Which is why I asked earlier why he's a minor leaguer working behind the plate. Is this a normal thing? I know Fred said someone took the day off and so they brought him in, but why put him behind the plate Vanover didn't just take the day off, he took the whole series, maybe the whole week off. Tichenor was in his place at first base last night, home plate tonight, will be at third base tomorrow night, etc, etc, as long as Vanover is gone. There were 4 umpires that retired last year, 4 umps were promoted to crew chief to take their place, and four minor league umpires were promoted to the major league staff. Their union contract is incredibly generous when it comes to time off during the season. Literally one third to one half of the time, when you see a crew come in for a series there will be one minor leaguer filling in for somebody. This is how they evaluate the young guys and decide who to promote.