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Here in the Santa Clara valley, norther CA., I've worked for the college, high school and summer baseball groups for a number of years and none of them support seperating umpires and giving seperate pay.
I think the main issue is that, while many who feel that working a plate is more difficult, they also feel that the base umpire can, and usually does, find it easier to get into 'crap' regarding his calls/duties.
Perhaps the rationale is simply this. What do you do if for some reason only the base umpire shows at a contest? Have the game cancelled ... no; call the game from behind the mound ... no; borrow equipment in order to work the plate ...no. It's far more equitible to have all umpires be prepared to work either assignment. It also makes it easier to know each day when you plan on working that you load all you gear w/o regard to a base or plate assignment.
We all know that anything, justified or unjustified, can happen and does happen from time to time. With that in mind all the organization that I belong to specifically design their scheduling operations so that a balanced scheduled is given to each and every umpire. With the software programs that are available for this purpose, it's very easy to remain aware of all umpires and the distribution of base and plate assignments so that they're evenly assigned. Also, it keeps most umpires from getting rusty in either position.
While it may sound nice on the surface, it's just not the best way to run an organization.
ED
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