STEE-RIKE THREE!
John Ottavino, the home plate umpire at the Berry Homes, makes the exuberant call during a men’s league baseball contest last week. The 67-year-old official, whose son Adam is a pitcher for the New York Mets, is draped in full equipment and donning his catchers-style umpire mask on a 93-degree day amid the Staten Island humidity, which made the real feel closer to 100 degrees on the field turf.
Nevertheless, the unfavorable conditions did little to deter the effort or enthusiasm of Ottavino, who was calling the second game of a six-hour long doubleheader -- by himself, after calling the first game as well. The 14-year veteran official calls as many as nine games a week, though he doesn’t necessarily want to.
But during an unprecedented nationwide umpire shortage, he feels compelled to make sure the games get played. As high school and youth games are canceled around the country due to the shortage, umpires like Ottavino are picking up extra shifts to ensure no more games are nixed from the schedule.
John Ottavino is a 14-year umpiring veteran who has called more than 3,000 games.
Ottavino, a Long Island native who now resides in Brooklyn, calls games in all five boroughs at all levels of the sport. He’s called youth and recreation games, as well as men’s and college leagues, but he’s never seen anything like what’s currently taking place among umpires.
He cited the pandemic as the primary reason for the shortage -- but not the only reason.
“A lot of the senior, older umpires didn’t work for two years and then said you know what, I’m hanging it up,” said Ottavino of his peers. “No one was actively recruiting people, so we were squeezed from the top and the bottom.”
“Across the country, the temperature on the field is getting higher and higher. There have been assaults, there have been fights, there have been all sorts of bad stuff going on,” he added. “A lot of guys don’t want to put up with that nonsense.”
NOT WORTH IT?
Ottavino, however, added that it’s “calmer” in New York City than it has been at any point since his career began. According to the longtime official, NYC’s PSAL umpires receive $125 per game, which he says is the highest rate of pay in the country.
However, other parts of the country pay as little as $65 per game.
“It’s gotten bad. In Indiana and Illinois there were high school games that simply didn’t get played this year,” pointed out Ottavino. “To some guys, it’s not worth it...In New York, high school games are supposed to be two-man games, and there were a number of one-man games simply because we didn’t have enough bodies to cover it.”
But Ottavino isn’t chasing a paycheck, that’s not why he’s out there on 100-degree days. Nevertheless, he’s frequently found himself on the receiving end of spectator abuse -- though it does little to faze him because he understands what’s at stake.
“Whatever we say, somebody’s going to want to kill us, so we may as well do the right thing,” he said. “I’ve been told that I’m a disgrace, that I stink, I’ll never umpire again, and do you want to fight...all of that, but I understand why.”
“Some days it’s as easy as pie, and some days it’s really hard,” he added.
SO, WHAT KEEPS YOU COMING BACK?
Even with an arthritic hip, and at 67-years-old, Ottavino finds himself tethered to the game -- for one big reason.
“Number one, I miss my son,” he said bluntly. “We had an awful lot of fun together and I can’t hang out with him in the clubhouse and we can’t tell our jokes and there’s nothing I can do to make him better or to help him other than to wish him well every day.”
Adam Ottavino, 36, is a 12-year Major Leaguer and former New York Yankees reliever.
John Ottavino, alongside his son Adam, and wife Eve.
“We talk once a week, but he’s a pro and he’s forgotten more baseball than I’ll ever know so there’s not much I can do for him,” he added. “But, one of the things that matters to me is that, in sports, it’s important to me that every kid gets exactly what they earned because educating young men is a very serious business and one of the lessons that’s important to me to tell them is what you do and how you do it will have a result on what you get going forward”.
“So, if a guy is safe or out it’s really important for me to tell him”, noted Ottavino. “Sports and life overlap. If I can make sure that a game is played fairly, under the rules, and make sure that everybody gets exactly what they earned, then I think I’ve done a good thing for that kid that day.”
“THERE ARE PEOPLE IN NEED, I CAN’T STOP”
He estimates that he’s umpired between 3,000 and 3,500 games in his career, approximately 250 games per year -- but there’s no end in sight just yet. However, the toll it takes on the body is real.
“There’s more than enough work for all of us umpires. In fact, there’s too much work,” said Ottavino. “I haven’t really had a day off in six weeks, except for rainouts.”
“If people need me, I’m back in,” he said. “We’re the only people who never sit down, so if I’m calling two games I’m on my feet for five straight hours...That’s all part of it. You get hit a lot (too).”
Ottavino is actively recruiting new umpires and hopes some of them will stick. In the meantime, he’s not letting any games get canceled on his watch.
“There are some days I think I can do this forever, and others I’m beat up and my knees hurt and I’m tired,” he said.
“But right now I know there are people in need so I can’t stop,” concluded Ottavino. “If games aren’t going to be played because I’m not around, that doesn’t work for me.”
Ottavino is back behind the plate on Staten Island this week, where he’ll once again call a full slate of games.