Behind the mask

Staff photo by Dan Iverson

Jason Sletta, 31, of Hanska, signals a safe call during a recent umpire workshop at North Park in New Ulm. Sletta, who is known by many for his charismatic game officiating, is proof all umpires are not created equal. He even went to school for umpiring and admits he would officiate games every day of the year if he could.

In a world in which baseball umpires are often in short supply and are usually away from the media, Hanska's Jason Sletta is a unique character.

To be sure, Sletta is a few cuts away from the average umpire. If he had the chance, he would work baseball games all day and half the night. It isn't unusual for him to work two games in an afternoon and another in the evening.

"Umping is my life. I'd do it every day year around if I could," Sletta said several weeks ago prior to a Sunday evening game in Fairfax. He had just worked two afternoon games.

Staff photo by Dan Iverson

Chris Berg, 13, of Courtland, right, watches as Sletta explains the proper way to watch the first baseline. Sletta said one of the most important rules to umpiring is to always have a clear view of the play. "You don't want to be asked to make a call and not have a definite answer," he said.

Sporting a large bruise on his forearm that was created by a foul ball earlier in the day, Sletta was ready for more baseball even though he was in pain.

His first toy was a rubber baseball.

"I owe my interest in sports to my adopted father Grant (Sletta) who coached baseball at Godahl," Jason said. "He did a lot to make sure I was interested in sports."

At age 13, Sletta said his arm and shoulder were injured from throwing too many curve balls. Undaunted, he continued playing baseball in his adult years with the New Ulm Brewers after high school. He later played for Madelia until its team folded in the 1990s. He also played at Leavenworth before becoming an umpire in 1995.

"When I realized I couldn't play much anymore, I decided I still wanted to be around baseball, so becoming an umpire was a natural progression," Sletta said.

He has held many jobs in his life. His journalism career includes stints with The Journal of New Ulm, the Daily News in Wahpeton, N.D., and the college newspaper at North Dakota State School of Science.

His sales career included selling magazines door to door and air beds at a Mankato mall. Sletta has also worked in a rock quarry near Mankato. He began working in the fast -food business at age 16.

Sletta and his regular umpire partner, John Brueske, of New Ulm, still harbor dreams of working their way up the minor league baseball umpire ladder.

Last winter, they attended the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in Ormond Beach, Fla., near Daytona Beach. The men stayed at the Desert Inn on Daytona Beach. The school cost $2,500 and included the hotel stay.

At the five-week school, Sletta and Brueske underwent intense training, six days a week. There were no classes on Sunday, but they would spend much of the day studying baseball rules and the finer points of umpiring.

They aren't in it for the money. Sletta and Brueske are yearning for seven-days-a-week minor league baseball umpire positions that pay about $1,800 per month. The salary includes motel and meal costs.

Staff photo by Dan Iverson

Sletta tells Berg about his experience at the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School during his umpire workshop last month. "It was five weeks of the best training I've had in my life," he said.

A handful of more than 100 students at the umpire school were offered minor league umpire positions.

Classes taught by former major league umpires stressed mechanics, handling tough situations like coaches and players charging an umpire while yelling obscenities at them.

"You learn why situations escalate and how to diffuse them as much as you can," Sletta said. "If you want to get to the minor leagues, you've got to bust your butt hustling around the field. You've got to know where to be at the right time."

Sletta shares the wealth of information he learned at umpire school. Earlier this year, Sletta presented an umpire clinic at a South Central Umpire Association meeting. Earlier this summer, he instructed youth interested in becoming umpires at North Park in New Ulm.

The umpire shortage is due to among other things, verbal abuse, time away from home, and lack of upward mobility.

Sletta's heard most all of what umpires hear: "come on blue!" "call it both ways," "open your eyes," and some unprintable phrases during heated moments on the diamond.

Among his more memorable moments was working the state high school baseball tournament several years ago. Sletta called a batter out in the state tournament for failing to touch first base after he hit a double.

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