Only Female Professional Baseball Umpire Released
Some of you may recall my blog post Will the First Woman Major League Umpire Improve Baseball? about female umpire Ria Cortesio (pictured), in which I speculated that a female umpire might help cut down on some of the asinine umpire blaming and baiting that goes on in baseball. My theory is that since the vast majority of men are gentlemen (though feminists will never admit it), a female umpire will be treated with far more courtesy than a male umpire.
Having watched some of the baseball playoffs with my father this year and witnessed several hitters deciding not to swing at borderline pitches with two strikes on them and then having the goddamned gall to blame the umpires for their strikeouts doesn’t do anything to change my mind.
Anyway, unfortunately Cortesio was released recently, after receiving low ratings by minor league supervisors. According to the article She’s out! Ria Cortesio, only female umpire in pro baseball, released (The Canadian Press, 10/31/07), “There are about 300 umpires in the majors and affiliated minors. Several minor league umps get released each off-season, with baseball trying to make a decision on their futures within a few years.” The full article on her departure is here. My previous writings about her are below.
“Will the First Woman Major League Umpire Improve Baseball?”
It sounds like a typical mainstream media headline, right? The one what will tell you that women entering (name whichever profession) will improve it because women are better at (whatever job) than men because they’re more (fill in adjectives and superlatives).
This time, however, you’d be wrong.
I’m the one who’s actually saying that a woman umpire might improve baseball. Not because she’d be any better than the male umpires, because she wouldn’t, although I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of stories that she is. I think she might improve baseball because the players and managers will be less likely to act like jackasses with a woman umpire than a male umpire.
Whether playing baseball or watching it, it’s always been a pet peeve of mine how asinine players and managers sometimes behave in relation to umpires. This exists in baseball at all levels. When I played baseball we could’ve been losing 11-1 in the 9th inning but I swear that half of the guys would be blaming a bad call by the umpire in the 3rd inning.
I remember one time there was a big argument over a tag play at third base. The ball came to me a little late, but I applied the tag and, while it was a close play, the man was safe and the umpire called him so. Our manager came out and, along with the shortstop, started yelling at the umpire, as if the world had just ended. Then I became the “bad” guy because I told the umpire “good call, he made it under my tag.” Judging from the reaction by my manager and my teammates, you’d have thought I was Benedict Arnold. (more…)
|
| More from Glenn Sacks
Stumble It!
