Suburban umps discuss pressure, challenge of the job

Blown calls happen all the time in sports, and regardless of whether it's in a Little League game or Major League Baseball, the umpires feel horrible about them.

On Thursday, MLB umpire Jim Joyce wept as he apologized to Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga for making an erroneous call Wednesday night that blew his no-hitter. Even though Joyce admitted his mistake, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday he will not reverse the call.

Suburban umpires sympathize with Joyce, saying people don't understand the challenge and pressure of making a split-second call.

"When you do a good job, you never hear anything. But when you do make a mistake, especially one like this, everything you've done in the past doesn't matter. It's totally unfair," said Chris Walker, a longtime baseball umpire from Sugar Grove. "They expect perfection but no one's perfect. So all you can do is do your best."

What happened Wednesday night happens daily on a smaller scale, local umpires say. Despite their best efforts, mistakes are made.

"I've made calls that have decided a game, and three, four hours later, I'm still thinking about it and feeling bad. You take it to bed with you," said Jim Donatowicz, a veteran umpire from Roselle who is treasurer of the Suburban Umpire Association. "There's nothing you can do about it. It's part of the game. One team loves you and one team hates you."

The job involves so much pressure and guilt, the association has a hotline for umpires to call if they want to discuss their questionable calls, Donatowicz said.

Even in youth sports, umpires and officials take the job seriously. They realize a botched call can determine whether a kid is praised or mocked in school that week. It also can put the umpire in danger if players, coaches and fans react angrily.

Walker said he was once roughed up by a player's dad after he called his son out. Heckling from the benches or stands is common, local umpires say.

Veteran umpire Forrest Rice, the Naperville Baseball Association's umpire chief, admits he's blown calls over the years.

"Some people have told me I've blown a lot of them," he joked. "One of the worst was (a) game at dusk and I lost the ball. I thought the kid had hit a home run because the left fielder just stopped running and looked over the fence. But the coach came out and told me that it was way foul. Luckily, I had (another umpire) there who had seen it go foul and we reversed the call. No one's perfect."

But mistakes can still sting years after a bad call.

Libertyville High School baseball coach Jim Schurr's blood still boils when he recalls a state championship game in 2003 against the Schaumburg Saxons, where a blown call cost them the game.

"It was surreal," Schurr said. "We didn't foresee the summer coming to an end because two umpires swallowed their tongues."

Schurr said there was anger and disappointment on his staff and team, and he sensed an unspoken acknowledgment of the mistake from the opposing coach and tournament officials. There was argument but no replay or appeal, he said.

Schurr believes umpires have different personalities, but they tend to defend each other and leave the field immediately after a game. As a coach, he'd rather they hash out calls of such magnitude.

"Let's make sure we get it right and not run to the parking lot," he said. "They don't want confrontation."

Some umpires have short fuses and others are more reasonable. But there always will be controversy, Schurr said.

Umpires, some who start as young as 15 years old, spend a full week in training for the job and are paid anywhere from $25 to $70 a game, Donatowicz said. Clearly, it's a job people do more for the love of the game than for the money.

"There are times ... that it's so close, it's like you're flipping a coin in your head," Walker said. "It's a tough job."

Staff Writers Jake Griffin and Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.