Baseball's Fifty Shades of Gray

Happy new year, my friends!  The holidays are over, kids are back in school, and the ballots for the 2013 inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame are in.  On January 9, the Hall of Fame will announce this year's inductees, which will no doubt cause a lot of controversy and discussion among baseball enthusiasts and non-fans alike.

You see, this year's ballot reflects baseball's "steroid era," featuring players like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens.  The list also includes "nice guys" like Craig Biggio, Curt Schilling, and Don Mattingly, and 3 Puerto Ricans (Edgar Martinez, Bernie Williams, and Sandy Alomar, Jr).  So what makes a player worthy of being inducted into the Hall of Fame? That's where the gray areas exist.

According to the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA): 

"Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." (I copied this right off the BBWAA website).

Baltimore Sun columnist, Peter Schmuck, recently wrote an article in which he said that "Based on any strict standards of ethics or morality, there are plenty of players in the Hall of Fame who must have sneaked in through the back door."  So if a player's character is questionable but does not affect the way he plays baseball (is he an alcoholic, a racist, a wife-beater, or does he actively bet on baseball?), should he still be in the Hall of Fame?  Again, that's where the gray areas lie (for the record, I don't think Pete Rose should be in the Hall, but that's a whole other blog for another day!).  Would the careers of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been as successful without the steroids?  For how many years did they actually use performance-enhancing drugs?  Were they considered elite athletes before the alleged drug use began?  Yet more questions and more gray areas.  It doesn't help their cause that both Bonds and Clemens are idiots, but then again, do you vote for the nice guys as opposed to the asses?  If that's the case, then Steve Carlton shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame (and I think he's worthy of being there, despite having played with the Phillies).  Schmuck (gotta love that name!), who is a member of the BBWAA but cannot vote because of the policies of his employer (I'd change jobs, if I were him), says he would vote for both Bonds and Clemens, as well as for former catcher Mike Piazza, who was never accused of using performance-enhancing drugs, yet he had big biceps and hit tons of home runs during the same era.  

If I were a voting member of the BBWAA (which I hope to someday be!), I would vote for the following players (voters can pick up to 10):  

• Curt Schilling (Any pitcher with over 3,000 strikeouts and over 200 wins is Hall of Fame worthy, in my opinion.  So what if his video game business went bankrupt and he recently had to fire everyone?)
• Mike Piazza (You know how I love catchers, plus his career batting average over .300, 12 All-Star Game appearances, and Rookie of the Year award in 1993 are not too shabby)
• Don Mattingly (How is it that he's not in the Hall yet?  I know he's a Yankee, but he's worthy!)
• Edgar Martinez (Not because he's Puerto Rican, but because of his career .312 batting average, 2 batting titles, and overall consistency.  Unfortunately, Edgar was a very quiet guy who played for crappy Seattle teams, so he's not as popular as most nominees.  I don't think he'll ever get selected.)   :-(  

(Craig Biggio was on my original list because he was a catcher, he reached 3.000 hits, and he had boyish good looks, but I agree with Peter Gammons on this one - he just wasn't spectacular enough to be a Hall of Famer.  Sorry, Craig!)

So yeah, of the current list of players, I only found 4 of them to be worthy of Hall of Fame status (I know, I'm a hard-ass, but I take my fictitious voting very seriously!).  No Sosa, no McGwire (I "mis-remembered" to vote for him), no Bonds, and no Clemens.  We'll find out next week if any of my selections were actually chosen by the BBWAA writers; for now, if you're a current baseball player reading this (and there are many of you, I'm sure!), hit the ball hard, be nice to the media, stay healthy, and keep your nose clean.  And maybe, just maybe, I'll be voting for you someday!

What I do During the Off-Season

Hello, MM followers!  You figured I couldn't stay away for the entire off-season, and you were right!  This time of year is actually a pretty busy one for the General Managers and front office staff of all Major League baseball teams.  Players have to be traded, free agents have to be signed, and season tickets have to be sold.  Josh Hamilton still needs to pick a team, the Washington Nationals still need to work out a deal with Gold-Glove winner Adam LaRoche, and Kevin Youkilis still needs to decide if he wants to wear Yankee pinstripes for a year since third base will be open for at least the first half of next season while A-Rod recovers from hip surgery (I wonder if A-Rod received the flowers I sent him - NOT!).

Speaking of Gold Glove, all the post-season awards were handed out shortly after the World Series ended.  You can go to this link to see a complete list of who won which award:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/y2012/index.jsp

I was happy to see several players from my Washington Nationals on the list - Rookie of the Year Bryce Harper (I was skeptical when they called him up from the minors back in May, but he really did have a great rookie season); Adam LaRoche (who won a Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and Defensive Player of the Year for first base); Ian Desmond and Stephen Strasburg (who earned Silver Slugger awards for their positions); and NL Manager of the Year, Davey Johnson.  Orioles players were a-plenty as well (except for Buck Showalter, who should have gotten the AL Manager of the Year award), and the Giants' Buster Posey walked away with about 50 different awards (and he deserved every one of them!).

So the awards were handed out, the General Managers have been meeting, and "Dancing With the Stars" is over.  So how have I kept myself busy during the past month without live baseball on TV?  Here is a sampling of what I've been up to:

• I watched "The History of the World Series" on the MLB Network (channel 738 for local Comcast viewers - I bet you didn't even know you had that channel!).
• I watched "A History of the Major League Ballpark" on the MLB Network.
• I organized my baseball card binders and sent some cards to Beckett for encasing and grading (and many of them came back with not-so-good grades - a "4" for the Clemente my brother gave me for Christmas back in 1989?  Really???).
• I watched "Baseball by the Numbers" on the MLB Network
• I raked the leaves in the front yard.
• I decorated the house for Christmas.
• I watched "MLB Tonight" on the MLB Network.
• I went on WalMart's website and checked out their extensive array of Washington Nationals merchandise (and decided that Curly "W" curtains would not look good in my living room).
• I convinced my husband to run the St. Louis marathon with me next October.
• I contemplated going back to school and pursuing a Doctorate in Sport Management and Sport Theory but realized I couldn't do it for free.
• I watched "Baseball's Seasons" on the MLB Network
• I convinced my father to take us to a winter-league baseball game while we are visiting him and my mother in Puerto Rico.

So as you can see, I've kept myself plenty busy since the last out of the World Series was made.  And since pitchers and catchers can start reporting to their Spring Training locations starting on February 12 and the World Baseball Classic is less than 85 days away, I think I'll be fine for the next couple of months.  Stay tuned though, because the 2013 inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced in early January, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about that!

Felíz Navidad, everyone!

The Top Ten Things I Learned From the 2012 Baseball Season

Another baseball season has come and gone, and as the San Francisco Giants celebrate their sweep of the Detroit Tigers to win the World Series, it is time for me to look back and reflect on what, if anything, I have learned over the past seven months.

1.  One player does not a team make.  The Washington Nationals made it to the playoffs without Stephen Strasburg being available to pitch in the last month of the season.  The Giants won the World Series despite Tim Lincecum's lousy year.  The Los Angeles Angels did NOT make it to the playoffs this year despite having Albert Pujols on their team.  This is why baseball is a team sport - it takes a nine-man lineup and a strong pitching staff (bullpen included) to win (or lose) a baseball game.

2.  David Freese and Marco Scutaro are both very good baseball players.  This past season, Freese hit .293 with 20 homers, 79 RBIs, 70 runs scored, and three stolen bases.  Meanwhile, Scutaro his .300 for the season, with 7 home runs, 70 RBIs, 87 runs scored, and 53 stolen bases.  These two guys are true athletes and also performed very well during the playoffs.

3.  They sell very yummy quesadillas at Nationals Park.  While many people go to baseball games and indulge in the traditional hot dogs or Cracker Jacks, I like trying out new things, and the chicken quesadillas at the "Taste of the Majors" concession stand were delicious!

4.  Baseball umpires really do a good job, and the playoffs were no exception.  While they are human and do make mistakes, there weren't any real major controversial calls this year.  Some may call that boring; I call it effective.

5.  The double play is still my favorite play in baseball.  Never mind the grand slam; never mind a player stealing home (that IS exciting, but it just doesn't happen very often).  Watching a well-executed double play just doesn't get old.  Speaking of double plays...

6.  The "infield fly rule" is dumb.   For those of you unfamiliar with it, the infield fly rule is intended to prevent infielders from intentionally dropping pop-ups in order to turn double or triple plays. Without this rule, a defense could easily turn a pop fly into a double play when there are runners at first and second base. If the runners stay near their bases to tag up, the defense could let the ball drop, throw to third base and then to second, for a force-out at each base.  If any of the runners stray too far from their bases, the defense could catch the pop-up, and double-off any runner who failed to tag up.  What's wrong with that?  It's called strategy, man!  If you are the runner, you need to pay attention; if you get doubled-up, that's your own darn fault!

7.  It is possible to get so consumed and caught up in a team's successes during the season that it affects your moods, your appetite, and your sleep pattern.  Then when that team is done for the season because of a heartbreaking loss during the playoffs, it also affects your moods, your appetite, and your sleep pattern.  Luckily there are four months left until Spring Training, so you have plenty of time to get your moods, appetite, and sleep pattern back to where they should be.

8.  Tim McCarver needs to retire from doing color commentary for the FOX network during the playoffs.  He may be a former catcher, but he's old, crotchety, and he jinxed Ryan Vogelsong's no-hitter in game 6 of the NLCS.  I'm not the only one who thinks so either; Don Cherry of the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) said that Tim McCarver "has lost his feel for baseball."  Now, I know that the Huffingon Post is not the top authority in all things baseball, but I had to find someone out there who agreed with me.  Hang 'em up, Tim; your glory days are long-gone!

9.  On the flip side, MASN Sports' Bob Carpenter and FP Santangelo really grew on me this past season (not just because I got to meet them!).  They are funny, lighthearted, knowledgeable, and Santangelo (the former player) doesn't get all anecdotal nor does he bore us with stories of "back in the day when I used to play" (which has been my problem with Jim Palmer and the main reason I have to watch Orioles games on "mute" when he's announcing).  Since the days of Joe Morgan and John Miller doing the ESPN game of the week are gone, Bob and FP are now my favorite broadcast team.

And finally...

10.  Stan Musial (91) and Bobby Doerr (94) are not dead.  Other old basebll players I was surprised to learn are still alive include Ralph Kiner (90), Red Schoendienst (89), and Sandy Koufax (only 76).  Who knew?  Willie Mays is still around too - he's 81 and still saying "hey!"

I hope you enjoyed my blog posts during this past season - I am definitely grateful for you all reading them and therefore putting me above 2,000 views in only two seasons.  I will probably post a few times during the off-season as trades and free-agent signings start happening (and hopefully after Bryce Harper gets the Rookie of the Year award or Gio Gonzalez gets the Cy Young), and I will fill you in on the World Baseball Classic, which is played every 4 years and will be expanded for the 2013 season.  In the meantime, watch some football and enjoy the upcoming holidays with your family.  Signing off for now,

Mudville Mom  :-)

In the Blink of an Eye...

Hello, my friends.  I know I haven’t posted in a while, but I was so caught up in the baseball playoffs that I wasn’t sure what to write about – the surprising Oakland A’s, the feisty Orioles, the Strasburg-less Nationals…  But as a true Nationals fan, I have to accept what happened Friday night, and I’m hoping that by writing about it, I can move on and look forward to next year’s baseball season.

The Nationals went into the post-season with the best record in baseball – 98 wins that surprised many skeptics who had said that the Nationals were too young, too inexperienced, and relied too much on their pitching.  But regular-season records and statistics are erased come October, when everyone starts with a clean slate (including major-league-leading 21-game winner, Gio Gonzalez, who was less than stellar in his two post-season starts).

In game 1 of the National League Division Series (NLDS), the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 3-2.  This despite Bryce Harper going 0-5, Gonzalez walking 7 batters in 5 innings, and 10 runners left on base.  It was Tyler Moore’s 2-run single in the 8^th inning that made the difference, and it was all the Nats needed to squeak by the Cards, who also didn’t play particularly well on that day.

In the second game, the Cards won by a score of 12-4, thanks to two home runs by outfielder Carlos Beltrán.  The Nats left 9 runners on base that night – again, a game they did not play very well.

For game 3, the Nationals came home to DC but still lost 8-0.  The Cardinals had 14 hits, and their starter, Chris Carpenter, pitched 5 2/3 innings very well despite having missed most of the regular season with injuries.  This time, the Nationals left 11 players on base (are you sensing a pattern here with the LOB?).  For sure, the Nationals were playing so lousy that they were certain to be eliminated in game 4.

However, in game 4, after Jordan Zimmermann and Tyler Clippard each struck out their 3 batters in relief, Jayson Werth hit a towering home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Nationals a 3-1 win.  It was one of those moments you’ll never forget, whether you were one of the lucky 45,000 fans to be at Nationals Park that night or whether you were watching at home.  It’s right up there with Kirk Gibson’s home run in the NLCS back in 1988 and Curt Schilling’s bloody sock in the 2004 postseason.  The Nationals were still alive, and all of a sudden everyone thought they could beat the Cardinals in game 5 and move on to face the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.

But as memorable as game 4 was because of Werth’s home run, game 5 will go down in Nationals infamy as the biggest heartbreak in the team’s short history.  In the top of the ninth inning, with the Nationals leading 7-5 and one more out to go before they could clinch their division, Nationals’ closer, Drew Storen, loaded the bases.  Then the Cardinals’ Daniel Descalso ripped a two-run single off the glove of shortstop Ian Desmond, bringing in two runs to tie the game.  Pete Kozma then followed with a two-run single to right, and before you knew it, the Nationals trailed by two.

The Nationals were unable to get on base in the bottom of the ninth, so just like that, the Cardinals move on to the NLCS.  It was a stunning and crushing loss, and some of us still can’t believe that the team that we supported all season is all done for the year.

So now what?  With both the Orioles and the Nationals being eliminated on the same day, what are DC/Baltimore fans supposed to do now?  Well I, for one, am going to root for the Detroit Tigers (though I seldom root for an American League team).  I’m going to keep watching the next 2 weeks of baseball (hoping that the Yankees choke and that Verlander, Cabrera, and Fielder can put on a good show), and I’m going to look forward to next year, when my husband and I can buy another five-game ticket plan, pitching ace Stephen Strasburg will hopefully be able to pitch for a full season, and most of the players in the Nationals team will be returning next year.  Their fans will still be here (including the new ones who joined the bandwagon this season); wearing our Nationals jerseys with pride and showing off our NATTITUDE. 

So stay tuned, amigos - I'm sure I'll still have plenty to say during the playoffs!  :-)

"You Don't LOOK Hispanic!"

One of the many great things about sports is that people of different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds can play together regardless of their differences.  Gone are the days when Jackie Robinson was spit on by racist fans. Blacks and whites, Hispanics and Canadians, Christians and Jews - they can all play together in unified harmony.  Rivalries exist between cities and their teams - not races and their skin colors.

But despite integration, some ethnic groups still like to single themselves out, and they do so with plenty of pride.  For example, each February during Black History Month, the media floods us with movies, biographies, and stories of great African-American people in history.  In September, which is Hispanic Heritage Month, different cities around the country have "Latino Festivals," baseball teams have "Hispanic Heritage Day" at their ball parks, and newspapers feature stories of Hispanic activists who have made a difference in their communities.  We like blending in with the masses, but we also take pride in who we are and from where we came.

In commemoration of Hispanic Heritage Month, Major League Baseball polled a "series of experts" to put together the "All-Time Latino Team."  Being a proud Puerto Rican, I was very interested to see how many of my fellow islanders had made the list and if I agreed with everyone who was selected.  As I read down the list, I pretty much agreed with the "experts" on the different legendary players chosen.  It wasn't until I got towards the end that my face got red, my eyes bulged out of my head, and I got downright angry.  I was so taken aback by two of the selections that I had to go down to the basement so my kids didn't see how upset and wound up I was (I know; it's only a list, but you know me - I'm pretty passionate about all things baseball).  Here is the All-Time Latino Team - see if you can guess what set me off:

Manager - 1994 Manager of the Year Felipe Alou.  It was probably between him and Ozzie Guillen, so I was OK with Alou.

Right-handed pitcher - Juan Marichal.  With his career ERA of 2.29, he deserves to be there over Pedro Martinez.

Left-handed pitcher - Fernando Valenzuela.  Yeah, I can see that, even though "Lefty" Gomez and Johan Santana could have made it too.

Relief pitcher - Mariano Rivera hands-down.  That guy is some sort of alien or superhuman or something.  I wouldn't be surprised if he came back after his knee injury and pitched game 7 of the World Series this year.

Designated hitter - Edgar Martinez, whose .312 career batting average and .418 on-base percentage make him worthy of being on the list (though some would argue that "Big Papi" David Ortiz is also qualified).

Catcher - 12-time All-Star Iván Rodriguez.  Hello!  No-brainer!  If "Pudge" hadn't been selected, I would have exploded.  Javy Lopez, Yadier Molina, Jorge Posada and Manny Sanguillen would have also been good choices, but Iván deserves it, hands-down (actually, one hand behind your back and the other  framing the next pitch!)..

First base - Three-time National League MVP, Albert Pujols.  I'm OK with this one.  It would have been nice to see Orlando Cepeda or Vic Power, but Albert is a true talent, so he deserves to be there.

Second base - 2011 Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar.  Another no-brainer, though Robinson Canó is turning out to be just as good.

Third base - Alex Rodriguez.  Sigh!  Whatever.  I was still feeling OK at this point despite not being a fan of A-Rod.  Plus, A-Rod is not worth my time, so I refused to stress out about that one.

Shortstop - Nine-time Gold Glover Luis Aparicio.  That's fine, though Omar Vizquel is the best shortstop of my generation.  Still feeling OK with the list so far.

Right field - Roberto Clemente.  Duh!  Again, if he had not been chosen, I would have had such a fit that I would have requited a massive dose of sedation.

OK, now here's where I have a problem with the list.  The other two outfielders selected were Ted Williams and Reggie Jackson!  Who???  What the heck?!?  Since when are THEY considered "Latinos?"  Apparently Ted Williams' mother was "of Mexican descent," and Reggie Jackson's father was half Puerto Rican.  What about current players like José Bautista and Carlos Beltrán?  Or past players like  Minnie Miñoso, Vladimir Guerrero, Rubén Sierra, Bernie Williams or José Cruuuuuuz?  Ted and Reggie... really???  Ted Williams admitted that he didn't speak Spanish or seek to embrace the Hispanic culture in order to prevent prejudice or tension (a valid point back in the day, if you're a coward!).  Reggie Jackson speaks some Spanish and his first wife was Hispanic, but at no point during his time playing winter baseball in Puerto Rico was it publicly acknowledged that he was a Latino.  I thought "If they're considered Hispanic, then I'm the 'reina de Inglaterra' (Queen of England, for those of you who don't "habla español)."  So I went to bed in a tizzy, promising myself to write about it the next day.

So it's now the next day, and I've had some time to ponder.  What makes one person more "Hispanic" than another?  Is it the quantity of "hispanicness" in your genetic makeup, or the quality of your life and the way you were raised?  I am 100% Puerto Rican, with parents whose ancestors date back to the native Taíno Indians who lived on the island before Christopher Columbus arrived or back to the Spanish "conquistadores" who brought African slaves with them and settled on the island.  But it's not so cut-and-dry for other Hispanics.  My kids, for example, have a Puerto Rican mother and a white-as-can-be father.  Are they any less Hispanic than me?  How about the people I knew when I lived in Massachusetts, whose parents were both Puerto Rican but they themselves were born on the mainland and had never been to Puerto Rico - are they less Puerto Rican than Roberto Clemente, who was of African lineage?  They speak the language, eat the food, and listen to the music of their fellow Puerto Ricans, but are they less "boricua" because they've never been to Puerto Rico?  Don't try to tell them that they are - they will run you out of town while furiously waving their one-starred flags!

I guess what bothers me the most is that, while Williams and Jackson were great players in their time, did they embrace their Hispanic heritage?  Were they Latinos first and foremost?  Do they know the National Anthem of their country and proudly fly its flag?  They don't have to be fully bilingual nor do they have to eat re fried beans (which I don't eat myself); they just need (or needed, in Williams' case) to embrace their culture, take pride in their heritage, and represent their ethnicity with dignity.  While some would argue that ethnicity should not matter, It does matter to those of us who take pride in ours, and if you don't want us to single ourselves out, then don't be putting together an all-time greats list that singles out a certain ethnicity.

Stay tuned for my analysis and opinion after Major League Baseball releases its "All-Time Jehovah's Witness Team" and "All-Time Vegetarian List."

Our Last Trip to the Ballpark (maybe!)

This past Saturday, my husband and I went to our fifth and final Nationals game of the regular season.  It was a warm afternoon, and Nationals Park was packed with over 40,000 fans hoping to watch Nationals’ pitcher Gio Gonzalez earn his 20^th win of the season, this time against the Milwaukee Brewers.  Yes, the “Brew Crew” was in town, the team leading the Majors with 150 stolen bases and an impressive 188 home runs (despite losing Prince Fielder in the off-season).  The team with Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, and Jonathan Lucroy.  This was a great day to be at the ball park.

Gonzalez and the Nationals did not disappoint.  Not only did Gio pitch 7 great innings with no earned runs and 5 strikeouts, but the Nationals’ bats were on fire, with Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond both hitting 3-run homers in the same inning against former Nats’ pitcher Liván Hernandez.  Poor Livo’s fastball doesn’t go over 85mph and his curveball travels slower than a car on the interstate at 63mph.  Time for Liván to retire, perhaps?

The Nationals beat the Brewers by a score of 10-4 and have a “magic number” of six in order to clinch the National League East division.  Gio Gonzalez has undoubtedly been one of the reasons the Nationals have spent most of the season in first place in their division, and is a top contender for this year’s Cy Young award.  I did recently hear former Red Sox player Nomar Garciaparra comment on TV that Gio doesn’t deserve the Cy Young award because he pitches for a winning team.  He believes that the Mets’ R.A. Dickey, a “one-trick pony” with a knuckleball that hitters have started to decipher, should get the award because he’s pitched well despite playing for a losing team.  Sorry, Nomar – you don’t know what you’re talking about, you fool!  It’s going to be a toss-up between Gio and the Reds’ Johnny Cueto – who both pitch for winning teams (the Reds just clinched the NL Central). 

So anyway, back to Saturday’s game… yes, it was our last one of the regular season, and we opted to not buy tickets for the postseason just yet, since they’re only selling tickets for the division series and we’d rather spend our money on tickets for the NLCS (one of those unfortunate decisions that responsible adults have to make).  We are very happy that we bought a five-game flex plan for the first time this year, and that we were able to watch baseball greats like Stephen Strasburg, Derek Jeter, Joey Votto, and Ryan Braun.  We always had very good seats, and getting in and out of the park (whether we took Metro or parked in a nearby lot) was never an issue.  Despite Saturday’s sellout crowd, Nationals Park is roomy enough where we did not feel cramped or too crowded (something I don’t suspect happens at Fenway, Wrigley, or Camden Yards) and the lines at the concession stands moved quickly (unless the lady behind you takes your food before you can grab it – that witch!)  If you get a chance to catch a playoff game at Nationals Park, go for it.  You’ll get to watch racing presidents, the atmosphere will be electric, and hopefully, like the Nats’ radio announcer Dave Jageler would say, you will witness the Nationals putting “another curly ‘W’ in the books.”

"Steeee-rike one!"

In the 100-plus posts that I've published as Mudville Mom, I have tried to cover many aspects of the game of baseball - my joy in watching a perfectly-executed double play; the hobby of collecting baseball cards; my fascination (or infatuation!) with catchers; and how much I dislike the Phillies and Yankees.  But there's one topic I haven't covered yet, and watching yesterday's Washington Redskins/LA Rams game gave me the inspiration to write about officiating (I won't get into the terrible job that the replacement refs are doing in the NFL - that's a whole other can of worms!).

According to MLB.com, Major League baseball umpires get around $120,000 per season when they start out in the big leagues, and senior umps can earn upwards of $300,000.  Between spring training, a 162-game schedule, and the postseason, being an MLB umpire is a job that takes up most of the year (unlike NFL refs, who can hold other jobs - and if I'm not mistaken, is one of the issues they're dealing with in these ongoing negotiations between the NFL and the referees' union).   So despite not making as much money as the baseball players themselves, umpires are well cared-for while on the road.  Each ump gets a $340 per diem to cover hotel and food, and when they fly, it's always first class. Working a full postseason can tack on an extra $20,000, plus expenses. They also get four weeks of paid vacation during the regular season, which I think is quite excessive when the season is only six months long (I work a 180-day schedule at a high school - imagine if I asked my principal for four weeks of paid vacation during the school year!).

These guys hang onto their jobs, too; on average, there's only one opening for a new big league ump each season.  Joe West, for example, has been umpiring Major League baseball games since the days of Pete Rose and Johnny Bench (34 years) and Derryl Cousins has been calling plays for 33.  Umpiring can run in the family too - Harry Wendelstedt umpired for many years, and his son, Hunter, is an umpire now as well.

But one thing these guy aren't is perfect.  They have been known for making bad calls countless times, most recently in last Saturday's Nationals-Braves game, where the first base umpire claimed that Adam LaRoche's foot was off the base when Martín Prado reached the base, when we know it really wasn't.  The problem is, the reason we know that LaRoche's foot was indeed on the base is because we saw the replay at least six times, including in very slow motion.  Umpires don't have the benefit of replay (except in home run calls, when a team can appeal the call and the umpires go into their clubhouse and review the tape).  Often times the play is so close that they have to make a guess, and other times they have to judge by the sound of the ball hitting the glove instead of by looking at the play. 

While we love to boo and heckle umpires, I think they do a pretty good job overall.  While some people believe that instant replay needs to be expanded and umpires should be allowed to review calls other than in home run situations, I think having them go off into the clubhouse to review every disputed play would make a baseball game last an eternity.  Instead, I do think that they should show a play on a scoreboard's Jumbotron or Diamond Vision or whatever it's called.  That way everyone, including the umpires, can see a replay in a timely manner and umpires can change the call right away.  This wouldn't take long, but then I wonder if umpires would rely on it too much.   Although nothing shatters an umpire's ego more than having to admit a mistake and change a call.

One of the reasons that many of us die-hard baseball fans enjoy the game so much is that in many ways, it has gone unchanged over the years.  Yes, the Designated Hitter has only been around for 39 years, and yes, the new Wild Card and playoffs formats are ridiculous.  But the managers don't wear headsets or use iPads - they still tap their ball caps, point to their noses and ears, and brush their shoulders to send signals to their players.  And the umpire is still the big guy behind the plate - the one who decides fair or foul, swing or no swing, go to first or go sit down.  Day in and day out (except for those 4 weeks of vacation), whether you like them or not.  boo them or cheer their call, spit on them or kick dirt on them, umpires will always be there to make the call.  Now whether or not it's the right one... well, that depends for which team you're cheering!