The Life of a Minor League Umpire: Living Large in a Smaller Baseball World

If you were to run into Homewood native Jon Lindstrom at a White Sox game or out at a bar watching the game, he looks like your stereotypical baseball junkie.

He is known to dress in the jersey of his favorite Sox player, with a hat to match. He has extreme knowledge of the game and, of course, some not so nice things to say about that ‘other’ team in town.

While Lindstrom fits the look, it’s what he spends a majority of the game looking at that differs from most other baseball fans.

“I am always watching the umpires,” Lindstrom said. “When I am watching a game with my friends, they will say, 'Why are you watching over there?' And I tell them that I am watching what the umpires are doing.”

Lindstrom has been watching what the umpires do at baseball games for quite some time now, and it has led him to be one of the most respected young umpires in the Southland. He had his sights set on making it to the major league level before a rather ridiculous request caused him to change his plan and ultimately end up returning to his roots.

Lindstrom Comes From a Family of Men Dressed in Blue

Lindstrom picked up umpiring from his father, Andy, who worked games at Izaak Walton in Homewood when Jon was growing up.

“When I was 12, 13 years old, I used to go and watch my dad work and it gave me the idea,” Jon Lindstrom said. “When I turned 16, dad asked me and my twin brother why we didn’t try doing it, and I never looked back.”

Jon and his brother, Josh, gained their first experience umpiring working youth ballgames while they still were in high school.

After graduating from high school in 2003, Lindstrom attended Iowa State University. In early 2006, after spending two and a half year in Iowa, Lindstrom decided a change was in order.

That is when his umpiring career took off.

“My dad said, 'Go for it. This is what you wanted to do and have been doing since 15. Now is the time to do it,' ” Lindstrom said.

A few weeks after leaving Iowa State, Lindstrom enrolled in the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring in Kissimmee, Fla.

“It was a five-week program,” he said. “They evaluated me and told me to go home and work on a couple of things.”

Lindstrom then went to the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in Daytona Beach, Fla. After finishing the program, he spent the next three seasons in low-level minor league baseball. First it was the Gulf Coast League, then the Florida State League and finally the Midwest league.

Lindstrom was only in the Gulf Coast League for three weeks before being promoted to the Florida State League where he worked the rest of the season and the playoffs. He spent the next two years in the Midwest League.

Lindstrom: Living the Life of a Minor League Umpire

The life of a minor league umpire is a tough as it is for the players, if not tougher.

“Every three days we travel with a partner in our own cars,” Lindstrom said. “Every day, you’re eating ballpark food and they only pay a minimal amount for mileage."

Lindstrom was given a $25 per diem for the day, earned $1,800 a month during the season and received no health benefits (not eligible until you reach Double-A ball). Seemingly following in the path to the big leagues, he ran into a major road block that completely changed his career.

Toward the end of the 2008 season, Lindstrom was asked by higher-up’s to drop 100 pounds by the start of the next season.

“I said no right away without even thinking about it,” he said. “The minor league system is a very political game and you have to do it their way. I was never late for anything and any problems I had on the field were quickly fixed.”

Lindstrom quickly saw his ranking drop, and he was released by the end of the 2008 season. “If I lost the weight, I had a good shot at making it to Double-A by the start of the next season," he said.

Lindstrom was left with two options, go back to school or do something else in umpiring. He could not stay away from his passion for umpiring and joined the independent league ranks.

Lindstrom now umps at college and high school games. This past spring, he worked games all across the Chicago area.

“I hope to get into Division I baseball and work my way through there,” he said.

In the last couple of years, Lindstrom has rejoined the Illinois High School Athletic Association. He first started working for the IHSA in 2006.

Lindstrom admits he looks back and sometimes wonders what could have been had he lost the weight.

“I was in a perfect situation to move up, move on, and get to where I was going but, instead, I decided to do my own thing, do it my way, which is what got me there in the first place," he said.