Five AL umpires have asked MLB to "rescind their
resignations they submitted" last week, according to Murray
Chass of the N.Y. TIMES, who writes that "the blue wall of
solidarity that the umpire union created a week ago is not
so solid anymore." The five umpires were "identified" as
Larry Barnett, Davey Phillips, Rocky Roe, Dale Scott and Jim
Joyce. NL umpire Bruce Froemming, who's a member of the
MLBUA's Board of Dirs: "Nothing is good when you have people
going in different directions" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/21). Roe, on
his decision: "I didn't feel [resigning] was the right thing
to do. I wasn't happy with the way it went" (Newman &
Crasnick, BLOOMBERG NEWS, 7/20). In N.Y., Ursula Reel
writes that AL umpire Tim McClelland was "incredulous" when
told of the five umpires rescinding their resignations: "I'd
be very surprised if that's true. ... As an association, we
are very solid. All along, we have stood behind [MLBUA
General Counsel] Richie [Phillips]" (N.Y. POST, 7/21).
ON THE LOOKOUT: USA TODAY's Hal Bodley reports that MLB
has set Friday morning as a "deadline and ultimatum" for
umpires to rescind their resignations or "face the end of
[their] big-league careers." Bodley's sources say that MLB
Commissioner Bud Selig "will accept" the resignations, which
are effective September 2. Meanwhile, MLB "already is
trying to recruit" 60 umpires for the final four-and-a-half
weeks of the season (USA TODAY, 7/21). MLB Exec VP
Operations Sandy Alderson said that MLB has "formed a panel"
of college and former minor league umpires to "evaluate"
umpires in Triple A (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/21).
A CRISIS IN LEADERSHIP: ESPN's Peter Gammons, on the
umpires' decision to resign on September 2: "This thing may
not work. They may have to come back and negotiate, which
is what the umpires want. It's not what Richie Phillips
wants, but I think there's been a lot of questions about
exactly what the umpires have been told has filtered through
Richie Phillips. I think he now faces a critical point in
the union leadership" ("Baseball Tonight," 7/20).
