Baseball

Baseball

June 25, 2007

Female umpire to make MLB debut

Ria Cortesio will be a base umpire for the Diamondbacks and Cubs on Thursday.

The Associated Press

 

A rookie fresh from the minors is about to change the face of baseball: A female umpire is set to work a major league exhibition game for the first time in almost 20 years.

Ria Cortesio, ready to start the season in Double-A, will be on the bases Thursday for a game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said Monday night. “There will be a lot more people in the stands than I’m used to.”

No female umpire has ever worked in the majors during the regular season. Pam Postema was the last female ump to call big league exhibitions, back in 1989 — she was in spring training for two years before getting released.

Cortesio is the only female umpire in professional baseball. At 30, she is starting her ninth year overall and fifth in Double-A.

Slender and athletic, she cut her ponytail a few years ago so she wouldn’t stand out on the field. She also uses a low grunt to call strikes.

“It’s awesome,” Cubs star Derrek Lee said. “I think it’s about time. Female eyes are as good as male eyes. Why can’t they be umpires? Good for her.”

Triple-A and Double-A umpires routinely join major league crews in spring training, especially when extra games fill the schedule.

“I was kind of expecting it,” Cortesio said. “Umpires with my seniority usually get picked.”

Cubs reliever Scott Eyre liked the idea.

“She’s doing our game? Oh, cool,” he said. “How do I feel about it? I could care less. If she can call a game, she can call a game.”

“If she rings somebody up for me, I don’t care. You know what I mean? I wouldn’t have a problem with it,” he said.

For several years, she’s been an instructor at the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring.

This year, Cortesio hopes to move to Triple-A — she’s on deck for promotion when the next vacancy occurs. Once umpires reach Triple-A, they are evaluated by major league supervisors, rather than minor league staff.

Life in Double-A isn’t luxurious. Last year, she made about $2,600 a month for the six-month season and her per diem was $25, with her hotel room paid for; big league umps can earn well over $100,000 and get $357 daily to pay for their meals and hotel.

Plus, there’s the travel. Major league umpires jet around the country, a three-person crew in the Southern League drives itself 24,000 miles over a full season.

All that, and no guarantee they’ll ever make the majors because jobs rarely open up. Fact is, a player in Double-A has a much better chance of reaching the big leagues than an umpire.

“I think I’m as excited about that as anything,” she said.

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