Recently the Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpiring has hosted a yearly company bowling party. Typically the occasion goes off like you could imagine a company bowling event would with a bit of excitement. However, not this year!
Each year, teams are assembled and playful names are usually selected. Even so, this year one team went too far by picking a team name that drew a similarity to the Ku Klux Klan. Then, shockingly, team members arrived in costumes which were reminiscent of clothing the racist group is known for and also reportedly using well known slurs! While this sort of behaviour will make many people uncomfortable the school's only black employee experienced a good deal of unease (Which I am sure is actually a mild means of putting it). Right after, photographs were distributed and also news started to get out about just what transpired that night. It didn't take long for Minor League Baseball (and also MLB by extension) to take serious notice.
"We carried out a study, made our own queries, and that we uncovered behavior that people discovered to be reprehensible." stated Pat O'Conner, President of MiLB. And the reprehension? MiLB will not longer take students from the Evans Academy which a year ago made 14 recruits who were formally evaluated simply by Professional Baseball Umpire Corp, a subsidiary of MiLB.
The issue seems fitting. Let's face it, why would the MiLB and MLB want to be linked to group who believes this sort of action is just "... a bad joke that was not meant to hurt anyone" (Jim Evans). To complicate the problem somewhat is the fact that Minor League Baseball launched its own competing Umpire School this coming year, which has been fodder for Evans and others, permitting them to point to that as a hidden motive.
MiLB doesn't have any agreement with the Evan's Academy or any Umpire School so I don't see this decision being altered at any time even when it becomes a legal matter. For now, take the Jim Evans Academy off your list of possible Umpire Schools.
Each year, teams are assembled and playful names are usually selected. Even so, this year one team went too far by picking a team name that drew a similarity to the Ku Klux Klan. Then, shockingly, team members arrived in costumes which were reminiscent of clothing the racist group is known for and also reportedly using well known slurs! While this sort of behaviour will make many people uncomfortable the school's only black employee experienced a good deal of unease (Which I am sure is actually a mild means of putting it). Right after, photographs were distributed and also news started to get out about just what transpired that night. It didn't take long for Minor League Baseball (and also MLB by extension) to take serious notice.
"We carried out a study, made our own queries, and that we uncovered behavior that people discovered to be reprehensible." stated Pat O'Conner, President of MiLB. And the reprehension? MiLB will not longer take students from the Evans Academy which a year ago made 14 recruits who were formally evaluated simply by Professional Baseball Umpire Corp, a subsidiary of MiLB.
The issue seems fitting. Let's face it, why would the MiLB and MLB want to be linked to group who believes this sort of action is just "... a bad joke that was not meant to hurt anyone" (Jim Evans). To complicate the problem somewhat is the fact that Minor League Baseball launched its own competing Umpire School this coming year, which has been fodder for Evans and others, permitting them to point to that as a hidden motive.
MiLB doesn't have any agreement with the Evan's Academy or any Umpire School so I don't see this decision being altered at any time even when it becomes a legal matter. For now, take the Jim Evans Academy off your list of possible Umpire Schools.
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