The pressure of being a rookie MLB umpire? This Compton native dealt with much more
LA TimesMalachi Moore has worked 156 major league games in the last three seasons, including a Baltimore Orioles-Toronto Blue Jays matchup on Sept. 7, 2022. Malachi Moore’s first season as a full-time major league umpire will be stressful enough, what with the bigger stadiums, higher stakes, hostile crowds, enhanced sticky stuff checks, travel demands, and the “Umpire Scorecards” website tracking every one of the 32-year-old’s missed calls. “I’ll never forget that feeling,” Moore said before working a recent Cactus League game. It’s almost like, wow, I’m getting paid, this isn’t work for me.” Moore’s career arc took a dramatic turn in November 2010 when he and several college teammates served as “guinea pigs” during a one-day umpiring camp at the academy, taking at-bats, making plays and running the bases so aspiring umps could make calls. “You almost pinch yourself because you’re thinking, ‘Wow, this is like a dream,’ ” said Darrell Miller, the Compton youth academy director.
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First-person: Why become a high school baseball umpire? You’ve got a game today
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