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In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump. They are also sometimes addressed as blue at lower levels due to the common color of the uniform worn by umpires. In professional baseball, the term blue is seldom used by players or managers, who instead call the umpire by name. Although games were often officiated by a sole umpire in the formative years of the sport, since the turn of the 20th century, officiating has been commonly divided among several umpires, who form the umpiring crew.

Contents

 * 1Duties and positions
 * 1.1Crew chief
 * 1.2Judgment calls
 * 2Amateur umpiring
 * 3High school umpiring
 * 4Umpire training and career development
 * 5Uniform
 * 6Famous umpires
 * 6.1Hall of Fame
 * 6.2Numbers retired by the National and American Leagues
 * 6.3Longest major league careers
 * 6.3.1Most games
 * 6.3.2Most seasons
 * 6.4Others
 * 7Current MLB umpiring crews
 * 8Etymology
 * 9See also
 * 10References
 * 11Further reading
 * 12External links

Duties and positions[edit]
Home plate umpire Malachi Moore reviews the lineup cards from both teams before a 2016 minor league baseball game

In a game officiated by two or more umpires, the umpire in chief (or home plate umpire) is the umpire who is in charge of the entire game. This umpire calls balls and strikes, calls fair balls, foul balls short of first/third base, and makes most calls concerning the batter or concerning baserunners near home plate. To avoid injury, the home plate umpire wears similar equipment to the catcher, including mask, chest protector, leg guards and shoes with extra protection added over the laces. If another umpire leaves the infield to cover a potential play in foul ground or in the outfield, then the plate umpire may move to cover a potential play near second or third base. (The umpire-in-chief should not be confused with the crew chief, who is often a different umpire; see below.) In the event that an umpire is injured and only three remain, the second base position will generally be left vacant.

In nearly all levels of organized baseball, including the majors, an umpiring crew rotates so that each umpire in the crew works each position, including plate umpire, an equal number of games. In the earliest days of baseball, however, many senior umpires always worked the plate, with Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem being the last umpire to do so. Klem did so for the first 16 years of his career. On the Major League level, an umpiring crew generally rotates positions clockwise each game. For example, the plate umpire in one game would umpire third base in the next.

Other umpires are called base umpires and are commonly stationed near the bases. (Field umpire is a less-common term.) When two umpires are used, the second umpire is simply the base umpire. This umpire will make most calls concerning runners on the bases and nearby plays, as well as in the middle of the outfield. When three umpires are used, the second umpire is called the first-base umpire and the third umpire is called the third-base umpire, even though they may move to different positions on the field as the play demands. These two umpires also call checked swings, if asked by the plate umpire (often requested by catcher or defensive manager; however, only the plate umpire can authorize an appeal to the base umpire): the first base umpire for right-handed batters, and the third base umpire for left-handed batters; to indicate a checked swing, the umpire will make a "safe" gesture with his arms. To indicate a full swing, he will clench his fist. A second base umpire (Mike Reilly) at an MLB game in 2008.

When four umpires are used (as is the case for all regular season MLB games unless one has to leave due to injury), each umpire is named for the base at which he is stationed. Sometimes a league will provide six umpires; the extra two are stationed along the outfield foul lines and are called the left-field and right-field umpires (or simply outfield umpires).

Outfield umpires are used in major events, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and depending on the level, at parts of post-season playoffs. For Major League Baseball, all playoff levels use six umpires, while at lower levels, six umpires are used at the championship games (such as NCAA).Rulings on catches of batted balls are usually made by the umpire closest to the play.

Crew chief[edit]
The term umpire-in-chief is not to be confused with the crew chief, who is usually the most experienced umpire in a crew. At the major-league and high minor-league (Class AAA and AA) levels, the crew chief acts as a liaison between the league office and the crew and has a supervisory role over other members of the crew.

For example, on the Major League level, "The Crew Chief shall coordinate and direct his crew's compliance with the Office of the Commissioner's rules and policies. Other Crew Chief responsibilities include: leading periodic discussions and reviews of situations, plays and rules with his crew; generally directing the work of the other umpires on the crew, with particular emphasis on uniformity in dealing with unique situations; assigning responsibilities for maintaining time limits during the game; ensuring the timely filing of all required crew reports for incidents such as ejections, brawls and protested games; and reporting to the Office of Commissioner any irregularity in field conditions at any ballpark." Thus, on the professional level, some of the duties assigned to the umpire-in-chief (the plate umpire) in the Official Baseball Rules have been reassigned to the crew chief, regardless of the crew chief's umpiring position during a specific game.

Judgment calls[edit]
See also: Instant replay § Baseball

An umpire's judgment call used to be final, unless the umpire making the call chose to ask his partner(s) for help and then decided to reverse it after the discussion. Since 2014, the MLB allows managers to challenge plays during the game. If the manager successfully has a call overturned, they are rewarded with another challenge. If an umpire seems to make an error in rule interpretation, his call, in some leagues, can be officially protested as is the case in MLB. If the umpire is persistent in his or her interpretation, the matter will be settled at a later time by a league official.

In the early years of professional baseball, umpires were not engaged by the league but rather by agreement between the team captains. However, by the start of the modern era in 1901, this had become a league responsibility. There is now a unitary major league umpiring roster, although until the 1999 labor dispute that led to the decertification of the Major League Umpires Association, there were separate National and American League umpires. As a result of the 2000 collective bargaining agreement between Major League Baseball and the newly formed World Umpires Association, all umpires were placed on one roster and can work in either league.

Amateur umpiring[edit]
A volunteer umpire officiating a Little League Baseball game

An amateur umpire officiates non-professional or semi-professional baseball. Many amateur umpires are paid (typically on a per-game basis) and thus might be considered professionals, while some amateur umpires are unpaid. According to the Little League Baseball official website, umpires should be volunteers.

There are numerous organizations that test or train anyone interested in umpiring for local leagues, and can help make connections to the leagues in the area. Little League Baseball and the Babe Ruth League are two of the most popular organizations when it comes to youth baseball, and each have their own application, test, and training process for becoming an umpire. In Canada, most umpires are certified through a provincial organization, and then hired by local municipal associations through an umpire in chief.

For the Little League World Series, amateur umpires from around the world participate on a volunteer basis. Prospective Little League World Series umpires must participate at various levels of Little League All-Star tournaments, ranging from district to state to regional tournaments, prior to being accepted to work the World Series tournament.

High school umpiring[edit]
High school umpires are part-time umpires; most have other forms of employment. A high school umpire has to go to clinics and rules meetings before becoming an umpire. A person trying to become a high school umpire has to register with their respective state. When they register with the state they receive a rulebook, a casebook and an umpire manual. After reading through the rulebooks the umpires meet at clinics and rules meetings to discuss rules and mechanics. Clinics and rules meetings are crucial in an umpire's development. Once an umpire has gone to clinics and rules meetings they then start to umpire scrimmages. In a scrimmage an umpire gets hands on training for the first time. Scrimmages are where young umpires can learn from veteran umpires. After going to clinics and umpiring in scrimmages the umpire then has to take a rule exam. The umpire must pass the exam in order to umpire during the season. Once the umpire has passed the exam he/she is now ready to umpire high school level ballgames.

High school umpires are paid per game and the rate differs from state to state. The plate umpire and base umpire are paid the same amount for each game. Umpires in high school games use a two-person crew. Three-person and four-person crews may be used in later rounds of the playoffs.

Umpire training and career development[edit]
Becoming a Major League Baseball umpire requires rigorous training, and very few succeed. Provided the individual makes satisfactory progress throughout, it typically takes from 7–10 years to achieve MLB status. First, a person desiring to become a professional umpire must attend one of two private umpiring schools authorized by Major League Baseball: Minor League Baseball Umpire Training Academy or The Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School. Both schools are run by former Major League umpires and are located in Florida. There are no prerequisites for attending these schools; however, there is an Umpire Camp, run by Major League Baseball, that is generally considered a "tool for success" at either of these schools. These camps, offered as two separate one-week sessions, are held in November in Southern California. Top students at these camps are eligible to earn scholarships to either of the professional umpire schools in Florida.

After five weeks of training, each school sends its top students to the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation (PBUC) evaluation course also held in Florida. The actual number of students sent on to the evaluation course is determined by PBUC with input from the umpire schools. Generally, the top 10 to 20 percent of each school's graduating class will advance to the evaluation course. The evaluation course is conducted by PBUC staff, which differs in personnel from the staff at the respective umpire schools. The evaluation course generally lasts around 10 days. Depending on the number of available positions in the various minor leagues, some (but not all) of the evaluation course attendees will be assigned to a low level minor league. Out of approximately 300 original umpire school students, about 30-35 will ultimately be offered jobs in Minor League Baseball after the evaluation course.

Professional umpires begin their careers in one of the Rookie or Class "A" Short-Season leagues, with Class-A being divided into three levels (Short-Season, Long-Season and Advanced "A"). Top umpiring prospects will often begin their careers in a short-season "A" league (for example, the New York–Penn League), but most will begin in a rookie league (for example, the Gulf Coast League). Umpire David Rackley working a Double-A Texas League game in 2006

Throughout the season, all minor league umpires in Rookie leagues, Class-A, and Class-AA are evaluated by members of the PBUC staff. All umpires receive a detailed written evaluation of their performance after every season. In addition, all umpires (except those in the rookie or Short Season Class-A leagues) receive written mid-season evaluations.

Generally, an umpire is regarded as making adequate progress "up the ranks" if he advances up one level of Class "A" ball each year (thus earning promotion to Class AA after three to four years) and promotion to Class AAA after two to three years on the Class AA level. However, this is a very rough estimate and other factors not discussed (such as the number of retirements at higher levels) may dramatically affect these estimates. For example, many umpires saw rapid advancement in 1999 due to the mass resignation of many Major League umpires as a collective bargaining ploy.

When promoted to the Class AAA level, an umpire's evaluation will also be conducted by the umpiring supervisory staff of Major League Baseball. In recent years, top AAA prospects, in addition to umpiring and being evaluated during the regular season (in either the International or Pacific Coast League), have been required to umpire in the Arizona Fall League where they receive extensive training and evaluation by Major League Baseball staff.

In addition, top AAA prospects may also be rewarded with umpiring only Major League preseason games during spring training (in lieu of Class AAA games). Additionally, the very top prospects may umpire Major League regular season games on a limited basis as "fill-in" umpires (where the Class AAA umpire replaces a sick, injured or vacationing Major League umpire).

Finally, upon the retirement (or firing) of a Major League umpire, a top Class AAA umpire will be promoted to Major League Baseball's permanent umpire staff. During this entire process, if an umpire is evaluated as no longer being a major-league prospect, he will be released, ending his professional career. In all, PBUC estimates that it will take an umpire seven to eight years of professional umpiring before he will be considered for a major league position.

As of 2018, major league umpires earn $150,000 to $450,000 per year depending on their experience, with a $340 per diem for hotel and meals. Minor league umpires earn from $2,000 to $3,900 per month during the season. Amounts vary based on the umpire's classification and experience.

As of March 2018, there are 19 four-man crews in MLB, for a total of 76 full-time umpires; they are augmented by 16 Class AAA umpires eligible to umpire regular season games, yielding a total roster of 92 MLB umpires. Umpire Tom Connolly shown with the outside chest protector worn by AL home plate umpires for much of the 20th century

Uniform[edit]
Umpires are often referred as "Blue" because of the color of their uniforms. In the early days of baseball, umpire uniforms resembled suits (usually to keep them inconspicuous when in public) with the only difference being National League umpires wore an inside chest protector while American League umpires wore an outside (or "balloon") protector when calling balls and strikes.

In the 1960s, umpires were allowed to wear dress shirts that were light blue, and the American League umpires wore grey slacks with their blue coats, while National League umpires wore all blue coats and slacks. In 1970, the National League added a large patch on their coat and uniform with the league logo and a number on their left sleeve, along with a short-sleeved light blue shirt for hot summer games. The American League followed suit with the short sleeves in 1972, then in 1973 they wore a maroon blazer along with blue pants until 1979. In 1975, the American League umpire hats included the abbreviation "AL" (previous to that they included a shield for the AL). To celebrate the National League's 100th anniversary in 1976, the umpire blazers/light blue shirts included the league's centennial patch and the hats were designed in the "pillbox" style with the year "'76" included on them. In 1977, the use of the outside (balloon) protector was outlawed for new umpires but grandfathered for existing umpires, with the last umpire that used the outside protector, Jerry Neudecker, retiring in 1985. The use of ties with the blazers were gradually phased out; the last time they were worn in the World Series was in 1975 and overall was in the 1979 Major League Baseball All-Star Game by George Maloney, Terry Cooney, and Nick Bremigan. In World Series games starting in 1976, the umpires wore sweaters (light blue for National League umpires and off-white for American League umpires) instead of ties.

In 1980, Major League Baseball mandated that the umpires' uniforms be standardized, and they went to the American League pre-1973 style of blue blazers, grey slacks, and short sleeved light blue shirts; the American League began adding numbers to their umpire uniforms, with "AL" on their caps and National League umpires had "NL" on their caps. This style was pretty much the same (except for the use of windbreakers and sweaters later in the 1980s) through 1995. The league initials on the caps changed towards the late 1980s when the "N" and "L" were combined into a single letter, while the "A" and the "L" were interlocked.

In 1996, the button-down light blue shirt was replaced with a navy blue polo shirt with red and white trim on the collar and sleeve cuffs. The numbers were changed to red on the shirts, an "N" with the National League logo and an "A" with the American League logo on the hats. The American League used an optional red short-sleeved shirt (possibly a homage to the 1973-79 red blazers) that wasn't used by many umpires (the notable exceptions were Derryl Cousins and Dale Scott, who frequently wore the red shirts while working home plate, even as their colleagues on the bases wore navy blue shirts). The National League added a light blue shirt in 1997, which became much more popular than the red shirts in the AL.

Beginning in 2000, after the individual leagues' umpires were consolidated into a single staff, the 1996-99 uniform styles were carried over with "MLB" on the caps instead of the league designations. Since 2001, the uniforms switched to black blazers/windbreakers with grey slacks, with the hats now including the MLB logo (along with the short-sleeved light blue shirts), which remain relatively unchanged. The navy blue shirt was phased out in favor of black, and the light blue shirt was reintroduced after a brief experiment with gray. For the 2017 season, the umpires' jacket is black with light blue trim over the shoulders.