Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
The Toledo area tournaments are either ASA or USSSA. The games are 1:25 long with 0:15 between games. Two umpires are assigned usually assigned on average six games in a row. It is next to impossible to use the PU/BU rotation and keep the games on schedule.
|
Six games a 12 hour day is borderline absurd, but understandable. Six in a row is stealing money because I don't give a damn who you are, you are not mentally or physically able to give 100% for every play of every game. You may think you are, but you are not and your body will betray your mind when it goes into survival mode.
We've all been young and foolish and thought we were the Energizer Bunny out there. But if you get a video or 3rd party opinion, you may discover that you are not getting to where you need to be as easily as it was early on, if you are getting there at all.
We are there to umpire a game, not prove how tough we are to the world. Don't know how many times, whether playing or umpiring, that I've heard an umpire refer to pacing or saving himself because of the schedule that day.
I can understand emergency situations where someone goes down and the schedule needs to be adjusted, but the original schedule should never be that short on umpires.