Learning To Make The Call

LEARNING TO MAKE THE CALL

THE WENDELSTEDT UMPIRE SCHOOL


By Asa Zengerle


Every year in January, more than a hundred hopefuls descend on a unique school in Daytona Beach, Florida: the Wendelstedt Umpire School. And, as you can probably guess from the name, they train umpires.

The school was founded in 1938 by Bill McGowan, an umpire now part of the Baseball Hall Of Fame. It changed hands once before being sold to Harry Wendelstedt, the school’s namesake. Harry - a Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire who officiated in five World Series - owned and operated the school until his passing in 2012. Now, the school is owned and operated by Harry’s son, Hunter, also an MLB umpire.


As you may guess, the students play a lot of baseball.
Image credit: Wendelstedt Umpire School

Each day, the students will wake up in their Daytona Beach hotel and make their way to the school, made up of both classrooms and baseball fields. Class then starts at 9, where the students review the previous day’s lessons and then learn new aspects of the art of the umpire. Lectures are given to the assembled students on rules, interpretations, mechanics, etc. Before class ends, students are given assignments, regarding where to go for cage (behind-the-plate) practice, control games, and live games. Later into the course, students will be allowed to officiate high school and college games for practice.



DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JANUARY 4, 2016: Gerald Perry, 25, of Atlanta, works on the mechanics of a "safe" call during the first day of the Wendelstedt Umpire School in Daytona Beach, Fla. (Photo by Melissa Lyttle)
Prospective umpires practice their calls.
Image credit: ESPN

Around the top 20% of students will get hired straight into the minor leagues. Hunter Wendelstedt’s take on a prospective umpire’s career path? “Best case scenario, seven to nine years to get a full-time major league job. You could go to med school and law school in the same time it takes an umpire to reach it to the major leagues.”*

Sadly, almost none of the students in any year are likely to make it to the big leagues at all. “The crazy thing is that there’s one person here who will make it to the major leagues,” said Wendelstedt in an interview with ESPN. “One person from this class will make it.” Students who don’t make it either ref in the minor leagues or in independent baseball leagues around the country, or they'll move on to a different profession. Still, judging by the glowing reviews on the school’s website, it was the experience of a lifetime.


*Quote source: Great Big Story

SOURCES

Great Big Story. “Inside The School That Trains Umpires.” Great Big Story, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHEd-Ha4B68.
Lyttle, Melissa. “Where Umps Get Schooled.” ESPN, 2 March 2016, http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/14871441/umpire-school-just-beginning-journey-students-hoping-join-mlb.
Stevenson, Seth. “What They Teach You At Umpire School.” Slate, 21 April 2016, https://slate.com/culture/2016/04/what-seth-stevenson-learned-at-the-wendelstedt-school-for-umpires.html.
Wendelstedt, Hunter. “Wendelstedt Umpire School.” Wendelstedt Umpire School, https://www.umpireschool.com/.