[greymule]

Don't know whether availability plays a large factor in Fed around here. They try to schedule the whole season before it starts, and the senior—not best, senior—umps seem to get all the good games. But availability certainly matters in ASA. If they know you'll say yes, you're the first guy they call. This is of course assuming that they can trust you with the game.

You're the assigner. You make calls all day and work under harried conditions. Suppose you have learned that when you call Ed Jones, the standard procedure is (1) telephone tag, (2) "Gee, I'm not sure, I'll have to check my schedule and get back to you," (3) more telephone tag, and finally, (4) "No, sorry. Can't make it." Suppose you know that when you call Mike Smith, (1) you either get him personally or get a return call soon, and (2) he almost always accepts the assignment.

Who gets the call, Ed or Mike?

In addition, a lot of umps accept assignments and then turn them back later. Do you want to assign your games to those umps?