Do you ever pray for rain?
 

Just looking to see if anyone ever has the same feeling I do: I like umpiring, I used to love it, and I wish that I liked it more than I do.

If you're not still passionate about doing it, then why continue to do it? You're certainly not going to get rich doing it as an amature.


Tim.

I guess that's the key question
 

I'm fortunate and thankful that I don't depend on the money (it's nice and all that, etc., but not a primary concern). The question then becomes am I deriving enough fun out of this to warrant doing it. There's also a bit of an ego factor, since I know that I do a good job and that results in a certain amount of satisfaction.

Take a few weeks off. See if you are itching to get back on the field then. Everybody gets burned out, sick of people, ect.

What helps me is to keep doing different leagues. Same league just gets you into bad situations. You have one bad incident with a coach or whatever, and it carries over into your view of that whole league.

Take a couple weeks off, and when you get back, vary up your assignments and the partner's you are working with if possible.

And one more thing - there are days when I "hope" for rain. They are not specific, since I try to get assigned to a game each day, so rain dates are my breaks. I depend on them, but don't pray or hope for them. They just give me a chance to relax for a day.

If you are not wanting to go to the field, thats another thing.

Some pray for rain after the 5th ining.......

This guy!!

Can We Trade Lives for a Day?
 

I have an injury which has kept me from umpiring for over two months. It has driven me crazy, and when I am healed, I will cry the first time I am on a field (but nobody will notice).

Yes some of us do. When you have worked like 10 days straight and all games have gone into extra innings, yes some of us pray for rain. Or we do not cry if a game or two is cancelled. Anyone can get sick of anything if you get an overload of it. Some of us would like to spend time with our families and other projects than umpiring. It is a natural feeling to have those thoughts despite what some might say.

Peace

Absolutely. Every day the weatherman say it's gonna rain cats and dogs I wish it would do it early so I don't drive to the site in a rain to pick up half a game fee. I would just as soon the rain get on with it.

And then there are the days when I have a game scheduled after working 6 games in 4 days, 38 innings behind the plate, temps around 90, and the weatherman says there is a 50% chance of rain. A rainout on this day would not hurt my feelings.

I ain't a spring chicken anymore.

thanks - some good perspectives
 

thanks, everyone - i appreciate the input and comments; it gave me a few things to think about.

[QUOTE=Hock9]Just looking to see if anyone ever has the same feeling I do: I like umpiring, I used to love it, and I wish that I liked it more than I do.[/QUOTE]

I know what you are feeling. There's the HS season, the summer season and the Fall season.

In my area the level of play has gone down. Also, the metal bat has ruined the game. Just look at some of the scores in the College World Series. The metal bat has made baseball a joke.

There's nothing like doing a wood bat game that lasts about an hour and 40.

There's talk here in NY state about having time limits in the Modified level. that would help.


I look forward to tournaments because most tournaments have time limit restrictions.

Unfortunately, in order to get some time off start getting used to saying NO when the assignor calls. I know assignors do not like to hear NO, but it beats getting Burnt out. My personal goal is to umpire FULL time for the next year or so, then strictly do the HS season which for all practical purposes is the months of March / April where the whether is not hot and for Once have a "true' summer.

Summary: Have a goal in mind and strive to stick to it.

Pete Booth

Timely topic
 

I pray for rain sometimes. Last week was a prime example.

Don't get me wrong- I love LOVE umpiring. I was away from it twice since I started and I missed it terribly.

But take last week for example. Two back to back nights of 7 inning AA Legion doubleheaders. Starting temperature about 95; humidity 70%. Start time for each night: 6pm. I am finding at my age that those kinds of schedules make me tired- and the games themselves would make me tired . . . and then there's the real job. On those two days following my two nights of double headers, I had a mediation and a hearing.

I figure conservatively that out of the 48 hours in those two days, I worked 32. A rainout that second night would not have hurt my feelings at all.

So yeah, not so much for lack of love of baseball or umpiring as just needing a rest. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all"- Patton. My game (especially my zone) suffers when I am physically exhausted.

Strikes and outs!

Sure do!
 

During regular season summer league I do all the time. The ball is not as good, and I often get beat up quite a bit since many coaches are "trying out" catcher's etc.,

But, once it gets tourney time I get over it.

Thanks
David