It's time to thin baseball's plump blue line

Sporting News, The, Dec 18, 1995 by Steve Marantz

Let's talk about the U-word: umpire. It's not openly discussed by baseball executives, managers, coaches and players because they're afraid. The risk of retribution, they assure me, prohibits open discussion. Careers could be damaged. Consequently, unattributed remarks.

Umpires had a bad year in 1995, according to many in the game. They butchered the strike zone, lost their tempers and fanned arguments. They missed calls in the field because they are overweight and out of shape. I don't know if some or all of that is true. I do know several knowledgeable fans who remarked after the World Series that the width of the strike zone seemed impossibly mobile.

Public perception of umpiring is low. Part of it is due to the lockout last spring furthering an impression of an ungovernable umpires union. An umpire-mandated forfeit at Dodger Stadium, in the heat of a division race, raised eyebrows. A paranoid confrontation with reporters in Baltimore and numerous hair-trigger ejections added to an image of arrogance. Too often, umpires drew unnecessary attention to themselves.

"A good officiated game is when you don't realize they are there - that's the way it used to be," a veteran Indians player says. "Now it's showtime. They follow guys. They egg them on. If you say, 'It's low outside,' they say, `No, it was down the middle.' It throws you off. I don't know where it's going to end."

A veteran N.L. manager says: There's a lot of inconsistency in effort. Some don't try hard; they're out there getting by. Some don't tolerate criticism and are very confrontational to the point where their integrity comes into play. They will take an argument you had and remember to put you in your place.'

Umpires picked a bad time to have an off year, or maybe it picked them. Perhaps they were swept up by negative karma washing over baseball. It may be they performed a difficult job no better or worse than ever. Perhaps they are victims of ESPN's omniscient cameras beaming nightly lowlights of blown calls. Or it may be that a 20-year decline finally is attaining critical mass. Whatever the reason, baseball, in its weakened condition, cannot afford even a perception of bad umpiring.

Let's put this in perspective. Bad umpiring is just bad umpiring. Corruption is not a problem. So long as umpires are honest baseball is fundamentally secure. It can be argued that umpires flirt with corruption by asking players for autographs. Doing so regularly poses a troublesome conflict of interest. But so far, league authorities overlook it.

Conventional wisdom holds that the quality of umpiring is declining as the strength of their union increases. Why? Because league presidents no longer wield the dictatorial power of pre-union days. Yes, umpires were underpaid and abused by skinflints like Will Harridge, former American League president. No, fans did not care. They still don't care if umpires dine on hamburger or lobster cassoulet. What is good for umpires is not necessarily good for fans or the game. But umpires are not expected to grasp this any more than players do.

Both leagues tacitly stated that incompetence might be a problem by implementing a new evaluation system last summer. The system provides for a panel of five independent evaluators to review performance. In the past reviews were submitted only by general managers and managers. But club reviews tend to lack candor or reflect angry bias.

Independent evaluators are relatively fair. Now, National League President Leonard Coleman and American League President Gene Budig have more accurate information. Theoretically, they can use it to help umpires improve. "Improvement is our clear objective," Budig says. Coleman adds: "This system is not meant to be punitive."

But what about umpires who do not improve? The panel's evaluations are not a bell curve. Umpires scoring lowest are not deemed to be failing, but maybe they should be. Therein lies the debate.

Some clubs believe umpiring has become a sinecure, like a tenured professorship or government job. There are 32 umpires in each league. Rookies start at $75,060; base pay increases on a sliding scale to $225,000 at 30 years of service. Other bonuses and postseason pay can push a salary to $275,000. Umpires fly first class and get $225 a day for room and board. There is a four-month vacation each winter. They are paid well, as A.L. supervisor Marty Springstead says, "because ifs the only job where people scream in your face every day." Nobody begrudges their pay, but virtual tenure, clubs and players believe, is conducive to laziness and arrogance.

"They are not accountable for their mistakes," one G.M says. "What can you do to an umpire? They are almost impossible to fire. We need a system to terminate umpires if necessary. It would improve if you fired one umpire per year."

Dismissals of umpires are rare, for good reason: Ifs hard to make them stick. The last one was Dave Pallone, by the National League after the 1988 season. Pallone chose not to appeal. But Jerry Neudecker won his appeal in 1988, and worked out a settlement with the American League. Jerry Dale appealed his dismissal by the National League in 1986 and won a disability settlement.