21.   Could the umpire have been as much perp as victim?

22.   Fat umpires can be good umpires.

23.   For most, umpires are nothing more than easy targets for boos and ridicule.

24.   From the time we are knee high, we are taught umpires are inflexible, uncompromising and optically unsuited for their jobs.

25.   He said the umpire was at that moment dusting off the plate.

26.   His fellow umpires were not pleased.

27.   How, for example, can a home plate umpire not be important?

28.   I thought I should have gotten that pitch, but the umpire is human.

29.   If an umpire is ineffective, Alderson believes, baseball should be permitted to dismiss him, just as in other jobs.

30.   If the strike were deemed illegal, the umpires would be subject to disciplinary action or outright dismissal for breach of contract.