O'FALLON, Mo. — Fort Zumwalt West High School is having an incredible baseball season this year. The team is 28-8, ranked third in the state and could win it all.
However, what caught 5 On Your Side's Frank Cusumano's attention is not so much their pitching and hitting skills, but rather the treatment of their umpires.
It was a high school scene in Texas but happens all over the country. An umpire was physically assaulted by a coach.
"I've seen physical assaults, I've seen language so bad I wouldn't repeat it, I've seen threats by drunken irate parents," Bob Frischman said.
So what has happened to the respect of the men in blue?
Bill Buchannon is a 50-year veteran umpire in the St. Louis area. He is in charge of scheduling umpires for each and every high school game in the region.
"A kid who is going into umpiring now, you know they take them and put them in a select tournament and then you have parents who are paying fairly large amounts of money to have their kids play," Buchannon said. "All of a sudden they feel like it's up to them to critique every umpire and burn a lot of those kids out before they get to the high school level."
"It's nice for those kids to make an income but typically most kids don't want to put up with all that pressure and all the hassles that go along with it," Buchannon said.
And that's one of the reasons why the area is losing about 30% of its umpires each year.
Enter Fort Zumwalt West coach Eric Gough who is trying to change the culture.
"The umpire shortage is a real thing. There are, every year, we have freshman games with only one umpire," Gough said. "I think all of us could do a little more to be more appreciative of the umpires, all the time they put in, the dedication, the expertise they have to have in such a silly little game."
Before every game, Coach Gough takes a picture with the umpires and then it's posted on social media.
"Really great hospitality out here. Always a great experience," one umpire said.
"I am very thankful that we get the opportunity to come out here and play every day. So, I think it's a message to kids, parents and our coaching staff to be appreciative of what these guys give up to come out here," Gough said.
"And remember that we are all human and we all make mistakes. They are out here giving us the opportunity to play and we should be thankful for that," he said.
And then when the game ends, two players on the Fort Zumwalt West team hand the umpires a handwritten note.
Bob Frischman, who has umpired for 26 years, read one of those notes for us.
"Dear Mr. Umpire, thank you for taking your time to make sure we could get in our game today. We appreciate the sacrifices you make so we can play," Frischman said.
And because of this new posture with umpires, players believe it's provided a new aura for the adults.
"You don't hear them as much with the umpires anymore. Right now, it's all directed toward the players and kids, and it's all positive talks, no negative. You hardly hear pour parents getting into it with umpires, which is amazing," player Cooper Roberton said.
"It's a breath of fresh air, I think it's absolutely great and I really think it's going to be contagious," Frishman said. "I have seen, this year, other teams play Zumwalt West and model that great behavior that Zumwalt West puts on the field,"
It's a profession that has been in one direction for too long. But because of one man and one idea, it may be changing.
"I found in my life that when I make someone's day, somehow it makes my day," Gough said. "It's hopefully been a good lesson for the kids and helped us all be a little more gracious when we don't agree with a call. Overall, it's been real positive."
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