There is a saying as old as the game of baseball itself when it comes to umpires:

“If nobody knows your name, you did a good job.”

Unfortunately, most diehard baseball fans know the names of far too many MLB umpires, none more so than Ángel Hernández, the undisputed ‘WOAT’ (worst of all time). But what is even more unfortunate is that because of the incompetence of Ángel Hernández-like umpires, even the good umpires, whose names, of course, we do not know, are looked at with disdain. In fact, Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones once said this about Hernández:

“I will not watch a game, any game, officiated by Angel Hernandez! His incompetence amazes me and I’m tired of MLB doing squat about it!”

But Ángel Hernández notwithstanding, the truth of the matter is that, by and large, and as a group, major league umpires do a pretty good job at what is one of the most thankless jobs on the planet.

When major league baseball was shut down in early March, the powers that be immediately began working on contingency plans to pay players, coaches, trainers, medical staffs, and stadium employees during the federally mandated ‘Stay at Home’ order. However, there was one group that was, for the most part, overlooked – MLB umpires; this despite the fact they have a very strong (and well-respected) union.

Their jobs aside, COVID-19, and the subsequent mitigation efforts, affected MLB umpires every bit as much as they have every other human being on the planet. As such, and with talks intensify about baseball resuming (possibly as early as July 1), a dispute erupted between MLB and the MLB umpires union regarding pay for what would be less than half of a full MLB season. But by all indications, this dispute was put to rest early Friday when a contract for a pandemic-shortened baseball season was agreed upon between the two factions to deal with financial losses due to the coronavirus shutdown. 

“We understand the situation we are all in. We see what is happening around the country and want baseball to get back, in whatever way it can,” one MLB umpire told the New York Daily News under a condition of anonymity. “We just wanted it to be fair.”

The agreement calls for (about) a 30% decrease in pay for the umpires. MLB had originally asked for a 35% cut to the umpires’ salaries across the board. 

Umpires’ travel per diem was also a point of contention in the negotiations but was also resolved when the two factions agreed to a reduction in their travel per diem. 

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