Nice read.
BERARDINO: Minors strike major problem
Umpires' conflict hurts on many levels.
Published May 26, 2006
Luis Dorante tells his Carolina Mudcats not to worry about bad calls. Things will even out over time, he reminds his Double-A ballplayers.
But then Dorante is forced to watch another night of inconsistent umpiring, and even the veteran minor league manager isn't sure if he believes his mantra anymore.
Such is the upside-down reality amid a minor league umpires' strike that could soon stretch into its third month. One that Major League Baseball would be wise to step in and end as soon as possible.
"It's been tough, no doubt about it," says Dorante, who spent last year as the Marlins' bullpen coach. "Every manager I talk to in the [Southern] league says the same thing. It's a complete mess. You can see it. It's no secret."
A rival manager for the Birmingham Barons pulled his team off the field and forfeited a recent game after deciding the replacement umps had lost control.
And in the most regrettable incident yet, Durham Bulls outfielder Delmon Young, the minors' top prospect, incurred a 50-game suspension for tossing his bat at replacement umpire Richard Cacciatore in Pawtucket, R.I.
Would these things be happening if the 220 striking umpires were back at work? No one can say for sure, but it's clear this conflict is causing negative consequences for baseball at nearly every level.
For starters, Minor League Baseball has raided the nation's supply of high school and college umpires to fill the void. That has predictably left those levels scrambling to find replacements for the replacements.
In the minors, where player development is the objective, farm directors, scouts and other team officials are having a nightmare of a time evaluating prospects when strike zones fluctuate so wildly. Not just from night to night, but inning to inning.
There's also the growing specter of regional bias among replacement umps, the vast majority of who are found locally and rarely travel. Triple-A New Orleans manager Tim Foli recently suggested teams would be better off having a coach stand behind the plate and calls balls and strikes.
An online article at Hardball Times compared April strikeout and walk rates for home and visiting teams in all 10 active minor leagues. With one exception -- Texas League walks -- home teams have the advantages, and in some cases the differential is quite large.
It doesn't take much imagination to see this trend affecting in-season promotions from one level to the next. What's worse, big-league teams could be promoting players they might otherwise have bypassed simply because of the *******ized strike zone.
That possibility is sobering enough for major league owners, but consider the gathering rust on the skills of the striking minor league umps. That group continues to sub for their big-league counterparts at the traditional rate of up to 1,500 games per season.
Without regular work to keep their eyes sharp, these fill-ins may be blowing more calls than ever on the game's main stage. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner seemed to agree when he blasted fill-in Adam Dowdy for tossing manager Joe Torre from a recent game.
And here's the craziest part: Baseball could make the whole problem go away for about $750,000.
That estimate comes from Parkland's Josh Miller, a striking Pacific Coast League umpire who serves as treasurer of the Association of Minor League Umpires. Along with fellow umps Joe Judkowitz and Adam Moscaritolo, Miller is one of three Douglas High grads on strike.
"I just want the fans to know we're not asking for a lot," says Miller, 29. "We're just asking to survive on a livable salary."
Miller made about $13,000 last year, his seventh in the minors. That works out to $93 per game, or about a third of the rumored amount PCL replacement umps are making this season.
His per diem was $25, although he usually got a free hot dog or burger for dinner.
The Professional Baseball Umpiring Corp., which administers the program for Minor League Baseball, rejected the union's proposal of a $35 per diem for Triple-A umps at Wednesday's latest bargaining session in Cincinnati,
Management countered with a figure $7 lower at each level.
"A slap in the face," Miller says. "Maybe then I could get two apple pies with my Super Size meal."
An earlier offer promised one-time raises of $100 per month, but that was effectively offset by a $400 annual increase in the insurance deductible.
Round and round they go, quibbling over modest sums while a $4.5 billion industry like Major League Baseball stays on the sideline and lets its expensive product be compromised.
"It's been a joke basically," Miller says. "The integrity of the game is at stake. They're sacrificing everything for pocket change."
Time for a makeup call.
Mike Berardino can be reached at mberardino@sun-sentinel.com.
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Shep's .02