Umpires should be eager to confirm their integrity.

• If not, take another job.

"Umpires are balking at baseball's attempt to widen background checks in the wake of the NBA's referee betting scandal In exchange for an agreement to allow credit checks, the World Umpires Association asked Major League Baseball to add a seventh umpire to each postseason crew. Negotiations broke down during a contentious meeting last week at baseball's headquarters.

"We strongly indicated the fact that were offended by the effort to trade economics against integrity," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations." AP report from Sporting News.com, 8/6/07

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