Wolf Wants Permanent Gig on Blue Man Group

Jim Wolf hopes his temporary job as a major league umpire will help him land one of the coveted 68 full-time positions.

Wolf, 31, an El Camino Real High graduate, is a replacement umpire, filling in while other umpires take time off. He is working the Dodgers-Florida Marlins series this week at Dodger Stadium.

“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 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 player.

Randy pitched and Jim was the third-base umpire when the Phillies played the Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 18.

Jim played catcher at El Camino Real and Pierce College. He started umpiring at 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.”

Wolf was behind home plate Monday night when the Dodgers won, 1-0. He is working the four-game Dodgers-Marlins series, then heads to Chicago this weekend for the White Sox-Texas Rangers series.

He and his brother will be calling their mother, Judy, at the family’s West Hills home on Sunday for Mother’s Day.

“I wish I could have been in Anaheim and Randy in L.A,” Jim said. “That would have been an ideal situation. She’s told me she’s proud of both of us.”