the actual umpiring itself and the lifestyle.

Everyone I've discussed the topic of my going to umpiring school has been VERY supportive and all the information I've received from stuff as trivial as this topic to the realization that those who attend umpire school within the next five years are entering the profession with arguably the greatest odds of attaining full-time MLB umpire positions in history has given me incredible clarity. I'm excited to get ready for the challenge!

what school are you going to?

[CentralOhioUmp30]

To be brutally honest, lodging and transportation should be the least of your worries if you are attempting a go into professional baseball. If you make it through the process and have an opportunity to enter pro ball, then you can give it brief consideration.

Sorry if this post came off the wrong way. I didn't mean to insinuate that the process/ steps I need to take is of less importance (or even on the same scale of importance) as my OP. I am collecting any and every piece of information I can about the process of becoming an umpire, the actual umpiring itself and the lifestyle.

Everyone I've discussed the topic of my going to umpiring school has been VERY supportive and all the information I've received from stuff as trivial as this topic to the realization that those who attend umpire school within the next five years are entering the profession with arguably the greatest odds of attaining full-time MLB umpire positions in history has given me incredible clarity. I'm excited to get ready for the challenge!

what school are you going to?

I have not made a final decision yet. However, I am leaning towards The Umpire School because it is run by PBUC. It seems like it would be a big advantage learning from the people who run the evaluation. But I understand Wendelstedt has track record, which is the reason I am undecided right now.

[dumbdumb]

I know this all more of a numbers game than anything else, but am I right in assuming those who start their careers in one of the rookie leagues (advanced or not) spend an extra year in short season ball, while those who start in the NYP or NWL are more likely to continue on to Low A ball the next season?

Probably, but I just checked the recent MLB additions and Chad Fairchild started in the Gulf Coast, so it's not where you start, it is where you finish. You have to figure out how to get there, just like they all did.

[Mark18]

I know this all more of a numbers game than anything else, but am I right in assuming those who start their careers in one of the rookie leagues (advanced or not) spend an extra year in short season ball, while those who start in the NYP or NWL are more likely to continue on to Low A ball the next season?

Probably, but I just checked the recent MLB additions and Chad Fairchild started in the Gulf Coast, so it's not where you start, it is where you finish. You have to figure out how to get there, just like they all did.

For a current AAA Umpire the progression was as follows:

2006 GCL

2006 NYP

2007 SAL

2008 FSL

2009 FSL

2010 SL

2011 SL

2012 IL

Many of the Umpires currently working the Arizona Fall League were working in long-season A-Ball in their 2nd season. If I remember correctly the Rookie League Umpires are in a seprate group from Short-Season Umpires when the end of season rankings comeout so if you spent the whole season in Rookie Ball you would move up to Short Season A-Ball so your assumption appears correct.