Chasing A Dream
CRANBERRY TWP — Once Jeremie Rehak realized he wasn't going to reach the major leagues one way, he went to work on another.
The 2006 Franklin Regional graduate and current Cranberry Township resident recently got to the big leagues — albeit temporarily — as an umpire.
“I went to Ohio University and played left field there,” he said of his college career. “But throw me a curve with two strikes and I was swinging over top of it every time.
“I knew I wasn't going to make it to the next level on my playing ability, so I went another route.”
While still in college, Rehak began umpiring Little League, Pony and Colt League games on the side. In January of 2011 — after he graduated from college — he enrolled at (MLB umpire) Harry Wendelstedt's umpiring school in Daytona Beach, Fla.
In doing so, he went back to the basics.
“It sounds silly, but they begin by telling you the object of the game is to get your players around three bases and back home, then they explain four balls means a walk, three strikes is a strikeout ... They don't miss a thing.
“Then you go from the front page of the rulebook and they take you on through.”
Rehak said the first half of the school day focuses on the rulebook and written tests. The second half of the day is going out and actually working games.”
Taking off the mask without losing your hat “is one of the toughest things to learn,” he said.
Rehak has been teaching at the Wendelstedt school — taken over by son Hunter Wendelstedt, also an MLB umpire — for the past seven years. He said the school usually averages 120 to 130 students per year.
“Only 28 of them are kept each year, depending upon how many umpires are needed in the minor leagues,” he explained. “Major and minor leagues retire, some get promoted, some get out of it and openings are created.
“Then, just like the players, you begin climbing your way through the minors. But a player makes that climb much quicker than an umpire does.”
Before making his major league debut two weeks ago in Kansas City — filling in for an umpire on vacation — Rehak, now 30, spent seasons umpiring games on the Gulf Coast (rookie ball), in the Appalachian League (lower Class A), Midwest League (Class A), California League (high Class A) and Eastern League (Class AA). He has spent the past three seasons — including the start of this one — working games in the Class AAA International League.
“You're chasing a dream when you do this,” Rehak said. “It does take dedication and patience. My wife got to come to Kansas City to watch me work my first major league game. That was a thrill.
“Every (MLB) umpire gets a two-week vacation break during the season. I'm in Atlanta this weekend. It's the last big league series I'm scheduled to work. I'll either get extended or go back to the International League. That's in limbo right now.”
Rehak worked the Colorado-Pittsburgh series at PNC Park this past week. He worked first base in the opener, was behind the plate for the middle game of the series and worked third base in the series finale.
“I came to Three Rivers Stadium and PNC Park to watch games when I was younger,” he said. “While the (Pirate) pitcher was warming up to start the game I did behind the plate this week, I took a step back and took everything in.
“The view beyond the outfield wall, the beauty of the park itself ... I was living my dream.”
He also got to stay at his own house during the series.
“Sleeping in my own bed in April ... That never happens,” he said.
His wife of two years is a physician's assistant at UPMC. While working in the Eastern League, she came to see him when he did games in Altoona. She's made trips to Columbus and Buffalo when those are his International League stops.
“Besides that, from spring training until mid-September, you lead a pretty lonely life,” Rehak said.
That's why umpires develop close friendships.
“It really is a brotherhood,” he said. “When I first got called up, I was on a crew with Gerry Davis, who has the most service time at the major league level right now. He treated me no different from anyone else on the crew.
“Umpires respect each other, major or minor league. My first game (in Kansas City), Gerry Davis told me to relax and have fun, that I was there for a reason.”
Rehak's goal remains to attain a fulltime umpiring spot in the big leagues. There are 76 major league umpires. There are 250 umpires in the minor leagues.
Minor league umpires travel from city to city in rental cars provided by the league for which they're working.
“I'm still chasing my dream,” he said. “But I've gone from umpiring Little League games on fields in Pittsburgh with no outfield fence to umpiring games on the best field in the city.
“That's a start.”
