Umpire needs to hang it up

Great replies. It's great to get an umpires perspective. I have never been one to "point out" missed calls. That has never bothered me. There are only 3 things an umpire can do that could possibly get me riled..

- Lack of hustle
- Lack of knowledge of the rules
- "rabbit ears"---looking for a confrontation

It's always been my opinion that if an umpire does make a mistake, 99% of the time, you have many outs left to overcome it. They don't hit it, they don't pitch it and they don't catch it.

 

I agree with Braves, thanks guys for your input. As I have stated many times, I "used" to get in my share of yelling at the umps, until one day I tried it. Ever since then, I've had a whole new perspective of how I view umpires. Those bang bang plays certainly aren't easy to always get right, yet you are expected to 100% of the time.

If I may ask a question, do you guys work with the same partner all the time, or does your booking agent assign you with someone different each night? IMO umps who work together, seem to run the games better and do a better overall job.

Again thanks for your input.

 

TJ,

There are some guys that seem to be fairly regular partners, but I am not sure how much it happens in my area. I might have worked 5 games (no more) with the same partner this year. With all of the rain we had this year in HS and the early part of the AL season, assignors were moving umpires around a lot just to get the schedule covered. Even the regular umpire pairings were compromised at times. I'll also add that the expansion of the Junior Legion program has been good for individual umpires but a challenge for assignors. More games means more officials and then with schedule changes, things get chaotic quick. Back ten years ago, you saw a lot of consistent pairing of umpires because there weren't as many games and less games meant less changes to the overall schedule.


I think what you are alluding to TJ is that guys who work together a lot understand the tendancies of their partner. Things flow better when umpires are familiar with each other. From a game management standpoint, I am more comfortable with someone I have worked with before. However, I have worked with so many people over the years that I can work with about anyone mainly because we have a common foundation of rules and mechanics (how we cover bases, signal to our partners, etc.) and most importantly have a good pre-game discussion with each other.

 

Problem with Legion umpiring

Guys and Ladies to attend legion baseball game and see these umpires on the field working these legion playoff games , let me clue you in these area NOT the best umpires on the rosters most of the time , but the GOOD ol' Boy network all over again . The buddies or the assignors work the final row of the playoffs. Or the umpires who work the most HS games for that booking agent during hs season. It's not always the top umpires work . So, doing this the kids get hurt , because the missed calls by these umps , may not be missed by the top umpires............ ok see the light.

 

Yes and "the ole boy" is going to $90 per game next year according to TJ. Everything is going up but our incoming money. Most legion teams lost corporate sponsorship money this year, ours lost over $5000. Van rentals went up $25 per van over last year we rented vans or chartered buses 16 times this year . Umpires went up last year. Concessions cost went up, but we held our prices. Every team is not Rowan, Cherryville, Caldwell or Shelby. Most are like us, watching every penny we spend, trying to provide a low cost, competetive baseball program for the kids in our neighborhoods. I know of at least 6 umpires in our region that do not have regular jobs, their decision, not laid off. They are professional officials, go from 1 sport to another, sometimes doing 2 sports at 1 time, tell me, they have to subscribe to the "ole boy network", tell me they are not in it for the money. If they don't work games they have no income. I have heard them say, I worked 2 youth games this morning, a Junior Legion game in the afternoon, then a Senior Legion game at night. How do you think they feel come about the 7th inning of a 9 inning game on Saturday night. I know TJ knows who I am referring to.

Don't tell me about all the cost and time that you have occurred. I KNOW first hand how much time and cost it is. Most of you, the good ones anyway don't do it for the money, you do it for other reasons and they are the right reasons.

Sorry for be so long, now all you "almighty ones" go ahead and pile on.

 

600 post

Wow, I really got on my high horse on my 600th post.

Just arrived at Myrtle Beach and hour ago and here I am on TBR.

Help me Braves.

 

y

Tools,

I would agree that $90 will be tough for many legion posts to meet. I am guessing you have about 12-15 home dates a season (not including playoffs) and that's and extra $250-$300 a season that will have to be paid to the umpires. I had one game this year, it was a divisional game, and if we had 30 fans in the stands I would have been surprised. This post is out of the norm, but there is a wide chasm between the Rowan, S. Rowan, Cherryville, etc. and some of the smaller operations.

My comments about money and time were not meant to argue for a raise. I just feel like people think our money comes easy and that we just want our check and whatever else happens doesn't matter. I am sure there are a few of those types out there but that is not the majority of the officials I know.

All of the AD's I have dealt with in my area are good people. I don't envy their jobs. I am always courteous to them because I know they are truly working hard to make AL run and without an AL program in a certain area, that's less games for us.

I have always viewed umpiring as a hobby that pays for itself. It's highly doubtful that you could make enough of a profit to make it a full-time deal although as Tools mentioned, there are a few (some of them also book officials as well as work on the field).

 

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