Umpires Want Back in Show

Baseball umpires rarely reverse their calls on the field, but major league umpires did just that on the labor front Tuesday when they withdrew their resignations.

Fifty-six of the 68 major league umpires, attempting to get management to the bargaining table and fearing owners would lock them out when their labor contract expires Dec. 31, had voted July 14 to resign effective Sept. 2. But the move began to backfire when some of the umpires attempted to take back their resignations. By last Friday, 14 of the 56 had rescinded their resignations.

“They turned their backs on us,” said Bruce Froemming, a senior National League umpire. “Obviously they think they’re going to get a better deal somewhere else.”

Despite the umpires’ actions Tuesday, some still will be out of a job in September because the American and National leagues already have hired 25 replacements from the minor leagues, two high-ranking baseball officials told the Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Gene Budig, president of the American League, on Monday sent letters to nine American League umpires accepting their resignations, according to the officials. The umpires are Rich Garcia, Drew Coble, Jim Evans, Dale Ford, Ed Hickox, Mark Johnson, Ken Kaiser, Greg Kosc and Larry McCoy.

Similar letters to as many as 13 National League umpires will be sent later this week by Len Coleman, president of the National League, the officials said. Mark Hirschbeck, who never turned in a resignation, and Wally Bell and Jeff Nelson, who rescinded their resignations last week, are the only National League umpires assured of keeping their jobs.

American League umpires were more reluctant to follow through with the plan for mass resignations from the start. Eleven American League umpires never offered their resignations and 12 others rescinded them before Tuesday.

On Monday, umpires sued the American and National leagues in federal court in Philadelphia, seeking a court order that would allow them until Sept. 2 to withdraw the resignations.

Umpires also accused the American League and the commissioner’s office of saying they intend to withhold termination pay of up to $400,000 per umpire.

Umpires also claimed baseball had offered them up to $2 million in future gains if they join a dissident group in the union that is trying to fire its negotiator, Richie Phillips.

Attorneys for owners and umpires held a conference call Tuesday with U.S. District Judge Edmund V. Ludwig, who refused to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent owners from accepting the resignations, the official said.

Without such an order, the umpires not taken back will be forced to spend years in court in an effort to regain their jobs.

“It’s not over with yet,” said Randy Marsh, a National League umpire. “Our contract doesn’t expire until Dec. 31 so we will go on through the year and then negotiate a new deal.”

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig declined comment, spokesman Rich Levin said.

Phillips issued a statement saying, “A group of very fine umpires stand very tall and will hold their heads high forever.

“They are to be admired for their resolve and courage. They are confident that they will eventually prevail in this very unseemly affair that was deliberately provoked by major league baseball.”

Phillips said “unfair labor practice charges are being pursued before the National Labor Relations Board,” but the NLRB’s Philadelphia office, where umpires usually file, said nothing had been received by Tuesday evening.

Several baseball lawyers said they expect a battle among the divided umpires on whether Phillips, their lawyer since 1978, will be in charge of negotiations this off-season for a new labor contract.

“You need solidarity,” said Angel Hernandez, a National League umpire. “I’m sure there will be turmoil down the road.”

But Garcia still expressed confidence in Phillips.

“The reason we have what we have today is because of Richie Phillips,” he said.

National League umpire Jerry Crawford said Phillips will remain in charge because umpires voted, 29-14, last spring to give him a new five-year contract. Crawford would not call the strategy a defeat.

“I won’t categorize it until after everything is all said and done,” he said. “We were asked by a federal judge to withdraw our resignations to de-escalate the situation. We complied with what he asked. It is now in the hands of a judicial proceeding and we are willing to wait for the outcome.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.