| 0 |
Subject: Fay Vincent's Umpire Award Idea
Posted by: walk
- [75112114] Mon, Jul 09, 2007, 13:54
July 9, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
The Umpire Strikes Back
By FAY VINCENT
Williamstown, Mass.
DURING Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game tomorrow night, a rotund, grandfatherly man with a cherubic face, a ready grin and a sturdy, no-nonsense view of his responsibilities will umpire the game at home plate. There, he will properly be honored for breaking the record for the most years of service as a major league umpire. Bruce Froemming, now in his 37th year in the Show, has dusted off home plates, called them as he sees them, and dismissed the gripes of unhappy managers and players since long before all but a few of this generation of baseball All-Stars were born. But his remarkable achievement has, sadly, gone largely unnoticed.
That seems to be the lot of officials in all our sports. To some sportscasters and fans, the umps seem like the bases: necessary but not worthy of mention. Don’t think the umps fail to notice that attitude. That’s why Major League Baseball and other sports leagues need to institute an award for the best performance during the season by an official. A Most Valuable Official award, if you will. Such recognition for these essential and generally ignored participants in our sports is long overdue.
My father was a devoted sports official who spent time as a National Football League referee and who, well into his 70s, officiated at high school and college football and baseball games. If four children on a corner ever needed a ref or an ump for a game, he was always ready.
When I was child, my father once came home after a game with his head down, obviously unhappy with his work that day. When he told me he felt bad because he had “missed one,” I knew that he had disappointed himself as well as the players who had counted on his infallibility. I also remember how appalled I was when I went to a football game with my father and some of the crowd yelled abuse at him as if he were some kind of ugly statue they could insult without restraint or any sense of civility.
When I watch baseball games on television, I notice how rarely the umpires are even introduced. I hear sharply edged criticism of missed calls and very little comment on the enormously high percentage of calls that turn out to have been properly made. In my time in baseball, I was regularly reminded how seriously officials take their work and how disappointed they are when things go badly. Imagine how you would feel if your mistakes were captured by cameras and routinely mocked by well-respected commentators.
In sports these days there are awards for virtually everything. But no major sport takes the time or care to pat officials on the back, to recognize the fine ones who do their jobs well and with the devotion we fans have come to expect. It’s true that there have been mistakes and behavioral excesses by officials. We all know the umps don’t get them all right. Some officials have become unduly confrontational and more conscious of the television cameras than they used to be. If we want to encourage the best behavior among officials, we should spell out the reasons we respect and admire those who do their jobs well.
I would hope such awards would over time come to be cherished by the recipients and acknowledged by the public. In baseball, the award might be named after the late Bart Giamatti, who as commissioner demonstrated great affection for “my umpires,” as he called them.
Football officials, basketball refs, and baseball umpires are the keepers of order and civility. They know the rules and enforce them. Without them there can be no game because the rules define the contest and permit there to be a winner. So long as they do their jobs well, we may not even notice them. But we know how vital they are, and we would be sending them our thanks with this recognition of the best of them.
Fay Vincent was the commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1989 to 1992. |
| 1 | Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Jul 09, 2007, 13:59
|
WOW!
|
| 2 | JeffG
Leader
ID: 01584348
Mon, Jul 09, 2007, 16:27
|
It is a good idea I guess, but even recognizing the 'ump of the year' is subjective. The best umpires and referees already get recognition in a few ways.
The so called "best" usually work the post season and all star games assignments (and get paid for them) as an acknowledgement that they stand out. (A buddy of mine did minor league baseball for 10 or so years and to stay more close to home became a college baseball umpire just doing games primarily on the East Coast. He just umpired his 4th straight NCAA college World Series regional and super regionals. He expects he will get the call to the College WS finals in a few more seasons).
The ones that perform get to keep their jobs as I am pretty sure that most leagues now implement a pretty low key grading process and quietly dismiss those who do not live up to the set standards. You never want the public or players to ever know an umpire is graded low or under probation because that will just put them under more focus for harassment.
Umps, refs, and the like should try to be as anonymous as possible. I know from my professional umpire friend that baseball umpires are graded NOT by how many calls they get 'correct' or 'incorrect'. They are watched and graded by in-stand supervisors and tapes of every game are reviewed to make sure they are in the right position under all situations to make the right call, and that they are concentrating just as hard in the 9th inning of a tie ball game as they are in a blow out or early in the game.
I do think that umpires should be given more props than the broadcasters do, but I think even the average baseball fan has a positive opinion on the job they do.
|
| 3 | Ref
Donor
ID: 539581218
Mon, Jul 09, 2007, 18:09
|
I think even the average baseball fan has a positive opinion on the job they do.
I literally LOLed on that one.
Officiating is the only profession I can think of in which you are expected to be perfect every time out and continue to improve. You don't get cheers when you get the play right. That's expected. But a perceived missed play (even when it's correct) and all hell breaks loose.
I am just amazed that someone would write an honoree of the like. Right now the only time you hear about true greatness it seems in officiating is longevity like Bavetta or Froemming. Not that they are nec. the best, but they were good enough to keep their job for so long. (not saying they are bad by any means).
I know or have met game officials in MLB and minor league baseball, NBA and minor league basketball, NFL and minor league hockey, NCAA baseball, basketball, football and hockey. It is truly a thankless job in the public domain but they feed off of the fraternization and self-competition to "beat the tape." While the money has gotten a lot better in some of these leagues, it is still an incredibly tough job. Some of the well-known officials like say a Mendy Rudolph, probably couldn't hold a candle to the officials who currently work on the NBA staff. Probably the same goes to guy like Shag Crawford et al in MLB.
I don't think every game official should be celebrated. But officials really add to the entertainment value of their sport by doing their job so well.
|
| Rate this thread: | If you wish, you may rate this thread on scale of 1-5. Ratings should indicate how valuable or interesting you believe this thread would be to other users of this forum. A '5' means that this thread is a 'must read'. A '1' means that this is a complete waste of time. If you have previously rated this thread, rating it again will delete your previous rating. If you do not want to rate this thread, but want to see how others have rated it, then click the button without entering a rating, or else click here. |
|
|
|
Post a reply to this message: (But first, how about checking out this sponsor?)
|
|