 Cronin told Salerno and the press that he was fired for being a poor umpire.However, Salerno and Valentine had in fact been working to form a union of American League umpires, with the hopes that they could join their National League counterparts to form one union of Major League umpires.Bill Kunkel, a former Major League pitcher, and Jake O'Donnell, who was already a referee in the NBA, were called up to replace Salerno and Valentine.