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My guest today on "Sports Files"
is Major League Baseball Umpire

Andy Fletcher.

[theme music]

The ultimate goal of any
professional baseball player is

to make it to the show.

The show being the big
leagues, Major League Baseball.

Of course for
every one that does,

thousands never get that
far, often toiling in the minor

leagues for years before
deciding on another profession.

The same goes for umpires.

There are thousands who
never get the chance to umpire

a Major League Baseball game.

And many of them are
terrific in what they do.

Bottom line is the major
leagues are reserved

for the best of the best.

Players, managers,
coaches and umpires.

Memphian Andy Fletcher, a
graduate of Harding Academy and

Ole Miss, has been a major
league umpire since 1999.

But if you think his
road to the show was easy,

think again.

He attended the Harry
Wendlestedt umpiring school

in 1989.

He spent ten
years in the minors,

working in leagues
such as the Appalachian,

Florida, Instructional,
Midwest, Carolina,

Southern and
Pacific Coast League.

He honed his craft for a decade
before getting his opportunity.

And he has made the most of
it, becoming one of the most

respected umpires
in all of baseball.

Today Andy Fletcher joins me
to talk about his experiences

behind the plate and on
the bag, minor and major.

And it's next on "Sports Files."

[theme music]

Andy, great to see you.

Thanks so much for
being on the show.

It's great to be here.

Alright, with all the snow,
more snow today as we tape,

you're pretty excited to get
the Florida right next week.

Absolutely.

Couldn't come fast enough.

No, I love being at home.

I enjoy the season a lot but I
also like being with my family.

(Greg)
  Absolutely.

You don't get a lot of time off
if it's a long baseball season.

So, you got to take
advantage of that.

Spring training is for
players to get back in to shape,

to get ready for the season.

Is that the same for umpires?

Are you actually rusty not
having done a game in a long

time and you really
need that to get ready

for the regular season?

Absolutely.

Players have asked me before.

I remember Derek Jeter coming
over once spring training and

asked me how many plate jobs
that I felt like that we needed

to get back in to
the mid-season form,

if you will.

And I think after
three or four plate jobs,

you're ready to go.

But the first couple are kind
of hit and miss sometimes

in spring training.

But they don't give
you any lead way,

do they?

If it's a tough call or do
they in spring training?

No, in spring
training, it's pretty relaxed.

Everybody is pretty easy because
they're doing the same things.

They're trying to get
their feet wet again, as well.

And they know we are, too.

I want to talk about some
of your years in the minors.

But you started out in 1999
in major league baseball

in the National League.

Of course,
now you cross over.

You do games in American
League, National League.

What was your welcome to
the big leagues moment?

Um, I think my second
plate job in the big leagues

really opened my eyes.

It was in Atlanta.

And it was Tom Glavine was
pitching against Randy Johnson.

And that year, the Diamondbacks
and the Braves were fighting

for play-off spots.

And we were late in the year.

We were in September.

It was a Sunday afternoon game.

I think it was a
nationally televised game.

And it was..

I remember after the game.

I don't remember a
lot about that game.

But I flew that night to Miami.

I got to Miami and I
want to get a bite to eat.

And I walked in to this
place and there's a replay

of the game on.

And everybody was kind of
glued to the T-V's watching it.

And I thought to
myself, oh my gosh,

that's me right there.

And that's when I realized
really almost what happened.

I know you get in to a zone
like a player gets in to a zone,

an athlete gets in to a zone.

But are you ever out there in a
moment kind of star struck like

when it's a hall-of-fame type
player or manager or a game

that's bigger than a
regular season game,

like an all-star game that
you've umpired in or last year

doing the national
league wildcard game.

Are you ever in that?

Wow, look what's going on here.

Um, not really.

Maybe for a second
just at the beginning.

But then it quickly
becomes just another game.

You can't get caught
up in that kind of thing

and do your job properly.

You just can't do it.

Alright, baseball has been
pretty much the same game from

when we were kids except --
and we were talking about this

before we started
taping -- replay.

Replay has changed everything.

They are talking about new rules
that will be implemented for the

speeding up of
the game this year.

And we'll talk
about that in a second.

But I know that you spend a
number of weeks with your crew

in New York City
overseeing replay.

How has it worked so
far in your opinion?

And then I want you to tell me
about what a typical game is

when you're in New York City
or a typical day is looking

at all these games.

Okay.

First of all, I think it's
worked beyond expectations.

I think it's just
been fantastic.

The little mistakes that were
made were easily corrected now.

And we just move on as
if they were never made.

I think it's
worked out very well.

There are a few tweaks
that are to be made.

And we're going to
make some of those,

I think, going forward.

But there are really few
compared to what we thought

we would have.

A typical day in New York,
you're only in that room

for four hours.

And it's like kind of almost
like sitting in a control room

back here at the station.

There's the
technician sitting beside you.

Each umpire has two games if
there's a bunch of games going

on at one time.

Generally speaking,
two games a piece.

If something were to happen
in one of the games where you

thought you were going to go to
replay because we kind of can

see in advance what's happening
because you can see

the entire field.

If they feel like
they may go to replay,

then one of the games slides
off to another umpire that's

in the room.

And you and your technician have
one game and he starts racking

and re-racking video so
I can start looking at it.

I can ask him to
see different angles,

different -- whether
to rewind it or not.

How many times to rewind it,
how slow to play the video.

The one thing they don't
do is to zoom in on things.

That can distort
the actual picture.

So, we don't zoom in at all.

How is the communication back to
the particular location of the

game and your conversation?

Has it been pretty precise?

It has been.

We don't have a lot..

The decisions are
made in the room.

The umpires in the field come to
the headsets and say we're going

to review a play and this is
what we're going to review.

In the room I'll
say, okay, I got it.

Give me a second and
I'll get right back to you.

The technician
and I look it over.

If there's any other
umpires in the room,

sometimes they come over and
will point things out and say,

hey, did you see
the base move there.

Did you see the ball skip there?

(Greg)
  So, you confer with each other?

Absolutely.

And generally speaking, if
there's other umpires in the

room, I'll ask for their input
before I make a final decision.

I'll say does anybody
see anything different.

But the final decision is
the umpire's game it is.

The replay is going on him.

I just touched on this
upcoming 2014 season.

There's a couple of things that
you're going to implement -- I

don't know if it's official
yet -- to speed up the game.

Have you had a chance to look
it over and what do you think?

A little bit.

I think hey, if we're
going to speed the game up,

I'm all for it.

If we can take a three hour game
and make it a two-and-a-half

hour game, absolutely.

It's only a
two-and-a-half hour work day.

Who wouldn't like that?

Exactly.

And back in the day, games used
to be shorter for some reason.

Oh, there's a lot
of reasons for that.

T-V plays a big part of it.

But T-V pays a lot of money
to be a part of the game, too.

I think some of
it will work well.

I think it's going to take
a little getting used to.

Several of these
things they're already doing

in the minor leagues.

So, it's not like the
first time it's been done.

The batter keeping one
foot in the batter's box,

they've been doing that
in the minor leagues

for the last several years.

And they've had an opportunity
to kind of tweak that rule.

And they've got it
down pretty good now.

The one I'm worried about is..

And again, in minor leagues,
you're not worried

about television coverage.

The television coming back
from the commercial and boom,

there's the first pitch.

It's going to take a little
bit of adjustment but we've been

doing that to a certain extent.

In the years past, the second
base umpire would have a stop

watch in his pocket.

And he would signal the plate
umpire at a certain time in the

break to say, hey, it's
time to start moving along.

The difference is now that
everybody is going to be able to

see that clock instead
of the umpire saying hey,

you know, the second base
umpire is telling me let's go.

You can point to the
clock and say hey,

it's 20 seconds.

We have to go now.

And everybody knows it.

I want to talk to you about some
of your run-ins in all these

years of umpiring and
starting with the major leagues.

Has there ever been an instant
where you had to toss somebody

or had a good run-in, nice
argument with somebody

where it's lingered?

In other words, somebody
has held it against you

down the road.

Or does eventually a player
or a manager get over that?

I think for the most
part you get over it.

I think in the minor leagues
sometimes those things

kind of lingered sometimes.

You would see teams for
longer periods of time

in the minor leagues.

You might see a team for a week
to nine days because it was cost

prohibitive for you
to travel as much.

Nowadays I'll see a
team for three days.

I may not see him
again for a month.

And by then, you forgot
we even saw each other.

Exactly, when you're playing
eight or nine games in a row

then you can grade on
each other's nerves.

Absolutely.

And that was part of the
reason they merged the staffs,

the American League and the
National League -- they merged

those staffs in 2000
-- was to do that,

was to allow for more umpires
to go to more places and to

alleviate some of
those situations.

Days off.

How many games will you do in a
week and when do you get off?

Six to seven games in a week.

Baseball is traditional off
days are Mondays and Thursday.

So, occasionally
we're in the schedule.

It's built in to
have a day off there.

We also have four weeks where
we're off during this season.

And that's also built
in to the schedule.

There's 19 crews of four and
there's 19 schedules and the

crew chief picks a
schedule based on his seniority.

And often times when
they're choosing a schedule,

it's not where you're going,
it's when you're going

to be off.

The ideal schedule, you don't
take your first week off until,

you know, four or five
weeks in to the season.

And it works down from there.

Somebody is going to have to
take the first week of the

season and probably this
year, it'll be us because

I'm on the crew chief.

My crew chief has the least
seniority in all the league.

(Greg)
  There you go.

I mentioned in the open how many
years that you honed your craft

in the minor leagues.

A number of different leagues.

One of those leagues
being the Southern League.

And if you look up
Andy Fletcher Wikipedia,

folks, you'll see a deal
with the Birmingham Barons when

Michael Jordan
played just one year,

I believe it was.

Right?

You have a good story
to tell us about you,

Jordan, Terry Francona, who
was the skipper of the Barons.

He was, yeah.

One night in Birmingham, one of
the hitters for Birmingham hit a

ground ball, double play ball
with Jordan on first and Jordan

tried to slide in to second and
take out the second baseman

or short stop.

I forget which.

So, I couldn't
turn the double play.

He was way out of the baseline.

And I called interference.

I called him out
and the batter runner.

And he jumped up
and immediately said,

"Andy, you know how tall I am?

I'm big enough to
reach the bag from here."

I said, "Michael,
you couldn't reach the bag

with the telephone pole there."

Michael was a good
guy to us, he really was.

He knew all of our names.

Yeah, that's pretty cool.

He really was.

He treated us quite well.

Terry Francona, who was
the manager of the team,

he came out to make sure
that I didn't throw Jordan

out of the game.

Although, he wasn't close
to getting out of the game.

But he got thrown out of the
game and the hitting coach,

he got thrown out of the game.

A couple of guys get
thrown out of the game.

But Jordan stayed in.

But I tell you this.

The next day, Michael
made a point to come.

I was working home
plate the next day.

Michael made a point to come to
the plate his first at bat and

tell me he was wrong and he
apologized for kind of getting

all that stirred up
the night before.

Yeah, you also told me that you
threw out Albert Pujols one time

and he apologized soon after.

Right?

He did.

Last year in Boston I called
in a strike he didn't care for.

He lost his cool
and got ejected.

And as we were walking back to
the locker after the game he was

waiting for me there and
was nice enough to apologize

for his actions.

I got two last year.

The Chicago Cubs manager wanted
to get thrown out of the game,

I believe, and said somethings
that maybe he wished he wouldn't

have when he got thrown out.

He actually wrote me
a note apologizing.

So, does that happen a
lot where a manager says,

"Hey, Andy, toss me."

It happens every
once in a while.

I mean, they want to do
that to get their team going.

Like that particular night,
the Cubs were in a tough streak.

They lost like six
or seven in a row.

I think more than anything he
was just trying to get his guys

going a little bit, you know.

A little fire
never hurt anybody.

I understand it.

And that's part of the game.

We get that.

Favorite city to work a game at?

And then I'll ask you
about the stadium itself.

But favorite city to go to.

My favorite is probably Chicago.

I like Chicago,
New York, Boston.

I like a city
where it's a big city.

We stay Downtown.

A lot of places to eat.

I say Chicago because especially
if it's a Cubs series,

you have day games and you have
nice restaurants within walking

distance so it's easy to get to.

So, that's always a fun town.

Is there a stadium preference?

I've always liked the
ballpark in Arlington.

The Texas Rangers ballpark I
think is a beautiful ballpark.

Seattle also has a
beautiful ballpark that is

overlooked sometimes.

And I think the most overlooked
ballpark is Cleveland.

Stand at second base and look
in to the ballpark at Cleveland.

It's a beautiful ballpark,
too, that gets overlooked a lot.

I've been there.

It's beautiful.

The manager of managers that
maybe you respect the most?

I don't know if there is
any one guy I could tell you

in particular.

I think for the most part I've
had a pretty good relationship

with most all the managers.

(Greg)
  How about a player?

Derek Jeter, I think,
was one of the classiest guys

that I ever ran across.

I always thought that he played
the game hard but I thought he

was fair for the most part.

And he was
always a professional.

Rob Manfred is the
new commissioner,

replaces Bud Selig.

We talked earlier about
tweaking things, the replay.

He has talked about the
possibility of lowering the

amount of games in a regular
season for 162 back to 154 where

it once was.

Do you know much about him and
what do you expect if you do?

What do you think
brought Rob Manfred,

a new blood,
brings to baseball?

I think it's an
interesting time for baseball.

Anytime there is change, it
could be interesting just to see

what a new mindset
could bring to the game.

We're already seeing the
possibility of putting a clock

up for the first time like
we talked about earlier

with the inning breaks.

That's something
that's very different.

Baseball has never had a clock.

And that was one
of his new things.

I don't know much about him.

He was a labor lawyer in New
York for a lot of years for

Major League Baseball.

He negotiated our
contracts for baseball.

(Greg)
  How about that?

But I think he's well respected
and I think he did a great job.

You got your first
taste of the post season,

as I mentioned, last season,
National League wild card game.

I would assume the ultimate
goal for an umpire is not

unlike a player.

You want to reach
the World Series.

Right?

Absolutely.

I've been fortunate enough to
reach all the goals that I've

set for myself
except for that one.

When I first started, it was to
work the play-off's championship

series of the
Appalachian League.

And Midwest
League, Southern League,

Pacific Coast
League all the way up.

Now I've gotten play-offs first
rounds and my ultimate goal is

to work a World Series.

Is seniority the biggest
thing or are you graded out

all the time?

It's some of both.

There's some
seniority issues there.

And we're great on
everything we do.

In this day and age, there's a
camera following us every step

of the way.

And you can't hide from that.

(Greg)
  Absolutely.

Andy, we like to end all our
interviews with something we

call "Five for the Road."

So, I'm going to
give you a question.

Quick answer, first
thing that comes to mind.

Don't be nervous.

We're going to learn a
little bit more about you.

Favorite
professional sports team?

Any league.

I grew up a Packers fan.

(Greg)
  Green Bay Packers.

Absolutely.

How about favorite pro athlete?

Oh, wow.

I'm an Ole Miss guy so
I'll say Eli Manning.

Eli Manning, good choice.

What's your favorite music?

What do you like to listen to?

I'm a country music fan.

(Greg)
  In particular, any
  artist that stands out?

George Strait.

George Strait is the
one guy that I've never..

In all the celebrities that I've
been fortunate enough to be able

to meet, that's the one person
I've never met that I would just

absolutely love to meet.

We're going to make it happen.

Do you ever listen to
music before a game,

like a player would do?

Some guys do.

I don't.

Favorite movie of all time?

That's a great question.

Kind of cheesy but
"Saint Elmo's Fire" is one

of my favorite movies.

(Greg)
  "Saint Elmo's Fire?"

I used to love that movie.

Part of that filmed on the
horseshoe of the campus

of the University of Maryland,
my alma mater.

That's the only
reason I bring that up.

Okay, favorite T-V show?

Probably "Seinfeld."

I could watch that over
and over and over again.

(Greg)
  Yes.

And you can because it's on
like five times a day on T-B-S.

It's also on most major league
umpire's locker rooms before the

game because it comes
on at that time of day.

We're all in the locker
room before the game.

Are you serious?

That is probably the number
one show on in every locker room

across the country.

Well, listen.

I know you're getting
ready to head down to Florida,

getting ready for
the regular season.

You are always great to us
on the radio show coming on

when we need you.

Andy, thank you so much.

A pleasure having
you on the show.

Enjoyed it.

That's Andy Fletcher.

We'll take a break.

"Overtime" is next.

[theme music]

The Rhodes college men's
basketball team has had

a tremendous season.

And they are
determined to keep it going.

The Lynx won a share of the
Southern Athletic Association

regular season title and will
host the conference tournament

this weekend by virtue
of their undefeated home

conference record.

Head Coach Mike McGeorge,
in his fifth season at Rhodes,

has won over 100 games
and is 30 and 15

over the past two seasons.

This year's squad is
18 and 6 and went 11 and 3

in conference play.

And now they get the chance to
earn the automatic birth into

the N-C-A-A Division Three
tournament if they can win this

weekend on their home court.

Earlier this week I had a chance
to speak with Mike about his

team and their chances to win
the conference tournament title.

Well, Mike, thanks a
lot for being with us.

I know it's a busy week
for you getting ready

to host the tournament.

Thanks for your time.

Yeah.

Thanks, Greg.

I appreciate you having me.

Well, let's talk
about this team.

What makes it so special?

Well, really interestingly
enough about it is that we don't

really have a clear strength.

And so, a lot of teams, when
we're preparing in front of the

teams, we're like, "Okay,
what does this team do best?

What can we take
away from them?"

And when teams look at us, it's
hard to find that one thing.

You know, we have five
guys basically averaging

double figures.

You know, we're really sound
defensively but we're not..

We don't have a
dominate shot blocker.

There's no one position
  defensively that we're great at.

We're a solid rebounding team.

We don't dominate the glass.

Offensively, we move the
  ball and find the open man.

So, whatever
  teams are giving us,

our guys, we have
  a veteran group.

And they're just really
  comfortable and unselfish with

making reads and
finding that open man.

So, you know, our greatest
strength is kind of that lack of

a weakness or lack
of a clear strength.

And so, it's hard for
teams to prepare for us.

And we've just been
really consistent all year.

Obviously you
have that chemistry.

These guys play off each other.

They like playing
with each other.

Was it hard to find and discover
that chemistry or was it pretty

natural for these guys?

You know, it all takes time.

And each year
we've had, you know,

we've had four seniors
a year ago and we had three

the year before that.

So, this group has
a lot of experience.

But their roles have changed
each year and they've had to

adapt and grow in to roles.

And we've had, you know, a
couple of injuries over the

years that have changed
people's roles mid-stream.

So, it's really about that
experience of being in different

roles and having a different
dynamic that has helped

this group.

Whatever adversity they
  face, it's kind of been,

you know.

We've kind of been through
  this road before and we figured

it out before.

And I think that's helped them
  the most in terms of finding

that consistency and being
  comfortable with each other.

You share the title,
second time in three years.

But you get to host because
you went undefeated here

on your home court.

Having that
advantage this weekend..

Well, how much of
an advantage is it?

Well, I think it's a big
advantage if nothing else just

because you're not traveling.

Last year we ended the season
with our last four games

on the road.

And we went to..

And Centre,
who we tied with,

won the regular
season last year.

And we went to their place and
had to play them on their home

floor in the semi-finals.

Lost on a three right
at the end of the game.

And just the wear and tear of
three consecutive weekends of

that kind of travel with the
academic demands our kids are

under, you know, plays a factor.

Now ultimately on game nights,
you get 40 minutes and you got

to outplay whoever it is.

But obviously being
at home, you know,

we stay on top of the academics,
get to rest in your own bed and

all of those things.

And then being on a home floor
obviously creates another level

of energy for
your group, as well.

As you said,
senior laden team.

Guys that have played with
each other for a while now.

With that said, is there a
player or two that will be key?

That they are in instrumental
for playing well or needing to

play well for you
guys to be successful?

Yeah, two guys in
particular stand out,

two of our seniors.

Drew Miller is a senior
from Fort Smith, Arkansas.

And he was first name
all conference last year.

And he just, you
know, offensively,

he just has the ability.

He's 6'4" with
a 6'7" wingspan.

And he just is able to get it
in the paint and make reads.

And he just makes
other guys better.

And then
defensively, in my opinion,

he's the best defensive
player in our league.

And his ability to use his
length and his understanding of

our defensive concepts and how
versatile it is he can guard,

you know, one
through four on the floor.

So, he just does so many things
for us that people don't notice.

And our point
guard, Luke Collins,

is also a senior.

He's from Birmingham, Alabama.

And, you know, when he goes and
plays up tempo and gets us out

running, and he's kind
of the heart of our team.

And, you know, it just kind
of energizes the whole group.

And so, those two are key
as are all of our seniors

and the roles they play.

But those two in particular,
when they kind of are dialed in,

we're a pretty tough
group to deal with.

(Greg)
  You're fine for
  you here at Rhodes.

You mentioned
  some of the players.

Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Alabama.

Recruiting wise, do you
  have to go out of the area?

There's obviously
  academic responsibilities

here to attend Rhodes.

How seriously do you
  look at the local kids?

Talk about just your
  recruiting philosophy.

Well, I think recruiting locally
is really important I think to

be able to do that.

Memphis has great basketball.

It has some great schools.

And our starting center, Ryan
Van Hoeck is here from town.

So, you know, we're always
looking for that local kid.

But when you start talking about
our academic standards and the

cost to attend, you know, we
have to cast a pretty wide net

to find that right fit.

And somethings, you know, people
don't understand about Division

Three basketball is the N-C-A-A
has a stat where there's three

percent of high school seniors
that play on their varsity high

school basketball team go
on to play in Division One,

Two or Three schools.

So, you know, if you take that,
then only three percent are

going on to play.

And then our academic
standards eliminate at least 85%

of the student population.

It's a pretty elite group of
kids that are able to play

at this level.

And so, you know, we got to
stretch pretty big net to find

that right fit.

Alright, final
thing for you, Mike.

We talked about the
philosophy at Cornell.

What is your philosophy,
your coaching philosophy,

at Rhodes?

Well, first and
foremost, you know,

Rhodes is a great school.

And so, we get to
deal with great kids.

And we feel like we're part
of the educational process.

And so, everything we do is
  about pursuing excellence.

We want our guys to
  pursue it in the classroom.

We want them to
  pursue it on the floor.

We want them to pursue
  excellence in the community,

as well.

And so, we really work hard
  with whatever we're a part of,

whatever we're doing.

We're doing it right and
we're doing it first class

in every aspect.

And then we're also
about building trust.

And so, you know, we think that
the team dynamic is so important

towards athletic
success or success

in anything you're doing.

So, everything we do is about
building each other's trust.

And we want them thinking
whether it's like showing up for

class late or sitting in the
back of a classroom or staying

up late playing video games the
night before a game or whatever

it is, how are my
teammates going to respond

to this decision.

And so, when we get
guys thinking in that way,

then you get a pretty good
culture in your program.

And we think that
sets them up really well

for their life ahead.

Mike, thank you so
much for being with us.

Best of luck to you this weekend
and congratulations to get this

far to be able to host
the tournament this week.

Thanks a lot, Greg.

Appreciate it.

The tourney action tips off at
1:00 p-m on Friday while the

Lynx hit the
hardwood at 6:00 p-m.

It will be a busy weekend in
hoop city as the Grizzlies

return home to face the Clippers
tomorrow night at FedExForum,

while the Tigers will host
Tulsa on Saturday evening.

And don't forget to catch
the replay of the Tigers

and 21st ranked S-M-U
Saturday at 10:30 p-m

right here on W-K-N-O.

And one other note for ya.

"Sports Files" is changing days
and time the next two weeks.

We'll be with you
on Friday March 6th

and the 13th at 7:30 p-m.

Until then, have a great week
and we'll see you next time.

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