MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / July 10, 1999

One of the saddest axioms heard in baseball is that the greatest sound an umpire can hear is the sound of silence.

Since Alexander Cartwright instituted the rules in the mid 1800s, umpires have been intrusted in enforcing them and maintaining the integrity of the game. Without them, chaos would rule over the first close play.Players are allowed to be human. They can make an error or make amistake on the basepaths or strike out with the bases loaded and be forgiven. “Get them the next time” is often the shout of encouragement.Umpires, unfortunately, are not accorded that luxury. The next time isoften followed up by the accusation of “make-up call.”A player can step up to the plate and get three hits in 10 at-bats and be called a great hitter. A pitcher who has given up three runs in six inningsis said to have given a quality start. A team can lose four out of every 10games and the manager is called a genius. On the other hand, a home plateumpire will make over 200 calls a game and is expected to make them quickly. Any hesitation and the umpire is accused of being undecided. Andthe umpire is expected to be perfect on every one of those calls.

The great Bill Klem once claimed that he “never missed one in my heart.”Many a manager would argue with that claim. An umpire could make onecall, have the game rained out, and there would still be some managers and fans who would complain he got the call wrong. Such is the nature of thegame.

And if that call was wrong, you can bet that the manager and fans will never let that umpire forget it. When asked about instant replay in sports,Whitey Herzog remarked that he wished they had it in 1985. Herzog wasreferring to Game Six of that year’s World Series in which Don Denkinger called a Kansas City runner safe at first, setting up a rally that allowed the Royals to tie the series with St. Louis at three games apiece.Never mind that real champions overcome adversity to become champions.

The Royals showed that by coming back to win Game Seven, 11-0, to capture the Series. Kansas City came back and played like champions. TheCardinals came back and played dead. Denkinger showed class throughoutthe whole matter. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Cardinalsand Herzog.

And unfortunately, that is often all too common the case in sports. And alltoo often those in authority fail to back up the umpire or official. Justlook at this year’s Stanley Cup. A controversial play decides the title. Sowhat does the NHL do? It takes away the instant replay tool from the officials. Way to go out on a limb. No wonder wrestling is outdrawing theNHL in terms of publicity.

Umpires and officials know they will always be stuck in the middle. Whatthey do not deserve is the abuse they often receive. Every year, you hearabout an umpire being physically attacked. One such incident recentlyoccurred in the metro area. There is never any excuse for such behavior.And what made the incident even worse is that it occurred at a Little League game. What kind of message does that send to the youth of today?Umpires are human just like the rest of us. They quietly go out and dotheir jobs as best as can be expected. They deserve our respect, for ourgames would be the poorer without them.

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