Major League Umpires Are Being Investigated for Ties to KKK

One of the outgrowths of the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal has been the increased scrutiny of officials in all the major American sports leagues. Major League Baseball, for example, decided to step up background checks concerning their umpires. The union representing those umps, the World Umpire Association, has mostly gone along with the checks, until now.

Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball reports that the WUA issued a press release today concerning questions being asked during the league's investigations. While they have nothing to do with gambling, the subject matter is just as troubling.

One of the league's security officials arrived in Northern Kentucky recently to interview the neighbors of several umpires. These neighbors were strangers to the MLB official and not necessarily close acquaintances of the umpires. Among the standard questions to the neighbors was this errant bombshell -- do you know if the umpire is a member of the Ku Klux Klan?

I don't think anyone saw that coming. The KKK isn't exactly a group you hear a lot about these days. Perhaps back in the early days of baseball's integration but this wasn't something on the radar screen. Lemell McMorris, a spokesman, asks what being in the KKK has to do with being an umpire.

We're all entitled to believe whatever we like and the Constitution protects free speech, hurtful or otherwise. You and I might find it repulsive but an umpire can be part of such an organization if they like. However, MLB can't have umpires whose decision making might be influenced by racial bias, something that would be of great concern if an umpire were part of a group like the KKK.

The press release bizarrely cites Martin Luther King when it asks that umpires be judged by their effort and ability and not by surface characteristics. While it's a fair request, I don't think that's exactly what King had in mind and has nothing to do with the larger problem that such an umpire would present. Games being changed because officials have money riding on the outcome is odious but if they're being influenced by racism it would be far worse. I understand that the WUA is looking out for the rights of their members but this would be damning for umpires as well as the game. The two sides should work together and not butt heads over this issue.