近距离内射合集

Not getting yelled at enough at home?

Feeling a little too popular lately?

Tired of nobody telling you how wrong you are all the time?

Maybe a career in professional umpiring is for you.

Saturday at Isotopes Park, for those serious about exploring the possibility of becoming a full-time, professional baseball umpire, there is a free Major League Baseball Umpire Camp 鈥� the third in this year鈥檚 series of five such events across the country 鈥� looking for people who might be future umpires in the Minor and Major Leagues.

And don鈥檛 let a lack of experience stop you from showing up to Rio Grande Credit Union Field on Saturday (the half-day camp starts at 8 a.m. with participants asked to be there by 7:30 a.m.).

鈥淪ometimes, we鈥檇 rather have a guy with no experience, to be honest; We don鈥檛 have to break bad habits,鈥� MLB Umpire Supervisor Cris Jones told the Journal recently on a visit to Albuquerque where he was evaluating umpires at an Isotopes game. 鈥淚 had terrible habits when I went to umpire school.鈥�

A select number of participants will be identified by the umpires running the event and be invited to attend the MLB Umpire Prospect Development Camp in January at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, Florida 鈥� also free of charge for invited participants.

A similar camp held three years ago in Albuquerque netted for MLB four umpires currently working professionally in the minor leagues around the country.

鈥淭hese free camps are a key component of the umpire development model instituted by Major League Baseball in 2023,鈥� noted a news release by MLB about the program. 鈥淭he model has transformed umpire training by offering consistent, high-quality instruction at no cost to participants, while working toward the long-term goals of expanding the pool of prospective umpires.鈥�

Jones said what was once a system that limited the candidate pool for potential pro umpires from the start by high costs of just getting your foot in the door to some of the umpiring schools needed to get into the game, has been alleviated through the years first by scholarships and now MLB taking over the whole system 鈥� at least for professional baseball umpiring.

鈥淲hen I got in the game, I had to pay to go to umpire school. So you get a very, very limited population of people who can even go to the umpire school,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淚t was $1,500 back in 鈥�86. Then it grew to almost $5,000. And you have to give up a month of your life, take time away from your job and roll the dice to see if you鈥檙e going to get hired.鈥�

In 2006, MLB started offering scholarships to some interested in pursuing the career to attend the training camps.

鈥淚 kept on asking (the scholarship recipients),鈥� Jones said, 鈥溾�業f you didn鈥檛 get the scholarship, would you have gone to umpire school?鈥� And 90% of them said, 鈥楴o, I wouldn鈥檛 have been able to afford it.鈥� ...

鈥淪o, we made it free.鈥�

Now, that doesn鈥檛 mean just anyone can show up to the four-week training session in January that is the launchpad into professional umpiring. But it does open the door for camps like the one Saturday in Albuquerque for people wanting to get their foot in the door and see if it is something for them.

Two of these camps have already been completed 鈥� San Francisco (May) and Nashville, Tennessee (June) 鈥� with two more coming 鈥� Vero Beach, Florida (August) and Brooklyn, New York (September).

Participants who have umpiring experience and their own gear are asked to bring it, mask included if you have one, but it鈥檚 not necessary. Tennis shoes and clothes you can work out in would be fine.

As for the national reality of the shortage of game officials and umpires at the youth and high school levels, Jones says MLB isn鈥檛 in the same boat 鈥� constantly trying to replenish the candidate pool, but not exactly facing a shortage of umpires.

鈥淪ince we鈥檝e changed the model (to a the current system that doesn鈥檛 go through private, pay training camps to generate candidates), we feel confident that it鈥檚 better,鈥� Jones said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting people that want to do it, and they know it鈥檚 more structured, don鈥檛 have to worry about the parents, don鈥檛 have to worry about an assigner, so we鈥檙e not feeling that effect. Now when we do these camps across the country, we hear it all the time. Sometimes guys can鈥檛 even come to the camps because they have to umpire three or four game games because they don鈥檛 have the help.鈥�

In terms of making a living being a professional umpire? Like the sport itself, the big money is in the majors, where annual salaries can range from $150,000 to $450,000 per year, MLB says. And all umpires in the majors and minors have year-round, not just in-season, insurance benefits.

People pursuing a career in professional umpiring or even those who are looking to refine their amateur officiating skills, there is information on the process and other clinics and camps online at MLBUC.com.

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .