Babe Ruth Baseball
All;
I was a Babe Ruth certified umpire for years. It doesn't mean squat. Big deal, you take a 100 question true/false test open book, and send them a check for, I believe, $30. That's the first year requirements. After that, all they want is the $30. Three years ago, I decided that I would rather keep the money, so I am no longer certified.
Instead of working Babe Ruth tournaments for $48 per game, I work big boy baseball for $66-110 per game. All of our Babe Ruth certified umpires work the tournaments, leaving no one but the uncertified umpires to work for more money.
This is a no-brainer for me. Save $30 and make more money. I have told my assignor that I have no problem working Babe Ruth tournaments if he needs help. I will give something back to the community and take the lower fees but I will not send the bloodsuckers $30. I have one Babe Ruth tournament game on my schedule this year. Last year I did two. The assignor always runs out of crew chiefs so he generally drafts a few NCAA umpires to help out.
If Babe Ruth wants decent umpires, we have dozens of NCAA umpires with no Babe Ruth certification who would do one or two games. They would do a better job than their so called certified umpires anyway. NCAA rules are 99% in accordance with Babe Ruth (Babe Ruth plays with OBR which is very close to NCAA.) Almost all NCAA umpires that I know are familiar with OBR. The ones that aren't don't know NCAA either. They just fake it and count on their partner to bail them out.
Peter
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