Umpire Hopes to Make Full-Time Leap to Majors

Jim Wolf hopes his temporary job as an umpire working the Dodgers-Marlins series at Dodger Stadium this week will help land him one of the coveted 68 full-time umpire positions in major league baseball.

Wolf, 31, a Huntington Beach resident, is a replacement umpire, filling in while other umpires take time off work.

“It’s hard,” said Wolf, a Triple-A Pacific Coast League umpire who is in his third year as a fill-in. “The odds are definitely against me even though I’m still plugging away. I’m close. I’ve got my toes in the door.”

Wolf already made news last month when he and brother Randy, a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, became only the second set of brothers in modern baseball history to work the same major-league game as an umpire and a player. Randy pitched and Jim was the third-base umpire when the Phillies played the Cubs and Wrigley Field on April 18.

Jim Wolf, 31, grew up in West Hills, graduating from Woodland Hills’ El Camino Real High in 1986. He started umpiring at the Westhills PONY League and was hired as a minor league umpire in 1994.

“I’d rather umpire than play after getting a taste of both,” he said. “There’s something about umpiring that I really can’t explain. I just love it.”