Everything about Umpire Baseball totally explained
In
baseball, the
umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and meting out discipline. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form
ump. They are also sometimes addressed as
blue due to the color of the uniform some umpires wear. Although games were often officiated by a sole umpire in the formative years of the sport, from the turn of the 20th century onward officiating has been commonly divided among several umpires, who form the
umpiring crew.
Duties and positions
In a game officiated by two or more umpires, the
umpire-in-chief (commonly referred to as the "plate umpire") is the umpire who is positioned behind home plate. This umpire calls
balls and strikes, calls
fair balls and
foul balls short of first/third base, and makes most calls concerning the
batter or concerning
baserunners near home plate. On the Major League level, an umpiring crew generally rotates positions clockwise each game; for example, the plate umpire in one game would umpire third base in the next.
Other umpires are called
base umpires and are commonly stationed near the bases. (
Field umpire is a less-common term.) When two umpires are used, the second umpire is simply the
base umpire. This umpire will make most calls concerning runners on the bases and nearby plays, as well as in the middle of the outfield. When three umpires are used, the second umpire is called the
first-base umpire and the third umpire is called the
third-base umpire, even though they may move to different positions on the field as the play demands. Rulings on catches of batted balls are usually made by the umpire closest to the play.
The term
umpire-in-chief isn't to be confused with the
crew chief, who is usually the most experienced umpire in a crew. At the major-league and high minor-league (Class AAA and AA) level, the crew chief acts as a liaison between the league office and the crew and has a supervisory role over other members of the crew.
For example, on the Major League level, "[t]he Crew Chief shall coordinate and direct his crew's compliance with the Office of the Commissioner's rules and policies. Other Crew Chief responsibilities include: leading periodic discussions and reviews of situations, plays and rules with his crew; generally directing the work of the other umpires on the crew, with particular emphasis on uniformity in dealing with unique situations; assigning responsibilities for maintaining time limits during the game; ensuring the timely filing of all required crew reports for incidents such as ejections, brawls and protested games; and reporting to the Office of Commissioner any irregularity in field conditions at any ballpark."
There are numerous organizations that train/test anyone interested in umpiring for local leagues and can help make connections to the leagues in the area.
Little League and the
Babe Ruth League are two of the most popular organizations when it comes to youth baseball and each have their own application, test, and training process for becoming an umpire. In Canada many municipalities run their own amateur baseball leagues for children and hire umpires.
Dollard-des-Ormeaux,
Quebec runs a large association which hires many umpires and pays approximately $25 per game.
For the
Little League World Series amateur umpires from around the world participate in this event on a completely volunteer basis. However, to get to this point umpires must go participate at various levels of All-Star tournaments ranging from district to regional to state tournaments. Both schools are run by former Major League umpires and are located in
Florida. There are no prerequisites for attending these schools, however, there's an
Umpire Camp
, run by Major League Baseball, that's generally considered a "tool for success" at either of these schools. These camps, offered as two separate one-week sessions, are held in November in Southern California. Top students at these camps are eligible to earn scholarships to either of the professional umpire schools in Florida.
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After five weeks of training, each school sends its top students to the Professional Baseball Umpires Corp. (PBUC) evaluation course also held in Florida.
(External Link) The actual number of students sent on to the evaluation course is determined by PBUC with input from the umpire schools.
(External Link) Generally, the top 10 to 20 percent of each school's graduating class advance to the evaluation course. The evaluation course is conducted by PBUC staff, which differs in personnel from the staff at the respective umpire schools.
(External Link) The evaluation course generally lasts around 10 days. Depending on the number of available positions in the various minor leagues, some (but not all) of the evaluation course attendees will be assigned to a low level
minor league.
Professional umpires begin their careers in one of the
Class "A" leagues, which are divided into four levels (rookie, short-season, long-season and advanced "A").
(External Link) Top umpiring prospects will often begin their careers in a short-season "A" league (for example, the
New York-Penn League), but most will begin in a rookie league (for example, the
Gulf Coast League).
Throughout the season all minor league umpires in Class A and Class AA are evaluated by members of the PBUC staff.
(External Link) All umpires receive a detailed written evaluation of their performance after every season.
(External Link) In addition, all umpires, except those in the rookie or short "A" leagues, receive written mid-season evaluations.
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Generally, an umpire is regarded as making adequate progress "up the ranks" if he advances up one level of Class "A" ball each year (thus earning promotion to Class AA after three to four years) and promotion to Class AAA after two to three years on the Class AA level. However, this is a very rough estimate and other factors not discussed (such as a lack of or overwhelming number of retirements at higher levels) may dramatically affect these estimates. For example, many umpires saw rapid advancement in 1999 due to the mass resignation of many Major League umpires as a
collective bargaining ploy.
When promoted to the Class AAA level, an umpire's evaluation will also be conducted by the umpiring supervisory staff of Major League Baseball. In recent years, top AAA prospects, in addition to umpiring and being evaluated during the regular season (in either the
International or
Pacific Coast League) have been required to umpire in the Arizona Fall League where they receive extensive training and evaluation by Major League Baseball staff.
In addition, top AAA prospects may also be rewarded with umpiring only Major League pre-season games during spring training (in lieu of Class AAA games). Additionally, the very top prospects may umpire Major League regular season games on a limited basis as "fill-in" umpires (where the Class AAA umpire replaces a sick, injured or vacationing Major League umpire).
Finally, upon the retirement (or firing) of a Major League umpire, a top Class AAA umpire will be promoted to Major League Baseball's permanent umpire staff. During this entire process, if an umpire is evaluated as no longer being a major-league prospect, he (or she) will be released, ending their professional career. In all, PBUC estimates that it'll take an umpire seven to eight years of professional umpiring before he'll be considered for a major league position.
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There are currently 70 umpires on Major League Baseball's permanent staff, and 22 Class AAA umpires eligible to umpire regular season Major League games as a "fill-in" umpire.
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Major league umpires earn $100,000 to $300,000 per year depending on their experience, with a $357 per diem for hotel and meals.
(External Link) Minor league umpires earn between $1,800 to $3,400 per month during the season. The exact amount is based on the umpire's classification and experience.
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Famous umpires
Hall of Fame
Umpires are eligible for induction into the
Baseball Hall of Fame for their accomplishments, and eight umpires have been thus inducted:
Numbers Retired by Major League Baseball
Like players, umpires are identified by a number on their uniform. Major League Baseball, from time to time retires those numbers for umpires who have given outstanding service to the game, or in honor of umpires who have died.
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#1 Bill Klem (NL, 1905-41)
#2 Nick Bremigan (AL, 1974-89)
#2 Jocko Conlan (NL, 1941-64)
#3 Al Barlick (NL, 1940-43, 1946-55, 1958-71)
#9 Bill Kunkel (AL, 1968-84); also an NBA referee
#16 Lou DiMuro (AL, 1963-82); killed in an auto-related accident after a game in Arlington, Texas; father of umpire Mike DiMuro who wears #16 in honor of his father
Longest major league careers
See also Major League Baseball umpiring records.
Most games
5,368 - Bill Klem
5,159 - Bruce Froemming
4,768 - Tommy Connolly
4,670 - Doug Harvey
4,505 - Joe Brinkman
(through end of 2007 season)
Most seasons
Careers beginning prior to 1920:
37 - Bill Klem (NL, 1905-41)
35 - Bob Emslie (AA, 1890; NL, 1891-1924)
34 - Tommy Connolly (NL, 1898-1900; AL, 1901-31)
30 - Hank O'Day (NL, 1895, 1897-1911, 1913, 1915-27)
29 - Bill Dinneen (AL, 1909-37)
29 - Cy Rigler (NL, 1906-22, 1924-35)
25 - Brick Owens (NL, 1908, 1912-13; AL, 1916-37)
25 - Ernie Quigley (NL, 1913-37)
Careers beginning from 1920 to 1960:
30 - Bill McGowan (AL, 1925-54)
28 - Al Barlick (NL, 1940-43, 1946-55, 1958-71)
27 - Bill Summers (AL, 1933-59)
26 - Tom Gorman (NL, 1951-76)
25 - Nestor Chylak (AL, 1954-78)
25 - Jim Honochick (AL, 1949-73)
Careers beginning since 1960:
37 - Bruce Froemming (NL, 1971-99; MLB, 2000-07) Froemming is recognized by MLB as having the longest tenure of any umpire in MLB history in terms of number of seasons umpired.(External Link)
34 - Joe Brinkman (AL, 1973-99; MLB, 2000-06)
33 - Ed Montague (NL, 1974, 1976-99; MLB, 2000- )
33 - Harry Wendelstedt (NL, 1966-98)
32 - Larry Barnett (AL, 1968-99)
32 - Jerry Crawford (NL, 1976-99; MLB, 2000- )
31 - Doug Harvey (NL, 1962-92)
Others
Other noteworthy umpires have included:
Emmett Ashford (AL, 1966-70), first black umpire in Major League Baseball
Bill Dinneen (AL, 1909-37), called five no-hitters, and also pitched a no hitter (September 27, 1905); the only man to both pitch and call no-hit baseball games (External Link)
Augie Donatelli (NL, 1950-73)
Jim Evans (AL, 1971-99)
John Gaffney (NL, 1884-86, 1891-94, 1899-1900; AA, 1888-89; PL, 1890)
Bernice Gera (NAPBL, 1972-72), first female umpire in professional baseball
Tim Hurst (NL, 1891-97, 1900, 1903; AL, 1905-1909)
Ron Luciano (AL, 1968-80)
Tim McClelland (AL, 1984-99; MLB, 2000- )
John McSherry (NL, 1971-96)
Jake O'Donnell (AL, 1968-71) (also an NBA official from 1967-95; is the only person to officiate both MLB and NBA all-star game)
Silk O'Loughlin (AL, 1902-18)
Beans Reardon (NL, 1926-49)
Jack Sheridan (PL, 1890; NL, 1892, 1896-97; AL, 1901-14)
Pam Postema (NL, 1988-?, 1st female umpire)
Umpire Families
AL Umpire Ed Runge-Father of NL Umpire Paul Runge and grandfather of current MLB umpire Brian Runge
AL umpire Lou DiMuro-Father of current MLB umpire Mike DiMuro
NL Umpire Harry Wendelstedt-Father of current MLB umpire Hunter Wendelstedt
Brothers Mark Hirschbeck and John Hirschbeck
Brothers Tim Welke and Bill Welke
Father Shag Crawford and son Jerry Crawford
2008 umpiring crews
These are the crews of umpires for the 2008 MLB season. Crews frequently change over the course of the year as umpires are sometimes detached from their crew (so they don't work in their home city), or are injured.
For other umpires, see and List of baseball umpires
Origin of the word "umpire"
According to the Middle English Dictionary entry for noumpere, the predecessor of umpire, came from the Old French nonper (from non, "not" + per, "equal"), meaning "one who is requested to act as arbiter of a dispute between two people", or that the arbiter isn't paired with anyone in the dispute.
In Middle English, the earliest form of this shows up as noumper around 1350, and the earliest version without the n shows up as owmpere, a variant spelling in Middle English, circa 1440.
The n was lost after it was written (in 1426-1427) as a noounpier with the a being the indefinite article. The leading n became attached to the article, changing it to an Oumper around 1475; this sort of linguistic shift is called juncture loss. Thus today we say "an umpire" instead of "a numpire."
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