UMPS CARE Charities

Mystery Umpire Photo: Can you identify the Major League Umpires in this photo? Who are the managers of each team also shown in this photo? Do you know the approximate year this photo was taken?

In our ongoing segment, “Ask the Ump”, Major League umpire, Mike Di Muro answers a question via video received from one of our viewers about umpire rotations. Look for more answers to your questions by Major League umpires or send in your question to: “Ask the Ump”

The game of baseball would be sheer pandemonium, quickly become unrecognizable and ultimately collapse, if not for the use of lines. Lines are as fundamental as the laces on the ball and the leather and wood which every player would be rendered harmless without. For starters, the game cannot not even begin without the line-up. [...]

Connie Mack is to Tony La Russa, what Bill Klem is to Derryl Cousins. What does that mean? Well, for starters, a whole bunch of baseball games. When MLB umpire, Derryl Cousins and MLB manager, Tony La Russa – who recently reached 5,000 games – meet on the field together, they signify a modern day [...]

In the game of life, it’s not just about balls and strikes. That’s why baseball’s men in blue have teamed up with Bristol-Myers Squibb to give back to Major League Baseball communities. The BLUE for Kids children’s hospital program brings a crew of Major League umpires to the bedside of children with life-threatening illnesses. And [...]

Major League umpires will spend a vast majority of the year on the road and away from home. Hotels, airports, trains, planes and automobiles will be home to every umpire from March to October. This is an ongoing series entitled “Umpire Life on the Road”. June 1, 2011 Day 81 on the road – When [...]

In our ongoing segment, “Ask the Ump”, Major League umpires will answer questions via video received from our viewers.  Today, Gary Cederstrom a 17-year Major League umpire and crew chief answers a question about what shoes MLB umpires currently wear. Look for more answers to your questions by Major League umpires or send in your [...]

On Friday evening, entering Camden Yards in Baltimore, my legs seemed to be moving at an unusually slow and heavy pace. It was a walk I have made many times over the past 12 years. Weaving through the underground tunnels and hidden corridors – dodging busy vendors and staff preparing for the night’s game, I [...]

In our ongoing segment, “Ask the Ump”, Major League umpires will answer questions via video received from our viewers.  Today, Tim Welke a 29-year Major League umpire and crew chief answers a question about how to handle a rain situation. Look for more answers to your questions by Major League umpires or send in your [...]

In our ongoing segment, “Ask the Ump”, Major League umpire, Jim Reynolds answers a question via video received from one of our viewers. Look for more answers to your questions answered by Major League umpires by video.

Not often will a ball lodge in the outfield fence, and certainly not twice in a single night. But that is exactly what happened in two Major League games this week. In one such game, our crew was working in Kansas City, a ball was hit and subsequently lodged in the lower portion of the [...]

Beginning this month we began welcoming guests at MLB ballparks across the country as part of our Blue Crew Umpire Ticket Program.  Below is a previous post written about Eric from South Florida who was awaiting adoption and experienced his first MLB baseball game through our unique program. The Alaska Airlines 737 lifts off the [...]

Global athletic leader New Balance announced today that it will be the official on-field footwear provider of Major League Baseball Umpires. “Umpires have to be quick on their feet for extended periods of time, so comfort is of the utmost importance,” said Joe West, President of the World Umpires Association, which represents all Major League [...]

Awaiting my flight to the next city, I was greeted by a post in my inbox from an attendee of a recent Washington National’s game. This particular game was dedicated to our men and women in the Armed Forces and all of those who have served our great Country. It was written by a Craig [...]

Every Saturday night the Arkansas Travelers of the Texas League played a doubleheader and were off on Sunday. The first game started at 6pm and the second began 20 minutes after the first game ended. We would usually arrive at the ballpark by 5pm and leave by 10:30pm. Not a bad schedule for a days [...]

Major League umpires will spend a vast majority of the year on the road and away from home. Hotels, airports, trains, planes and automobiles will be home to every umpire from March to October. This is an ongoing series entitled “Umpire Life on the Road”. April 26, 2011 Day 45 on the road – Rainout [...]

When Dave Garcia strolls through the door to the umpire’s room in Petco Park, you can be sure that you are in the presence of the one living man who has been in baseball longer than any other. He playfully boasts that he has likely seen more ballplayers (and umpires) now than any living person. [...]

The rain begins to fall in a steady stream in Oakland. My All Star helmet shimmers with moisture as the drops bounce softly off the polished black surface. Working the Red Sox and A’s finale of a short two game series, I begin to muse amidst the darkening clouds and plummeting temperatures, “I do not [...]

As a ray of early morning light gleams through the tiny window, his eyes slowly begin to open. For a split second, he is in his bedroom. He can hear the muffled sounds of his family preparing for the day in the kitchen downstairs. He can still feel the warmth and safety from the thick [...]

Opening Day in Washington D.C. passed without much of the pomp and circumstance one would come to expect to the start of the baseball season in our nation’s Capitol. In fact, later that week we would see Detroit open their season in Comerica Park in patriotic fashion with an incredible military flyover: four A-10 aircraft [...]

Obstruction can be one of the most misidentified and least understood rules in baseball. A fielder can be guilty of obstructing a runner and only a split second later, he is the victim of interference by the runner (NOTE: whether the fielder was “in the act of fielding the ball” is a determining factor). Obstruction [...]

Nearly 3500 students will descend on the lush, green campus of Mercyhurst College situated on a picturesque hillside overlooking the small town of Erie, Pennsylvania. The students of this small, Catholic University will certainly become familiar with the school’s well known mantra: carpe diem.  The school’s expectation is that its students will embrace this latin [...]

Rains delays can be long and at times, amazingly tedious. With multimillion dollar television deals and large stadium gate proceeds at stake, rainouts without a lengthy delay are a rarity in the game of baseball.  Waiting for the always imminent “window” in the clouds becomes a test in occupying time. This current hold is approaching [...]

My Ford rental car makes its way north on Michigan Avenue toward downtown Detroit. It is a beautiful August day, with temperatures in the low 70’s. I am on my way to Comerica Park to finish a three game series between the Tigers and the Royals. I slow down and stop briefly as I pass [...]

Glancing up from the paper, the warm, humid air engulfs me as it looms thickly over the Charles River.  I catch sight of a small scull which seems to glide effortlessly hovering just inches above the glassy surface.  With every smooth stroke and cyclic pattern of the oars slicing through the water, the craft propels [...]

Rising majestically and towering above the downtown skyline is an American landmark. Visible from the field at Busch Stadium, this marvel in engineering and architecture stands as tall as it is wide. The Arch also known as the “Gateway to the West” has come to symbolize the spirit of early pioneers as settlers made their [...]

So long Rainbow Head. Un-pucker those lips Morganna. Check in with your probation officer Tasered Teen.  Toronto natives, Tim Williams and Joe Farrell aka the “Fake Umps” took Major League stadiums by storm last summer and they recently went on tour to benefit UMPS CARE Charities. The tour named, “Four Games for Bears” raised a [...]

The Alaska Airlines 737 lifts off the ground from SeaTac International Airport and makes its way through 14,000 feet. On this brilliantly crisp, clear late afternoon day, the majestic Mt. Rainier rises through the soft, billowing clouds that are clinging tightly to the base like that of a young child to a mother. Sunday evening [...]

The 2010 BLUE Crew Tickets program begins this weekend and I’ve been given a homework assignment by UMPS CARE Charities that I think is best answered by fans of the game and not necessarily those of us working the games. Question: What should children see or experience when they attend their first baseball game in [...]

The sounds and smells of America’s pastime awaken and sharpen every sense in the baseball fan.  The crack of the bat, the aroma of hot dogs, peanuts and freshly cut grass fill the air across the country.  Stadiums will resonant with the sounds of cheering fans and their boyish grins as their home town heroes [...]