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I can't say I've honestly ever heard a reason for the difference.
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Not all associations assign base / plate responsibilities. They leave it up to the umpiring crew with seniority being the "trump card".
Therefore, you had a very inequitable plate / base schedule. If you were a first year Varisty Official, you would have something like 15-20 plates in a row.
The vets would take the plate come playoff time because that's where you "earn your stripes" but would do the bases almost the entire regular season yet earn the same pay.
With the aforementioned inequities, some associations then decided to give a pay differential so that one person would not do the plate the entire season.
I do not advocate it but I understand it. In my association you get a mixture of plate / base responsibilities during the season.
Pete Booth