Regina umpire reaches major milestone
Scheurwater has worked way up ranks to full-time job officiating in big leagues
Stu Scheurwater’s bases are covered when it comes to his umpiring career.
The 34-year-old Reginan completed the cycle on Dec. 21, 2017, when he received a phone call from a Major League Baseball representatives telling him that he was being promoted to full-time duty in the big leagues.
“It was the best Christmas present of my life,’’ Scheurwater recalls.
“The past couple of years, most of the new umpires were hired in early January so I thought that’s when the phone call would come. It was definitely a surprise.’’
Scheurwater is just the third Canadian to land a full-time job in the Major Leagues.
Montreal’s Jim McKean — who punted for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for part of the 1966 CFL season — officiated at the major league-level from 1974 through 2001.
British Columbia’s Ian Lamplugh was in the major leagues from 1999 through portions of the 2002 season.
“It’s an honour to be among a small group of guys who made it out of Canada,’’ Scheurwater says. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are. If you work hard at anything, you can do it.’’
Scheurwater made his debut as a Major League umpire on April 25, 2014, working second base during a regular-season game between the Colorado Rockies and the host Los Angeles Dodgers.
At the time, he was on the Major League call-up list. When a full-time umpire is sick or goes on vacation, one of the minorleague umpires on the list can be summoned.
Scheurwater had been on the call-up list since 2014 and umpired more than 270 Major League games before receiving full-time duty.
“More or less, I have the security of having a career for the rest of my baseball life,’’ Scheurwater says. “Being a call-up guy was pretty much a year-to-year contract. When you invest so much time in umpiring, it’s a relief knowing for the next 20 to 25 years that I will be secure, my family will be secure, and we won’t have to worry as much.’’
Veteran Regina umpire Elemer Jerkovits was at Dodger Stadium for Scheurwater’s debut and recalls a special moment during the game.
Jerkovits and his wife, Kenda, were on the concourse and were able to catch legendary TV broadcaster Vin Scully’s recognition of Scheurwater’s first Major League game.
“At the end of the inning we went up for a Dodger Dog and there was a guy on TV talking about a special night for an umpire,’’ Jerkovits recalls. “It was Stu and we got to hear Vin Scully talking about him.
“Vin treated umpires very well and they had a special relationship. They would always wave to him and it was a ritual no matter who worked the game. For him to do that wasn’t a surprise.’’
Fast-forward to opening day on March 29, 2018, when Scheurwater umpired his first regularseason game as a full-timer. He was at third base as the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2.
“Every moment you step on the field is a moment for me, but my first game (in 2014) will always be the biggest,’’ Scheurwater says. “I walked on to Dodger Stadium and I got to work my first game. I’ve gone from small stadiums to this venue, where all you can see is people.’’
Scheurwater and his wife, Danielle, still call Regina home. That’s fitting because the Queen City is where Scheurwater started pursuing his dream of being a Major League umpire.
“He was ambitious and (umpiring) was the dream and the goal,’’ says Doug Scheurwater, Stu’s father. “He worked hard to make that happen and that had to be a grind.
“We would get the phone calls and you could tell there were times when it was wearing on him. He didn’t give up and there aren’t too many who can say they had a dream and he got there.’’
Scheurwater played basketball and football, and some baseball on the side, at Balfour Collegiate. After high school, he played junior football with the PFC’s Regina Thunder while continuing to umpire. He eventually focused on umpiring and hung up his football cleats.
“When I was playing football, I put myself into (the officials’) shoes and watched how they were out there,’’ Scheurwater says. “They were doing the best job that they could and calling what they could see. I gave them a break when a call went against us because that’s what they needed. All that any official is trying to do is maintain the integrity of the game.’’
Chad Wagner, another veteran Regina-based umpire, has instructed and worked countless games with Scheurwater at many different amateur levels.
“For us it’s a big deal and we celebrate any accomplishment that we have,’’ Wagner says. “It’s one of the more difficult jobs in any sport, whether it’s professional or amateur.
“There are so many calls in a game and one can make a difference. When there is something positive, we want to celebrate it because there is quite a lot of negativity.’’
Before turning professional in 2007, Scheurwater was a member of Baseball Canada’s national umpiring program. He worked the 2005 Baseball Canada Cup (in Medicine Hat) and the 2006 under-21 national championship (Guelph, Ont.).
Scheurwater then spent 11 years in baseball’s minor leagues before finally reaching the majors.
“It’s a grind, but it’s a rung you have to take to reaching the dream of working in the Major Leagues and hopefully getting hired on a full-time contract,’’ Scheurwater says.
It took until April 30, 2017, for the Regina umpire to record his first ejection — that of Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter, who was bounced in the bottom of the ninth for arguing a balk call. Scheurwater chuckles when asked about ejecting Showalter.
“It’s like going to the office,’’ Scheurwater says. “I have a professional working relationship and (the managers) may have a problem with something that I did and I will explain myself.
“It doesn’t really faze me who they are and that may be my upbringing as an umpire. You have to explain the situation, no matter who they are or how many years they have. It’s a professional relationship that we have with all of the guys.’’
It doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are. If you work hard at anything, you can do it.