“They get paid to do games!?”

Spring training still key for Canada’s pro umpires

By Scott Langdon

Canadian Baseball Network

Ian Lamplugh umpired his last MLB game almost two decades ago, but he still remembers spring training as the best time of the year for a professional umpire. Canada’s current record crop of nine professional baseball umpires agrees with him, but much has changed with the passage of time.

Lamplugh, a Victoria, B.C. native and resident, is one of four Canadians to umpire a full season in the major leagues in recent years. He umpired 14 years at various levels of the minor leagues and worked 189 MLB games including a full season in 2000.

Jim McKean, Montreal P.Q., who logged nearly 30 years as a major league umpire, passed away recently at the age of 73. Stu Scheurwater, Regina, Sask., has reported to spring training to begin his second year as a full-time MLB umpire. Paul Runge umpired in the National League from 1973 to 1997. His father, Ed, and son Brian also umpired in the major leagues. Paul Runge was born in St. Catharines, Ont., but raised in the United States.

Bob Emslie, Guelph, Ont., is another Canadian who umpired in the major leagues, beginning his big-league career in 1890. He was chief of umpires for the National League after retiring. McKean and Emslie are enshrined in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

The current group of nine Canadians umpiring in professional baseball at one time is thought to be a record, but an authoritative list does not exist, according to Scott Crawford, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

“When I retired from umpiring, baseball was hard to watch. But I don’t think about it as much as time has passed. I do remember, though, that spring training is the best part of a baseball season for umpires,” Lamplugh said. “It was when you re-united with other umpires and got to hang out and visit.”

Not paid

When prompted, spring training memories come flooding back to Lamplugh. Many involve the conditions for minor league umpires during his time climbing the ladder from Rookie ball to triple-A, where he spent six years before eventually heading to Taiwan and the Chinese Professional Baseball League where he was a “working umpire-in-chief” for four years.

“Now, they get paid for the spring games they umpire? That’s phenomenal, great to know because umpires are an integral part of the game,” said Lamplugh, who was involved in the formation of the first minor league umpires’ union in the 1990s.

“In my day, minor league umpires weren’t paid for umpiring spring training games. We received a per diem and the teams paid hotel costs,” he added.

Today, minor league umpires are paid $90 for each game they work in spring training, plus a $45 per diem according to Steve Jaschinski, Burlington, Ont., who will work the class-A Advanced Carolina League this season. Transportation to and from their location is provided along with a rental van for the two-to-three weeks working spring training.

“Spring training games typically involve a mix of minor league umpires from various levels. We’re all paid the same amount, regardless of the level we work,” Jaschinski said.

Minor league umpires are paid by their league during the season in accordance with their collective bargaining agreement. But individual major league teams pay the umpires for the spring games and provide accommodation. They remain in one location for the spring season and work in either five- or six-person crews.

“It depends on the camp and what the team provides for lodging. For a six-person crew, the camp crew chief will have his own room as would the number two umpire. Beyond that, teams are only required to provide one room for two umpires, although some provide individual rooms for all at their discretion,” said Chris Marco, Waterdown, Ont. Marco will work the double-A Eastern League again this season.

The minor league umpires report to various spring training locations in mid-March and call minor league games on the back fields of major league spring training. Crews work two games that tend to occur simultaneously each day. The umpires have one off day for a meeting about expectations and rule changes for the coming season.

“We are given a list of all the spring camps for major league teams and asked to select our first and second choices where we want to umpire. We could be in either Florida or Arizona. We don’t always get our preferred location,” Marco said.

“I always look forward to the warm weather in March. I love my job, so it’s great to see people again who we don’t see during the winter months. Umpires are a tight family,” said Chris Graham, Brampton, Ont., an 11-year professional umpire who will work his third season in the triple-A International League this year. He is a crew chief for minor league spring training games.

Marco and Graham will call Blue Jays’ minor league spring games at Dunedin, Fla.; Scott Costello, Barrie, Ont., a triple-A International League umpire, will be with the Pirates at Bradenton, Fla.; Ben Rosen, from Thornhill, Ont. and an umpire in the class-A Midwest League, will be at Lakeland, Fl., spring home of the Detroit Tigers.

In Arizona, Jaschinski and Kevin Mandzuk (Regina, Sask.) will handle Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league games at Phoenix. Two first-year Canadian umpires, Alex Lawrie, Halifax, N.S. and Matt Blackborow, Stoney Creek, Ont., are expected to work in the Rookie class Gulf Coast League this season as well as extended spring training games once major league teams break camp.

Calling balls and strikes

Lamplugh says spring training for umpires is more about working home plate than the bases.

“It provides an opportunity to call balls and strikes because you haven’t been doing it during the winter months. It’s about staying down, waiting and not being too quick to make the call. Getting used to the continuous up and down motion and strengthening your legs is also important,” he said.

Lamplugh used to attend winter workouts with amateur teams in Victoria, “just to call balls and strikes for an hour or so.”

Mandzuk says people tend to underestimate the athleticism and mobility required in umpiring.

“Proper footwork is important for an umpire to ensure you are in the proper position and to avoid injury. Spring games help us see pitches and get our legs used to umpiring again. It’s also about regaining the mental focus you need for a full nine innings,” he said.

Lamplugh used to work out in the gym during the off season and the current crop of Canadian umpires does the same.

“We all work in the gym because a full season is physically demanding,” Jaschinski said.

“The coaches expect the umpires to be right, right away, so you have to be in the right spot. Think about it…in a two-umpire system you are expected to cover the same ground as a four-man crew in major league baseball,” said Rosen.

Physical conditioning is also important to stave off injuries, especially during spring when getting back into game shape, says Marco.

“Oh ya, injuries happen to umpires, too. Anything from pulled muscles, knee and ankle injuries and concussions,” he said.

Costello suffered a concussion during the 2018 International League season. MiLB provides a medical co-ordinator for minor league umpires. Like players, there is an umpires’ disabled list.

“Wow! That’s phenomenal.”

Lamplugh, who spent spring training in Arizona with one year in Florida during his career, recalls his first season as a professional umpire at the Rookie level and marvels at the changes for current minor league umpires.

“We were paid $800 a month for time worked during the season, plus $1,300 to cover all other costs such as travel, hotels, etcetera,” he said.

Today, Rookie level umpires are paid up to $2,300 a month during the season. Triple-A umpires can earn up to $3,900 a month by a 14th season. At double, it’s $3,100 monthly by a ninth season. Per diems range up to $48.50 at full season A to $66.00 daily at the triple-A level.

Minor league umpires also received an upgrade in hotel accommodation, family leave, refrigerators at ballparks for concussion headgear as well as pay raises when a new collective agreement was finalized in 2017. Lodging must include interior access to guest rooms to avoid hotel rooms with parking lot entrances.

“Wow! That is phenomenal,” Lamplugh said when informed about the collective agreement.

“I remember pulling into one minor league town and paying 15 bucks a night for our hotel. We didn’t stay in the greatest of places sometimes,” he added.

Minor league umpires work in two-person crews during the season at the Rookie and class-A levels and then use a three-umpire system in double-A and triple-A. A crew stays together for an entire season.

To the class-A level, umpires are provided with a rental car to drive between cities, up to 12-hour trips in some leagues. A rental van is provided at the double-A and triple-A levels. Umpires commonly drove their own vehicles as recently as the 2000s when Toronto’s Shanna Kook was umpiring in the Rookie class Pioneer League in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. Kook is the only Canadian woman to umpire affiliated professional baseball.

Most don’t make it

There are 76 umpires in MLB. Turnover is minimal, making professional umpiring a challenging career choice. Working up to 10 years in the minor leagues before making it to the top is common. There are about 225 minor league umpires each season. Most don’t make it to the major leagues.

The professional journey begins by paying approximately $3,000 to attend one of two umpire schools approved by Minor League Baseball Umpire Development. Approximately 300 candidates in total enrol each year. Usually, the top 15 per cent from the two schools are selected to attend the Minor League Baseball Advanced Course. The top students there are recommended to Rookie and short season A league presidents for hiring, according to mlb.com

Minor League Baseball Umpire Development monitors and evaluates the umpires until they reach triple-A, like Graham and Costello. At that point, MLB monitors them for possible promotion to the big leagues.

Stops in the Dominican Winter League, the Arizona Fall League and crew chief assignments in minor league spring training are development steps along the way for triple-A umpires. Then, if selected, they could become triple-A “rovers”, eligible for temporary call ups to MLB when umpires are ill, injured or on vacation. Graham recently returned from working in the Dominican Winter League.

Scheurwater, formerly a member of Baseball Canada’s umpire program, started his professional career in 2007 in the minor leagues. He worked his first MLB game in 2014 when on the call-up list from triple-A. He umpired about 270 games as a call-up.

Today, with full-time employment secure, he joins the relatively few major league umpires and can expect annual income ranging from $150,000 to $450,000, plus a pension plan and perks such as first-class travel and accommodation, according to a recent article in Bleacher Report.

During spring training, triple-A umpires such as Graham and Costello can have opportunities to umpire big league games. Both have done so in recent years.

“When I came along as a professional umpire, I had the feeling from some people that Canadians didn’t really understand baseball. They thought how could we with a short playing season due to the climate? What these young guys are doing now is great. I would love to see them get to the big leagues. We need more Canadians,” Lamplugh said.

Lamplugh, 54, was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame last year and the B.C. Baseball Umpires’ Association Hall of Fame in 2010. The Ian Lamplugh Award is presented annually by the Association to a member who has shown “a tremendous desire to improve his/her skills through consistent hard work, dedication and enthusiasm for umpiring…”

“For sure, I wish I had been able to become a full-time, career major league umpire. But I got to live my dream. I met my wife while umpiring in the Dominican Winter League, which I did for four or five years. Now, our daughter is a good athlete. We enjoy spending time watching and encouraging her.

“I hope all the current, young Canadian umpires at the very least get a chance to work MLB games in the spring. Get the uniform, the hat…a reward for all their effort and commitment. It is not an easy thing to do,” he said.

That’s one part of being an umpire that hasn’t changed, including for the eight Canadians who will soon leave spring behind to continue chasing their dream during another season in the minor leagues of professional baseball.