ESPN Piece on Umpiring

[Astrosdawg07]

Jim Caple

[mazzamouth]

This was fun.. I am in the pic on the article.. and in the video... He was a nice guy, and had fun while he was there. he really didn't know how hard we have it.

[Guest]

I think I've met that Attridge guy somewhere before.... :D

[dumbdumb]

Here was the ESPN article Jim Caple mentions that he wrote. I will look for other archived articles on umpires by Jim.

http://m.espn.go.com...storyId=5659597

http://sports.espn.g..._jim&id=5659597

http://sports.espn.g...me&sportCat=mlb

see #3

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=4581598

Also notable and mentioned in the umpire school article is the "$3,200" a month (probably 1st year AAA and then a $100 a month raise for each additional year in AAA) for a "AAA" umpire, not a rookie ball umpire. That is $106 per game in a 30 game month or $103 per game in a 31 day month. If they get a day off and only work 29 days, the rate goes up to $110 per game and if 2 days off in a month $114 per game.

It seems like I have read somewhere that High School umpires in some area of Connecticut were either making $99 or $109 for working a nine inning High School game in their area. Imagine making as much as a AAA guy for High School baseball and getting to sleep in your own bed at night. Of course the major college conferences are paying 3 times (or more) the game fee that the AAA guy is making as mentioned. Kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? And yes, the D1 rate is way too low in comparison to D1 hoops where they make 500% and more per game. Umpires everywhere take it up the arse in pay, other than in the Connecticut High School situation compared to hoops. To bad every umpire group cannot negotiate like those CT guys. And, not to mention the possibility of getting injured that baseball presents compared to hoops (concussions, broken arms, hands, fingers, and leg contusions that could lead to clots) for that meager pay, even with the armor on. And that does not begin to go in depth for what the medical profession is learning about the effects of all those shots to mask that we are taking over the years and continuing to umpire the next day even though we have probably just suffered a concussion (and don't know it till we are Mohammad Ali one day) and need to lay off for at least a week or more. Of course without trying to inject violence into this, the old saying that nobody is putting a gun to our heads to do this, still applies, but it is always food for thought in any discussion about umpiring IMHO only.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Well, you know I ... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases -- stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?" -- Moonlight Graham (Burt Lancaster) in "Field of Dreams"

"I believe in the Church of Baseball. I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones. I've worshipped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I heard that, I gave Jesus a chance. But it just didn't work out between us. The Lord laid too much guilt on me. I prefer metaphysics to theology. You see, there's no guilt in baseball, and it's never boring ... which makes it like sex. There's never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career. Making love is like hitting a baseball: You just gotta relax and concentrate. Besides, I'd never sleep with a player hitting under .250 ... not unless he had a lot of RBIs or was a great glove man up the middle."You see, there's a certain amount of life wisdom I give these boys. I can expand their minds. Sometimes, when I've got a ballplayer alone, I'll just read Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman to him, and the guys are so sweet, they always stay and listen. 'Course, a guy will listen to anything if he thinks it's foreplay. I make them feel confident, and they make me feel safe, and pretty. 'Course, what I give them lasts a lifetime; what they give me lasts 142 games. Sometimes it seems like a bad trade. But bad trades are part of baseball -- now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God's sake? It's a long season and you gotta trust. I've tried 'em all, I really have, and the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the Church of Baseball."

-- Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) in "Bull Durham"

"Ray, people will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. 'Of course, we won't mind if you have a look around,' you'll say. 'It's only 20 dollars per person.' They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it; for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers, and sit in shirt sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they'd dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they'll have to brush them away from their faces.

"People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: It's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

-- Terence Mann (James Earl Jones) in "Field of Dreams"

"Well, I believe in the soul, the c---, the p----, the small of a woman's back, the hanging curveball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing AstroTurf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days. [Pause] Good night."

-- Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) in "Bull Durham"

[mstaylor]

Maybe it should be a requirement to be employed by ESPN to attend one of the schools or even some five day clinics.

[Guest]

Here was the ESPN article Jim Caple mentions that he wrote. I will look for other archived articles on umpires by Jim.

http://m.espn.go.com...storyId=5659597

Also notable and mentioned in the umpire school article is the "$3,200" a month (probably 1st year AAA and then a $100 a month raise for each additional year in AAA) for a "AAA" umpire, not a rookie ball umpire. That is $106 per game in a 30 game month or $103 per game in a 31 day month. If they get a day off and only work 29 days, the rate goes up to $110 per game and if 2 days off in a month $114 per game.

It seems like I have read somewhere that High School umpires in some area of Connecticut were either making $99 or $109 for working a nine inning High School game in their area. Imagine making as much as a AAA guy for High School baseball and getting to sleep in your own bed at night. Of course the major college conferences are paying 3 times (or more) the game fee that the AAA guy is making as mentioned. Kind of puts things in perspective doesn't it? And yes, the D1 rate is way too low in comparison to D1 hoops where they make 500% and more per game. Umpires everywhere take it up the arse in pay, other than in the Connecticut High School situation compared to hoops. To bad every umpire group cannot negotiate like those CT guys. And, not to mention the possibility of getting injured that baseball presents compared to hoops (concussions, broken arms, hands, fingers, and leg contusions that could lead to clots) for that meager pay, even with the armor on. And that does not begin to go in depth for what the medical profession is learning about the effects of all those shots to mask that we are taking over the years and continuing to umpire the next day even though we have probably just suffered a concussion (and don't know it till we are Mohammad Ali one day) and need to lay off for at least a week or more. Of course without trying to inject violence into this, the old saying that nobody is putting a gun to our heads to do this, still applies, but it is always food for thought in any discussion about umpiring IMHO only.

It's all supply and demand. MiLB / PBUC know that every year, you're looking at 200 guys coming in who would give their arm, leg, and first born for a job in the game. Guys will quit jobs, move cross country (or internationally) and drive all through the night for their shot at a dream job.

High school and college associations are limited by the numbers of umpires in their area and the geographical locations they're covering. A guy is not gonna drive an hour to do a game for $60 when he can stay home and work a game for the game price. You've got to pay the bigger bucks so you can put a better product out on an amateur field.

[Stan W.]

from the article, this is the line that hits me best....

"No kidding. I've covered baseball for 25 years and have seen more than 2,000 games at the major league level. I've watched countless others on TV. I know the game. And I get 20 percent of the questions correct on one test."

Its always refreshing to see the bulb go on over the head of a fan or coach or in this case writer.......25 years as a baseball writer, and the score on the morning exam was 20%.......MST has a line he uses quite a bit regarding the fact that 80 percent of the game is run with 20 percent of the rules.........(safe out fair foul, all baseball 101) but its the tother 80% that makes you an umpire......

[mazzamouth]

I got to talk with Jim, and he said he thought he knew baseball, well after he was done with his 3 days, taking test and working a game, he said he knew nothing...LOL He was a good guy and very Humble, he had fun out there... his 1st test he took he did well... and then they started to get harder..LOL

[mstaylor]

from the article, this is the line that hits me best....

"No kidding. I've covered baseball for 25 years and have seen more than 2,000 games at the major league level. I've watched countless others on TV. I know the game. And I get 20 percent of the questions correct on one test."

Its always refreshing to see the bulb go on over the head of a fan or coach or in this case writer.......25 years as a baseball writer, and the score on the morning exam was 20%.......MST has a line he uses quite a bit regarding the fact that 80 percent of the game is run with 20 percent of the rules.........(safe out fair foul, all baseball 101) but its the tother 80% that makes you an umpire......

Stan:

I read that and my first thought was there is my proof on the 80/20 split. It is good that whenever a writer is exposed to what we do and how we train, they all say the same thing, " I had no idea how much I didn't know." I see it when training locally, guys switching from coaching or playing to umpiring are always amazed how you have to think and move.

[Thunderheads]

This was fun.. I am in the pic on the article.. and in the video... He was a nice guy, and had fun while he was there. he really didn't know how hard we have it.

Mike, please don't tell me that was you doing the "Leslie Nielson" strike 3 call from Naked Gun , ........was it ?!?! :notworthy:

[mazzamouth]

This was fun.. I am in the pic on the article.. and in the video... He was a nice guy, and had fun while he was there. he really didn't know how hard we have it.

Mike, please don't tell me that was you doing the "Leslie Nielson" strike 3 call from Naked Gun , ........was it ?!?!

Hell no... I was int he pic of the guys in our plate stance.. and toward the end we had a group meeting, and I was in the crowd...LOL

[yawetag]

I read that and my first thought was there is my proof on the 80/20 split.

And you have to take into effect that he had to guess on some of the ones he got right.