Baseball umpires are angry about background checks being conducted by Major League Baseball that the umpires say in some cases are questionable and inappropriate.
UMPS' NEIGHBORS QUIZZED: Topic considered inappropriate
Three umpires have reported instances in which they say their neighbors have been asked by investigators about any knowledge of drug use, spousal abuse and membership in the Ku Klux Klan, according to Lamell McMorris, spokesman for the World Umpires Association, the umpires' union.
"They have asked a series of very questionable, strange and poorly executed questions," McMorris said. "Some of them are downright horrible and have created an environment in which neighbors are led to think (the umpires') employers suspect them of spousal abuse, drug use and hate crimes. That's unfortunate."
MLB umpires Greg Gibson and Sam Holbrook, who reside in Kentucky, and Ron Kulpa, a Missouri resident, told McMorris of the interviews.
Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB executive vice president, baseball operations, who oversees the umpires, said in a written statement, "The claims of inappropriate questioning by individuals conducting background checks was brought to our attention and looked into thoroughly. After investigation, it was determined that these claims were inaccurate. Questioning was conducted with a written script consistent with common practice and there was no inappropriate conduct on behalf of the investigators."
"That's unfortunate," McMorris of Solomon's statement. "That is what you'd expect from an organization caught in wrongdoing. We've done our own investigation, including lengthy discussions with the neighbors and they confirm what we've said is true."
MLB proposed instituting background checks on umpires after last year's scandal involving National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy betting on games. The umpires' union has not yet agreed to the checks.
Union president John Hirschbeck said the union's concerns are not with the idea of background checks, "just the process," he said. "This substantiates our fears."
"I'm just surprised at that kind of tactic," said Hirschbeck, "that we'd stoop to this."
Pat Courtney, MLB spokesman, said the questions were prepared and the investigations carried out by MLB staff members.
Hirschbeck, a major league umpire since 1984 and WUA president for eight years, said Tom Christopher of the MLB security department, "was in my neighborhood. I saw him and talked to him."
See also:
http://backgroundinvestigations.blogspot.com/2007/08/mlb-wants-background-investigations-on.html
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