# MLB: July 2019 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [July 1, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345 "2019-07-01T14:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/21 "2019-07-03T17:24:31Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The story on Skaggs in Sports Illustrated online contained the following: > > “Skaggs last started Saturday for Los Angeles, in which the Angels lost 4–0 to the Athletics. Skaggs gave up just two hits and two runs, but walked four and couldn’t get through five innings for the Angels.” > > They didn’t mention his record that prominently but it’s still a bit jarring to see in a story on a ballplayer’s sudden death. > > Reminds me of the gag story sportswriters covering the Brooklyn Dodgers in the '50s dreamed up, with the headline “Entire Dodgers Team Dies In Plane Crash”. The subheading was “Team Had Just Completed 7-3 Road Trip, Pitching Improved”. :smack: I recall a sports story from a decade or so ago about a college football lineman who had suddenly died of unknown causes. The headline was something like, “College Football Lineman Found Dead, Paves Way for 5-Star Recruit (to replace him).” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/22 "2019-07-03T20:19:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The Red Sox are only marginal to make the wild card game with their current pitching situation. They plan to make Nathan Eovaldi the closer when he comes back (and good luck with that), but the bullpen hasn’t had enough to close this year anyway. Sale and Porcello especially are still hung over from last year’s parade. > > Or, better, Dombrowski will make a move. Wonder how much MadBums go for these days? Eovaldi letting it fly for one inning at a time? He might be an excellent closer. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/23 "2019-07-03T21:27:07Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I recall a sports story from a decade or so ago about a college football lineman who had suddenly died of unknown causes. The headline was something like, “College Football Lineman Found Dead, Paves Way for 5-Star Recruit (to replace him).” Seems just a smidge callous. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/24 "2019-07-04T06:56:19Z")
So I have a random question: Why are baseball umps invariably big heavy white old guys with a reddened complexion and an…“umpire face” (for lack of a better term)? I can’t recall any skinny or minority or younger looking umps; they always look the same. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/25 "2019-07-04T13:35:08Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So I have a random question: Why are baseball umps invariably big heavy white old guys with a reddened complexion and an…“umpire face” (for lack of a better term)? I can’t recall any skinny or minority or younger looking umps; they always look the same. Age; is as it takes some time to crack the MLB from the minors. The white part is an interesting question, it does seem weird there aren’t more Hispanics as they are such a large part of the game. I can only think of one and I know him sadly as he is one of the worst umpires. Angel Hernandez. The number of African Americans is probably close to the percentage of African Americans in the MLB these days or maybe just a little lower. Last I heard is 8% of the MLB player are African American and there are 4 umpires for 5%. C.B. Bucknor, Kerwin Danley, Adrian Johnson and Alan Porter. I think there are only 4 Latino Umpires, but that is hard to verify. No hard stats, but apparently there are an increasing number of Latinos working the minors. As to Women, there appears to be very few trying to crack the gender barrier. I can’t find hard numbers anywhere, but there are very few. **How to become an umpire:** Graduate from one of the Umpire Schools Work a demanding, hated and low paying job for half a year for years Get promoted level by level from Rookie Ball to AAA Start getting Spring Training games and maybe join the emergency pool of Umpires. Finally get called up to the Show. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/26 "2019-07-04T17:53:43Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So I have a random question: Why are baseball umps invariably big heavy white old guys with a reddened complexion and an…“umpire face” (for lack of a better term)? I can’t recall any skinny or minority or younger looking umps; they always look the same. There are so many umps who are not at all big fat guys than I am honestly perplexed by this question. Lots of umps are normal looking. There certainly aren’t a lot of minority umps, but there are some. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/27 "2019-07-04T19:21:58Z")
The Washington Nationals are doing exactly what hat they need to do and feasting on this weak part of the schedule. They’re 8-2 and are finally showing that they’re a real team. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/28 "2019-07-04T20:24:33Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > There are so many umps who are not at all big fat guys than I am honestly perplexed by this question. Lots of umps are normal looking. > > There certainly aren’t a lot of minority umps, but there are some. About 8 are minorities. All are male. Many are out of shape, it was a legit question. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/29 "2019-07-04T21:03:42Z")
i think in the old days eric gregg was the minority ump everyone remembers mostly due to Ron Luciano’s books and the fact he had a heart attack on the field … But yeah read Luciano’s first 2 books …there humorous but convey the miserable experience of being a minor league umpire …and being a major league ump isn’t att that impressive either … ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/30 "2019-07-05T12:08:04Z")
Umps wear chest protectors that do \*nothing \*for their glamorous figures. For another, they are chosen for the job partly on the basis of, well, authoritative bearing, which is helpful in getting players to accept close calls. That means large, loud, and imperious. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/31 "2019-07-05T13:29:02Z")
On the road day after day after day for half the year. Eating in hotels and restaurants. Grabbing dinner after games that end at 10:00 or 10:30 PM. This lends itself to a lot of fast food and poor eating habits. At least ballplayers get athletic-type exercise and have trainers and nutritionists and their agent to tell them to lay off the cheeseburgers if they want that big contract next year. Sure, umps could be disciplined and eat a salad before the game and forego late-night meals and fast-food snacking, but it’s hard when you are on the road. So you have a lot of hefty umps. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/32 "2019-07-05T16:15:22Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So I have a random question: Why are baseball umps invariably big heavy white old guys with a reddened complexion and an…“umpire face” (for lack of a better term)? I can’t recall any skinny or minority or younger looking umps; they always look the same. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > About 8 are minorities. All are male. Many are out of shape, it was a legit question. The question was why they were “invariably” “big heavy white old guys,” and the second sentence implied there might be none at all who weren’t. That there might be a disproportionate number of big white guys would be a legit question. But as asked, the question was at best unobservant. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/33 "2019-07-06T18:35:54Z")
Today’s Nationals/Royals game which has the Nats wearing the Montreal Expos uniforms is also the free [MLB.TV](http://MLB.TV) game of the day ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/34 "2019-07-06T19:09:16Z")
I know this is not GQ but will point out that young athletes dying suddenly is a well described ‘[syndrome](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3510233)’. More common causes include genetic heart conditions such as [hypertrophic cardiomyopathy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertrophic_cardiomyopathy) (see [Hank Gathers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Gathers#Heart_condition_and_death)) and congenital abnormalities of the coronary arteries (i.e. abnormalities of the blood supply of the heart itself). I assume that Skaggs and all pro/college athletes are screened for such things but short of doing a coronary angiogram, I’m not sure that all cases of coronary artery abnormalities could be detected. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/35 "2019-07-06T22:58:41Z")
i was going top share this as a funny error to a MLB news story but i did not know MLB (or some teams at least ) has a paternity list … where if your wise is expecting and is really close to popping you can get time off [https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/nationals-activate-max-scherzer-from-paternity-list-send-austin-voth-to-minors/ar-AADWTkg](https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/nationals-activate-max-scherzer-from-paternity-list-send-austin-voth-to-minors/ar-AADWTkg) anyone else hear of this ? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/36 "2019-07-07T00:10:46Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > i think in the old days eric gregg was the minority ump everyone remembers mostly due to Ron Luciano’s books and the fact he had a heart attack on the field … > > But yeah read Luciano’s first 2 books …there humorous but convey the miserable experience of being a minor league umpire …and being a major league ump isn’t att that impressive either … Luciano’s stuff is about 50 years old, but it is still just as miserable. At the start, you work in the Short Season A leagues which last 3 months per year at $2200/month. So, not only are you away from home and family, you cannot have any other real career because most places won’t appreciate you taking off 3 months so you have to fill the rest of the year with part-time gigs. Then you are on the road every day living out of hotels and traveling with another guy full time. Far from seeing the entire country you get to see, for example, these cities: [New York–Penn League - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York%E2%80%93Penn_League) Now, I have nothing against those cities, but they are in large part your small town, nothing to see here, stay at the Super 8, eat your continental breakfast in the morning, eat at IHOP after the game, get up and do it all over again towns. Every day. Away from home. With another guy. The only way I can imagine that anyone wants to do it is because they love baseball, couldn’t make it as a player, and hope against hope that they make the show. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/37 "2019-07-07T00:41:53Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > i was going top share this as a funny error to a MLB news story but i did not know MLB (or some teams at least ) has a paternity list … where if your wise is expecting and is really close to popping you can get time off > [MSN](https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/nationals-activate-max-scherzer-from-paternity-list-send-austin-voth-to-minors/ar-AADWTkg) > > anyone else hear of this ? As far as I know MLB has had paternity leave for the players for several years. Why does that strike you as funny? ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/38 "2019-07-08T14:46:50Z")
Khris Davis has got to be the most consistent hitter in MLB history. He hit .247 in each of 2015, '16, '17 and '18 seasons. His career average before last night’s game was .247247247 repeating. However, batting just .236 at the break, I don’t think he’ll get to .247 for a 5th consecutive year. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/39 "2019-07-08T15:31:42Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > So, not only are you away from home and family, you cannot have any other real career because most places won’t appreciate you taking off 3 months so you have to fill the rest of the year with part-time gigs. Seven to eight months, really. Spring training starts in early March, the regular season runs from the beginning of April through the beginning of October, and if you’re good at your job, you’re working during the playoffs in October, as well. Edit: on review, it looks like you were actually talking about umpiring in the minor leagues. Even then, many of their seasons typically run from April to the end of August, so that can be up to five months. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345/40 "2019-07-08T19:20:03Z")
And one has to assume that if you’re serious about making the show as an ump, you’ll take a gig in the Arizona Fall League or other offseason leagues. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-july-2019/836345.md?page=3)