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Originally Posted by Rich Ives
Uh Tim
I just laughed and reminded him that it was his field, not mine, and that we're not responsible for that.
You aren't responsible for the game time or the decision to start/cancel the game either. Why would you even think it would be OK to just walk away?
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Because I'm not contracted to sit there for an undetermined period waiting until they decide whether they're going to play or not. I'm contracted to start at a particular time. If I'm called at home and told that the game is going to start an hour later, I then can accept or decline the game as the terms of my contract have changed. And when I assigned, I told the umpires that they were free to do the same thing.
Technically, the home team controls whether a game starts, however once the lineup cards are exchanged *I* control that, so in fact the umpires are pretty much in control from the start. When a team shows up 30 minutes before a game is scheduled to start instead of arriving earlier (and I'm not talking about the OP's situation, but one where the home team actually controls and maintains the field) and then tells me it's going to take an extra hour to get the field ready, I won't hesitate to decline to stay if I have after-game plans. They are always free to hire another independent contractor to come out and work.