04/20/24
September 24, 2005
Ump Dreams: The lives of minor league umpires, in words and images.
Sounds like minor league umpires have to go through more than an umpire evaluation. They also go through trial by salary and trial by heartburn.
posted by roberts at 06:28 AM on September 25, 2005
WTF? They get paid how much? They have the best seats in the stadium every game!!! And they still get paid that much? Their seats are so valuable...... Im going to umpire school!
posted by redsoxrgay at 08:18 AM on September 25, 2005
Im going to umpire school! Do that. Don't bother to do the math first.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 03:51 PM on September 25, 2005
Great link.
posted by squealy at 06:40 PM on September 25, 2005
Besides the heckling, tough travel, and crappy pay these guys have it made. The show up for the game an hour before the start time and basically dress and go out to the field. They have the best seats in the house and get to chase their dream. Then they get to go out and chase tail and booze all-night and then sleep until noon or one o'clock the next day.
posted by erkno11 at 06:47 PM on September 25, 2005
i knew a guy in college who became an umpire. he spent most of his time in the minors, doing occasional games in the majors as a fill-in. (it was neat to see him throw piazza out of a game for arguing a call at first:-) but he eventually realized that he wasn't going to make it to the majors and the job took up so much of his time that he quit to be with his family.
posted by goddam at 09:41 PM on September 25, 2005
My cousin is a major league umpire and has been for almost 20 years. It is so interesting at family get togethers to hear his umpire stories. It is a great gig if you love baseball, and if you can get there.
posted by Midwest Steve at 10:15 AM on September 26, 2005
I used to Ump High School games- very similar to the link – minus the chicken wings & 14 hour drives! Even explored taking it further, a long a winding road……………. Gave it up after being chased by a bunch of 17-18 year olds with bats + parents, after a call they didn’t like. (The other team claimed it was the best umpped game they had had) Half the people usually end up hating you after a game, I guess as upside the other half usually we very pleasant! It was a great way to stay around the game, but to get to a high level it is much like being on the player side very few make it. Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the link.
posted by directpressure at 12:26 PM on September 26, 2005
Great read, dusted. Thanks. My respect for all umpires has just grown considerably, with the possible exception of C. B. Bucknor.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:16 AM on September 27, 2005
Nice link, dusted. Thanks. This got me curious about umpire salaries throughout the leagues. Some quick searching found that minor league umpires have salary ranges of $1,800-$3,400 a month and the lucky few that make the majors have ranges of $100,000-$300,000 a year.