Comments on: The umpires, the MLBPA and MLB met yesterday

By: fatcatt

fatcatt — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 08:56:56 +0000

By no means have they gotten any better sir. They make most of the bad calls from being out of position. but that position that they dont stray from is the correct position deemed by their training. and thats the problem. Most of them ever move to get the best angle. Where does the ump stand on a steal to 2nd base? On the 1B side of the bag. The best view they have is if the ball is thrown where it supposed to be. The ball is supposed to be a perfect throw at the 1st base side of the bag so the runner perfectlly slides into it. but that doesnt happen very often and there view is often blocked. And often a runners hand alues the tag. They need to stand on the SS side of the bag to get the best views. Same at home plate. The ump stands behind the catcher and is totally blocked by a throw from left field to the catcher. Happens alot. The umps are lazy and stagnet during games. And as any baseball fan knows full of themselves except for a few. They were pathetic last year. And Bud Selig needs to go.

By: cusoman

cusoman — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:28:13 +0000

Nice try Joe West.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:05:39 +0000

I don’t think there’s any need to blow up the players union, just dictate terms to them and dare them to go on strike. It’s not like the players going on strikes, where there’s no possibility of getting equivalent replacement talent. They don’t have that much leverage.

By: The Common Man/www.platoonadvantage.com

The Common Man/www.platoonadvantage.com — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:43:25 +0000

I’m not sure I agree with your premise, Pancho, but even if I did, that is still no reason to not try and improve their performance. Better than football and basketball shouldn’t be the goal. Simply getting better should be.

By: BC

BC — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:12:22 +0000

That being said….you remove the union from the equation, and you have direct accountability.
I wouldn’t fine or suspend an umpire for blowing a call – hey it happens. But the behavior of some of these guys is ridiculous. Think they’d pull that if they knew they had a very public 10-game suspension coming, versus a secret-behind-closed-doors thing from the Union that probably is nothing anyway?

By: PanchoHerreraFanClub

PanchoHerreraFanClub — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:59:01 +0000

Of all the major sports, the baseball officials are easily the best by a wide margin. And they have gotten better over the last ten years or so.

By: The Common Man/www.platoonadvantage.com

The Common Man/www.platoonadvantage.com — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:43:11 +0000

I could be wrong, BC, but I don’t believe that’s entirely accurate. MLB has fined and suspended umpires in the past (I’m thinking of Joe West in particular), which suggests it has some control over discipline, but they don’t seem particularly interested in flexing that muscle. This may have to do with the umpire’s union, but MLB has had no problem busting that union in the past. So, I guess I’m saying I don’t really know what the problem is, except that MLB doesn’t seem inclined to make this a priority.

By: BC

BC — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 14:35:58 +0000

The root of the problem is accountability. The umpires are not accountable to MLB, they’re accountable to the Umpires’ Union, which means they’re basically accountable to themselves. MLB can’t do anything to discipline or reprimand an umpire – the union handles that. 999 times out of 1000 they handle it internally, and you have no idea what if anything happened.
I’m not a total anti-union guy in general, but I think the overall quality and attitude issue becomes a lot less of a problem if you blow up the Umpires’ Union – essentially, boot the guys there now – and have MLB hire umpires who directly accountable to MLB, and not a union. The Umpires’ Union protects its own and lets the umpires do as they wish. Enough already.