Become an Umpire | Umpire Camps | Umpire Schools | Umpire Salaries
Umpire Manuals | Umpire History | Umpire Staff | Umpire Home

Umpire Development History


Umpire Advancement in the Early Days

Before the creation of a formal umpire development program, Minor League presidents would travel to the umpire schools and sign umpires to professional contracts right at the schools.

Umpires were then "sold" from league to league by word of mouth through the various league presidents. In fact, umpires were known to "politic" in order to advance themselves. The individual league presidents were 100% responsible for lining up their own umpire staffs each year. At that time, it was not uncommon for an umpire to jump from what would now be Rookie classification to AAA classification with no intermediate stops.

The league itself paid all salary and expenses - as minimal as it was then - for each umpire in the league. For example, monthly salaries for umpires in the Florida Rookie League (forerunner of the Gulf Coast League) ranged from $175 to $200 per month and umpires were given from $150 to $200 for expenses. In comparison, the starting salary in the GCL is currently $1,900 per month.


History of the Umpire Development Program

By 1964, Baseball had decided it was in need of a new method for recruitment, training and development of umpires for the Major Leagues as well as a new method of training and advancement for umpires within the Minor Leagues.

Basically, Baseball was looking at a two-fold purpose in instituting a new program. A more athletic, energetic, educated, dedicated, and mannerly-type individual was desired - one with unquestionably high morals and integrity standards. At the same time, a different method of advancement through the Minor Leagues was needed.

For those reasons, the Umpire Development Program was established at Baseball's Winter Meetings in Houston in 1964, and the program began operating in early 1965. Immediately, plans were set into motion whereby the program - based on on-field evaluations - would make recommendations to each league president concerning qualified umpires for their staffs. Major League Baseball would in turn help subsidize each league by paying for a portion of each umpire's salary.

The first administrator of the program was Edward S. Doherty, Jr., a veteran baseball executive.

In March 1965, Bernard (Barney) Deary was hired as a field supervisor. Prior to this, Deary had been an umpire in the International League. He had also umpired in the American Association, Eastern, Georgia-Florida, and Kitty Leagues. One of Deary's first responsibilities was to go onto the field during Spring Training with the younger umpires and actually work with them while supervising.

In April of 1965, Al Somers was also hired as a field supervisor. At that time Somers had just returned from the Far East, where he had been conducting umpire clinics for the armed forces. He was also the owner/operator of the Al Somers School for Umpires, which was the primary professional umpire school at that time. Somers stayed only until June, leaving Deary as the only full-time supervisor to cover all minor leagues throughout the United States. Deary traveled over 50,000 miles during his first season.

The next important development came in 1968 when Major League Baseball decided that UDP should operate its own umpire training course each year. It was called Major League Baseball's "Umpire Specialization Course," and the first class was held in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1969.

Candidates for the course were actively screened and only a limited number of applications were accepted. The first class had approximately 30 students, including future Major League umpires Nick Bremigan, Joe Brinkman and Jim Evans. At this point, Baseball had basically two sources for professional umpires: the new Specialization Course and the Al Somers School for Umpires.

Also in early 1968, veteran International League umpire Joe Linsalata was hired as a second field supervisor. He was with the program in different capacities for many years.

When Doherty left in 1969 to take an administrative position with the Washington Senators, Deary was named as Administrator of the program.Veteran umpire Bill Kinnamon was contracted to be chief instructor for the start of the Umpire Specialization Course. Bill was still umpiring in the American League at that time, but an injury on June 22, 1969, ended his career on the field. At the end of the 1969 season he was hired as a full-time supervisor and chief instructor of Baseball's Specialization Course. Bill served as a field supervisor with Linsalata and Deary during the 1970-1973 seasons.

Baseball's own "rookie camp" operated for only 5 years, and in 1974 Kinnamon and Linsalata both left to take over operation of the Specialization Course as a privately-owned school, independent of Major League Baseball. This left Deary as the lone supervisor/administrator again until 1979, when Mike Fitzpatrick and Dick Nelson were hired as field supervisors. Both were veteran AAA umpires, Fitzpatrick having worked in the American Association for seven years and Nelson having served as instructor at the Al Somers and Wendelstedt schools for nine years, six as chief instructor. This greatly relieved the workload for Deary, but Baseball continued to push for even more training, supervision, and development in the Minor Leagues. So Dennis Cregg was hired in 1986 as a third supervisor, followed by Tom Lepperd in 1987, and Mike Felt in 1988.

Ed Lawrence was hired by Major League Baseball as Executive Director of the UDP in early 1988. In September of that year, Deary passed away after suffering a sudden heart attack. Deary gave Baseball 24 years of service with the umpire program, his final 20 years as the program's Administrator. Fitzpatrick was then named Director of Field Supervision.

As the need for further supervision and training continued to grow, additional field supervisors were hired: Phil Janssen in 1989; Michael Pilato in 1990; and Jerry Neudecker and Bill Haller in 1992. Janssen left to join the American League as Coordinator of Umpire Operations in 1992, and Felt, Pilato, and Haller left the program because of budget cuts after the 1993 season. Neudecker died of cancer in January, 1997.Budget constraints eased in early 1997 and Felt and Pilato were re-hired, along with veteran umpire Cris Jones, bringing the instructor/evaluator staff back up to seven.

Through the last several years, tremendous strides were made in improved working conditions for umpires in the Minor Leagues, and the overall level of umpiring at the professional level has risen significantly.

Some of the more important features of the program include:

Pay raises for Minor League umpires (the starting monthly salary for a rookie umpire is currently $1,900 [compare this with the $175 per month before the establishment of UDP]). All Minor League Baseball umpire salaries and expenses are paid by the league which employs the umpire.

Group medical, dental, and life insurance is provided free of charge for all umpires in all full-season leagues.

Hotel lodging is provided free through the league offices for each umpire while on assignment within the league.

Local courtesy transportation (generally a complimentary rental car) is provided through the league offices for Class AAA umpire crews in each city.

Uniforms are provided to each umpire [years ago, umpires were on their own in obtaining uniforms].

Three-umpire crew system used in AAA and AA leagues [until the late 1970's, both the IL and PCL used the two-umpire system].

A fair and impartial evaluation process for each Minor League umpire, including two written evaluations each year.

Thorough evaluation and training of each Minor League umpire by means of a criss-cross schedule by the evaluation staff.

Use of video and audio tape in the training and evaluation of Minor League umpires.

Numerous educational and training materials published by PBUC, including the PBUC Umpire Manual and the Manual for the 2-Umpire System.

A comprehensive annual rules test administered to all Minor League Baseball umpires each winter.

Annual Spring Training Meetings for Minor League Baseball umpires assigned to Spring Training.

PBUC operates out of the Minor League Baseball offices in St. Petersburg, Florida.