Confessions of an Umpire Junkie
Parish priest takes on ump school

AL LESAR
Tribune Staff Writer

On his office wall is a framed black and white photo of Al Barlick, one of baseball's legendary umpires, circa 1960.
At one end of his desk is his Bible. On the other is his OBR — Official Baseball Rules.
Don't be tempted to define Rev. Michael Heintz as a typical parish priest. His ministry as the pastor of St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend is first, but the arbitration side of baseball is his respite.
In layman's terms, he's an umpire junkie. When he watches a game on TV, Father Mike follows the umps more than the players.
For five weeks recently, Father Mike's respite became his life. Granted a leave by Bishop John D'Arcy, a present from parishioners for earning his doctorate degree from Notre Dame was his enrollment in the Wendelstedt Umpire School near Daytona Beach, Fla.
A proving ground for about 100 umpire wannabes. A fantasy camp for Father Mike.
This was for real. Classes start every day at 8:30 a.m. and run 'til 11. Hit the fields at 11:30 until 6. Six days a week. Twenty-five graded exams over every period and comma in the OBR. Exercises. Drills. Technique critique. Batting cage work. Controlled games. Actual intrasquad games with high school and college teams.
"I thought I knew baseball before," Father Mike said. "It's amazing how much I was able to learn."
"Having Father Mike here was a wonderful experience," said Brent Rice, a veteran minor league ump who was Father Mike's supervisor. Rice became infamous in 2007 when Phillip Wellman, manager of the Class AA Mississippi Braves, directed a tirade and animated antics at the ump that were captured on tape.
"Father Mike had the best attitude in the class," Rice said. "The guys would feed off his energy. After a long day at the field, he had the ability to make us feel better."
By a unanimous vote of all the supervisors, Father Mike was selected as the camp's special award winner for "enthusiasm and dedication."
At 41 years old, a pound or two overweight, and completely committed to his present vocation, Father Mike wasn't auditioning for a new career. He actually kept his collar nearby. While the school offers a non-denominational service on Sundays, the only day off, Father Mike also made Mass available.
He wouldn't say if he heard the confessions of any of the umps.
"Let's just say I extended my ministry a bit," he said.
He remembered standing in line that first day. A young fellow next to him, who Father Mike later found to be a committed Catholic, told him a salty joke before being introduced. One of the instructors came up to Father Mike and said, "Well, we have a priest with us."
"The guy next to me about fell over," Father Mike said. "He apologized over and over."
Then there's Jordan Baker. A big fellow, Baker was on the mound during a drill when he's supposed to force the home plate ump — Father Mike — to make a balk call, then use every word in the book and some that aren't to argue the call and get ejected.
Father Mike said Baker made the balk and was called for it.
"He turned to me and said, 'I can't swear at you,'" Father Mike said. "We all laughed."
"What makes a great umpire is how you handle a situation," Father Mike said. "Let a guy say whatever he wants about the call you made. But when he says 'you' or 'your', boom, he's gone. It can't get personal."
Judgment was barely covered in the intense training. Mechanics, position and angle were the focus. Footwork was a constant priority. Every call by every ump is to be uniform, no room to freelance until the big leagues allow for personality.
There were ejection drills, "You never want to even come close to touching someone you're throwing out," Father Mike said.
"The toughest thing doing the plate is the 'slot,'" Rice said of the area between the catcher and the batter on the inside part of the plate. "So many umps want to stand behind the catcher. You can't see the outside corner like that. You have to stick your nose in there. The first evaluation day, Father Mike was the first one to get in there. (Legendary ump and camp owner) Harry (Wendelstedt) called Father Mike to the podium that first day and said he was the first one to get it right."
"The slot is really the safest position," Father Mike said. "It gives you the best angle on the outside corner."
An ump since he was a teen at Cleveland Little League in Elkhart, Father Mike will take these newfound skills to the occasional high school game he'll work in the spring and summer. It won't be the footwork or philosophies that will be cherished. It's the relationships he forged.
Long-time big league umps like Joe West and Ed Hickox want dinner plans when they come through Chicago. He considers the Wendelstedts — Harry and son Hunter — friends.
"My biggest thrill was, at our (closing) banquet, having Randy Marsh stop by, hand someone a camera, and asked them to take a picture of 'me and Father Mike,' " Father Mike said.
What bigger thrill for an umpire junkie?