Federal Baseball · Jul 15, 2020
MLB umpires on planes with MLB teams? How could that possibly go wrong...?
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesThe Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya reported on Monday that Los Angeles Angels’ skipper Joe Maddon, “... confirmed that MLB is considering having some umpiring crews traveling on team charter flights this year, considering the unique travel circumstances,” the league (rightly, probably) expects to deal with while trying to play a 60-game season amidst an ongoing pandemic.
It’s actually in the MLB Operations Manual, Section 7.1.3, which notes (in part) that, “When necessary (as determined by MLB), umpires may be permitted to travel with Clubs. In these instances, umpires shall be subject to the same schedule and guidelines as other members of the Traveling Party.”