OTTAWA- Canadian umpire Stu Scheurwater (Regina, SK) will realize his dream of umpiring at the big league level on Friday night when he steps onto the field at Dodger Stadium and makes his way to second base to work game one of a three game series between the LA Dodgers and Colorado Rockies.
Scheurwater will be on the field for the entire Dodgers/ Rockies series that includes working first base on Saturday before being handed the home plate assignment on Sunday for the series finale.
The chance to umpire at the top level of the game is something that the 31 year-old has been looking forward to for quite some time.
“This is the phone call that I have been working towards since the first day that I showed up in Daytona Beach at the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School,” he said. “You go to umpire school to hopefully get placed in professional baseball and one day work in the major leagues.”
That phone call that Scheurwater is referring to came from Major League Baseball Director of Umpire Development, Rich Riecker and Pacific Coast League Director of Baseball Operation, Dwight Hall.
His reaction when getting the call, “overwhelmed with excitement,” he said.
Similar to an aspiring major league player, Scheurwater’s spot in the big leagues has come at the price of a long and, at times, grueling stretch of paying his dues at the minor league level. Although he will achieve his goal on Friday, his spot is by no means guaranteed and now the new goal becomes to stay at the major league level.
“Now that I have accomplished one of my goals to work in the major leagues this journey is far from finished,” he explained. “The ultimate goal is to be hired full time to the Major League Staff. That’s what I’m working towards now.”
The ‘grind’ of umpiring minor league baseball began for Scheurwater in 2006 when he graduated from the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School and later made his professional umpiring debut working the Arizona Rookie League in 2007. He progressed through the different levels of minor league baseball with stops in the Northwest League and South Atlantic League (2008), Carolina League (2009), Texas League (2010 & 2011), while he’s spent the last three seasons including the early part of 2014 working the triple-A Pacific Coast League.
Prior to his professional career, Scheurwater was a member of Baseball Canada’s National Umpiring program that saw him work events like the Baseball Canada Cup in 2005 (Medicine Hat) and the Junior, now 21U, National Championship in 2006 in Guelph.
“I owe a lot to that program and a lot of the things that are taught in the Canadian program are what we’re teaching in professional baseball. So I owe a lot of my success to the Canadian program.”
The reality of working in the big leagues hasn’t hit Scheurwater yet but he thinks that when he steps on the field Friday things will begin to set in and he plans to enjoy the entire experience.
“It really hasn't sunk in yet, it probably will sink in a bit more when I step onto the field for the first time,” he said. “This is a day that I will never forget. I'm going to soak up every minute of it.”
