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3 exiled umps rehired as grading dispute heats up

NEW YORK -- Three more of the 22 umpires who lost their jobs during a failed mass resignation in 1999 were rehired.

Paul Nauert, Bruce Dreckman and Sam Holbrook worked minor-league games this week, the commissioner's office said Thursday.

Baseball has rehired eight umpires dropped after the mass resignation. Four were allowed to retire with back pay.

The three brought back Thursday had been out of baseball since Sept. 2, 1999. They replace Charlie Williams, Dan Morrison and Rocky Roe, who left the major-league staff during the season on disability caused by on-field injuries.

Also Thursday, the umpires union kept up its fight with owners. Angry that management has refused to provide information on a computer system that analyzes balls and strikes, the union filed a demand to have the American Arbitration Association resolve the dispute.

"We need to know what it can do and what its capabilities are, and then how its capabilities can translate to baseball," said Joel Smith, a lawyer for the World Umpires Association.

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