Bruce Froemming began umpiring professionally at the age of 18. He has worked the Nebraska State League, Midwest League, Northern League, Northwest League, Texas League and Pacific Coast League. He now umpires in the National League. At the age of 65, he has been at the Major League level since 1971.

He recently submitted his resignation, along with the rest of his colleagues, in an attempt to get the attention of MLB in the umpires desire to negotiate a new contract. The umpires got more attention than they wanted.

When it appeared MLB was going to accept all of the resignations, to take affect Sept. 2, most of the umpires sought to withdraw them. Never had they dreamed the resignations would be accepted. Froemming was allowed to withdraw his, 22 others were not.

Froemming prays for a settlement that will not cost the 22 t Froemming prays for a settlement that will not cost the 22 their jobs. Next week the resignations take affect. The umpires have gone before the National Labor Relations Board seeking an injunction to prevent MLB from accepting the resignations, claiming that because there was selective acceptance, the contract between the umpires was breached.

“Look,” said Froemming, “we made a mistake.

“We never should have submitted the resignations. We were trying to get MLB to negotiate with us and thought this was a way to show them we were serious.

“MLB has given second and a lot more chances to players who have made mistakes,” Froemming added. “Look at [Darryl] Strawberry. How many chances has he had after making a mistake? Well, we [the umpires] made one. Why can’t we get a second chance?”

MLB’s leaders are “furious” in the words of Commissioner Bud Selig.

“The umpires have a contract through December. When you start playing around with resignations, you’re on dangerous ground,” said Selig.

Selig swears, contrary to what some umpires have said, “There is no hit list of umpires who were going to be fired at the end of the contract. That’s ridiculous.”

The animosity between MLB and its umpires has been growing over the past years as the umpires have been perceived by both players and the league as getting too big for their chest protectors. MLB wants control over the umps rather than the current supervision by the leagues. While there may be no hit list, there are some umpires MLB would just as soon leave the game.

The resignations played right into MLB’s hands and they intend to take advantage of it. Now with time running out, the scene is tense and combative.

The umpires will take every action possible to try and preserve their jobs. The heat increased Monday with a column in the New York Times suggesting the umpires were considering a strike next week before the resignations take effect.

That rumor infuriates MLB even more. Yet, there is no guarantee enough of the umps would walk to make a strike meaningful.

As with the resignations, a decision by an umpire to strike puts his job on the line. For those who had their resignations rescinded, they would be putting their livelihood on the line for the second time. And this ice is even thinner.

At a time when, for the sake of the game, there needs to be a negotiated resolve, the parties instead are locking horns in a furious scrum. MLB is big business and this is a big-time argument.

NEWS columnist Gary Thorne, an Old Town native, is an ESPN and CBS broadcaster.