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By ADRIAN PALENCHAR-Sports Writer 
Peter Durfee has been an umpire since he was 10, when he worked Chico Westside T-ball games while playing in the Eastside Little League minors. While attending Chico High, Durfee umpired semi-pro ball for the Chico Colts and Oroville Olives. Today, at age 27, Durfee lives in Tucson, Arizona, and will soon begin his seventh year as a professional umpire. This year he will work for the International League, an East Coast Triple-A association spanning 14 cities. But today and Sunday, Durfee will call the biggest games of his career thus far major league exhibition games at Network Associates Coliseum and SBC Park. Durfee will work the Bay Bridge Series between the A's and Giants. |
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While family and friends are proud of his accomplishments, no one is surprised. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound ump has always been good at what he does.
"He always had the interest to become better and he's progressed very rapidly," said Jay Brownfield, a friend and fellow Chico umpire. "I can see him making the major leagues in one to two seasons; I wouldn't be the least bit surprised." |
The major leagues is where Durfee has aimed since he was 18 years old. "I enjoy baseball and I knew I wasn't going to get to the big leagues as a player," Durfee chuckled. "And you only work three hours a day you can't beat the hours." He said he was initially interested in umpiring because of his father. Durfee's father, Karl, umpired in Chico for 35 years before retiring two years ago. Peter Durfee would watch his dad's games, and shortly after Karl Durfee talked to Brownfield, who was president of the Chico Westside Little League at the time, he was doing games with his father. "I think Peter wanted to be better than his dad," said Steve Graves, who umpired alongside Karl Durfee. "He surpassed his dad years ago." Peter Durfee moved up the Little League ranks, all the while umpiring games involving kids his age. "He was not the typical teenage kid," said Brownfield, who's umpired in Chico for 20 years. "Pete was really quick to absorb. After a year, we got to the point where managers were requesting Pete to come out and do their games." |
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The couple moved to Arizona in 1998. Tamra attended the University of Arizona and Peter went to Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School. Durfee finished second in his class and is now one of the instructors at the school. Peter takes a lot of pride in teaching other how to umpire. He's umpired in the Arizona, Pioneer, Florida State, Texas, Arizona and International leagues. And last year, Durfee became the first American umpire to do the Caribbean World Series. |
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He said he enjoys umpiring because of the travel (he's worked in four countries) and the camaraderie (he's met some of his best friends along the way). He even did a TV commercial three weeks ago. Durfee is one of the umpires who take the field in a Capital One "No Hassle Rewards" commercial starring Randy Johnson. Umpiring is all about human relations, and that's Durfee's forte. |
"He's got size, voice, and just has mannerisms like, I'm in charge and we're here to do business,"' Karl Durfee said. When managers do get upset, Durfee said he stays calm and just listens. He doesn't let managers or fans bother him. "That's what people go to baseball games for, to yell at the ump," said Durfee, who's used to working in front of crowds of 12,000 to 15,000. "I really don't hear fans really anymore." Major League Baseball employs only 68 umpires, and Durfee compares joining their ranks to that of joining the Supreme Court. "You only work five months a year and get a six-figure salary," he said |
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