Umpires’ retirements hit MLB and have sent shockwaves throughout the baseball world. According to MLB insider Jesse Rogers of ESPN, at least ten umpires are retiring at the end of the month. This is the most MLB has lost at one time since 1999.
Several MLB Crew Chiefs Retiring
Seven well-respected crew chiefs—Ted Barrett, Greg Gibson, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds, and Bill Welke—all announced they would retire. They were joined by Marty Foster, Paul Nauert, and Tim Timmons who are all considered the top number twos of umpiring.
Years of Service
While it is not uncharacteristic for Major League Baseball to have umpires retire before the start of Spring Training, the shock is the number of umpires retiring at one time and the years of experience they take with them. These 10 retiring umpires will finish their careers with over 265 seasons of combined service to MLB. They have called 16 World Series contests, multiple no-hitters, and even a perfect game.
Thankless Job for MLB Umpires
Umpires’ retirements hit the MLB and while it may seem that being an umpire would be a wonderful and rewarding job, the reality is that it’s a highly demanding and thankless job. Any missed or questionable call will certainly lead to a lecture from a team’s manager and, yes, even fans—and that’s the least of it.
Physical Toll on MLB Umpires Perhaps Leading to Retirements
We know umpiring takes a physical toll on a body. Several of these retiring umpires have suffered concussions from foul tips hitting off their facemasks and heads. Most have hip and knee issues as well as other nagging injuries. In fact, injuries kept eight of the 10 retirees from working a full 2022 season.
Add to physical injuries the mental fatigue of being an MLB umpire. Umpires have always drawn criticism, but recently they have come under even more scrutiny as replay technology evolved. Replay reveals countless blown calls—sometimes on a daily basis.
While human error has always been part of the game, having your mistakes played over and over while being judged and criticized more than ever can take a mental toll and could have played a part in their decisions. Or, maybe they can read the writing on the wall as the MLB moves to more technological solutions, including a transition to the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS),
The Future of Umpiring After Retirements Hit MLB
These umpires’ retirements hit the MLB and the loss of their leadership and experience will undoubtedly be felt. The 2023 season sees the implementation of several rule changes including larger bases, a pitch clock, and a ban on the defensive shift. MLB will reportedly promote 10 new umpires who have some familiarity with the new rules. These 10 will gain experience during Spring Training 2023 and—hopefully—be ready to take on a full season. Sink or swim, they’re being thrown into the deep end. It will take a lot to replace 265+ seasons of experience.
And the question: what is the future of umpiring? More umpires deciding to retire after the 2023 season could be helpful with the transition to the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS) that MLB wants to try and implement as early as 2024. With that system in place, the question of replacing the human umpire with technology will keep coming.
More General Baseball Articles
More MLB Articles
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
- Category
-
General Baseball
This is a good article. I hope MLB finds some excellent replacements. Do you think robot umps are coming?
I think there will be some sort of combination of human + technology. I am not so sure that it gets all the way to full-blown robot umps.
Correct. There will always be humans on the field. The better term is an automated strike zone. Technology will sense where the pitch is and buzz the plate umpire when it’s a strike. Then he’ll call the pitch.
There still needs to be a human out there to rule on checked swings, foul tips, balks, catcher’s interference, fair/foul in the infield, and safe/out on plays at the plate, among other things.