NEW YORK -- Angry with baseball and many of his colleagues who didn't support the union leadership, National League umpire Steve Rippley said Friday he may retire next week and join the 22 umps already out of work.

	NL ump Gerry Davis remembers his former co-workers with the No. 22 on his cap.

"It just gets to the point where the whole thing gets to be mind-boggling," Rippley said. "The money is not the issue here. It's what they've done and the principle, to see how they have been so ruthless, with how they treated the families, just for whatever reasons. It's not humane what they've done."

Several of the remaining umps, including Gerry Davis, Jeff Kellogg, Jerry Layne, Ed Rapuano and Rich Rieker, wore "MLUA 22" on their caps Friday night in tribute to the 22 members of the Major League Umpires Association who were let go Thursday as a result of the union's failed resignation strategy.

"It's to show that they are in our hearts and in our prayers," Davis said. "I haven't seen anything that stops it. We receive memos all the time on things that are legal. We've never received anything that says you can't have numbers written on your cap.

"John Hirschbeck had the initials of his son, and rightfully so. The Pittsburgh Pirates had 'Kid' written on their hats for Jason Kendall. The Atlanta Braves had No. 14 for Andres Galarraga."

Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office, wasn't pleased.

"I would expect that at some time very shortly that practice will come to an end," he said. "Baseball has been lenient with respect to cap adornments that refer to injured or seriously ill teammates and that kind of thing. Political statements are not viewed the same way, and we will take appropriate steps through the leagues to make sure that practice stops."

Ed Montague, a supporter of the union leadership, wore "22" on his cap Thursday and missed Friday's game between Milwaukee and St. Louis, saying he was dehydrated.

"When the doctor prescribes Gatorade for a malady, you have to be skeptical," Alderson said.

Brian O'Nora, one of the new AL umpires, ejected Boston manager Jimy Williams and first-base coach David Jauss along with Damon Buford following an argument over a close play Friday night at Seattle.

Rippley, a crew chief scheduled to work a weekend series in Chicago, called NL senior vice president Katy Feeney on Thursday and said he wanted to retire. She told the 16-year veteran to think it over, Rippley said.

Later in the day, Rippley spoke with Paul Runge, the league's executive director of umpires, who said he should take the weekend off, think about his decision and get back to him Sunday night.

Triple-A umpire Dan Iassonga filled in for the games at Wrigley Field, joining a crew that included Wally Bell, Jerry Meals and Hunter Wendelstedt. Bell, who is in his seventh season, was one of three NL umpires who broke with the union leadership. Meals is in his third NL season and Wendelstedt is among the 25 newly hired umpires.

Gary Darling and Larry Poncino, who had been on Rippley's crew, were among the 22 umpires whose resignations were accepted. They worked their final games Wednesday and hope an arbitrator will order the NL to reinstate them after the season.

"My workload is going to go up, and they're not going to compensate me for it," said Rippley, scheduled to work in Milwaukee starting Tuesday. "Some of these kids don't have a week in the big leagues. You don't have 25 qualified guys at Triple-A to be major league umpires. They are running the pennant races with unqualified umpires.

"They keep saying the minor-league system needs revamping. If the minor-league system is so bad, how can you pull 25 guys up? They're going around in circles. All they're doing is getting caught up in their own lies."

Rippley, a member of the union's board, said one reason to remain would be to provide a vote for union head Richie Phillips, who faces a battle from a dissident group that wants Baltimore-based agent Ron Shapiro to negotiate the umpires' next labor deal.

AL umpires Joe Brinkman, John Hirschbeck and Dave Phillips are organizing the dissidents, who are expected to try to form a new union by submitting a petition to the National Labor Relations Board. The dissidents, who caused the union's strategy of mass resignations to collapse in July, need at least 30 percent of umpires to call for an NLRB-supervised election, and they are convinced they have sufficient support.

If Rippley retires, he would receive his final paycheck in October and get about $310,000 in termination pay. The 45-year-old from Seminole, Fla., isn't sure what he would do next.

"I don't have anything arranged or set up," he said. "I would think somebody would want me. Given how we travel, how we work under all that pressure, there's got to be a job out there where somebody would want me."