Never Again

[Carbide Keyman]

Originally Posted by BlueLawyer

I'm always torn at tournment time. It's an honor to be asked, but good lord, it can take over your life for the time it's going . . .

Last year I did a stint as the host umpire for the 15 yo SW Regional Babe Ruth at Bentonville, Arkansas. Tournament play started Friday. Saturday we had a rainout- one field was all the host site had going, with 5 umpires.

Sunday we proceeded to make up Saturday's games- all 4 of them- with all 4of Sunday's games too. We started promptly at 8 am. 17 hours, two plates and three pads later, I drove my exhausted self home. My UIC worked it so that I got the game off after each dish, but still . . . It was well over 100 degrees by 1 pm. It was so freaking hot it melted the glue in my base shoes. The looked like flip flops by my last game. The next day I felt like I had two cases of Black Label by myself that day . . .

My district commissioner just called me to tell me I'm the UIC for the 13 yo State BR tournament- next week. Hooray!

Ok, it's an honor to be asked.

Strikes and outs!

Especially on an 8 game, one-field day.

Stop complainin, get in shape you cow, hydrate, take your skirt off and deal with it.

(Tongue FIRMLY planted in cheek !)




Doug

[PeteBooth]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

Am I the only one who thinks tournament time can be a pain in the @$$?

Our juniors opened up tournament play on Saturday. I and two of my counterparts were assigned to work a triple header for the juniors. The first game was a damn slugfest with the home team winning in the bottom of the 8th 15 -12. Two hours and 50 freakin minutes for a juniors game. The second game wasn't much better. Extra innings again, 6-2, 2 hours and 30 minutes. I was 5 hours and 20 minutes into actual game time before I worked the plate for the third game (I drew the short straw). The third game was a little better at only 2 hours, but I swear, no more triple headers for me.


Tim.

Tim,

I'm assuming when you say our juniors tournament opened play on Saturday you are speaking of the LL Tournament.

Generally speaking, LL Juniors is probably the worst ball you will ever call. Most of the talented kids at that age bracket (13/14) are playing in select Leagues which means LL is left with the remainder.

If you have a good tournament, triple headers are not that big of a deal, but when you get teams like you describe umpiring does not become fun anymore. it becomes a "survivor of the fittest".

If you are going to Help out or umpire LL games, IMO stick to the majors which is a Total Contrast to the Junior program. in LL majors, the games last approx 1 hour to 1hr 10 minutes at Tourney Time. You can call 3/4 of those type games with no problem.

Also, at the LL Junior Level don't know how the zone was that day, but IMO keep it BIG from the outset to move the game along.

Summary: Triple headers in the heat can be very exhausting but can also be enjoyable depending upon the teams involved. I therefore agree with part of your statement. No more Triple Headers for LL Juniors UNLESS they impose a 2 hour time limit.

Pete Booth

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

Tim,

I'm assuming when you say our juniors tournament opened play on Saturday you are speaking of the LL Tournament.

Generally speaking, LL Juniors is probably the worst ball you will ever call. Most of the talented kids at that age bracket (13/14) are playing in select Leagues which means LL is left with the remainder.

If you have a good tournament, triple headers are not that big of a deal, but when you get teams like you describe umpiring does not become fun anymore. it becomes a "survivor of the fittest".

If you are going to Help out or umpire LL games, IMO stick to the majors which is a Total Contrast to the Junior program. in LL majors, the games last approx 1 hour to 1hr 10 minutes at Tourney Time. You can call 3/4 of those type games with no problem.

Also, at the LL Junior Level don't know how the zone was that day, but IMO keep it BIG from the outset to move the game along.

Summary: Triple headers in the heat can be very exhausting but can also be enjoyable depending upon the teams involved. I therefore agree with part of your statement. No more Triple Headers for LL Juniors UNLESS they impose a 2 hour time limit.

Pete Booth

I know what you mean, Pete. The majors tourney starts on the 12th so I'll be working quite a few of those games again this year. We're just so short on experienced umpires that we have to work as many games as possible in the junior tournament or there would be dad's from the stands working them. To let you know how bad the play was on Saturday, we had 7 obvious elephant balk calls in those three games. This is tournament time for crying out loud. They sure as heck should know how to hold runners by now. I'm going to be working the Ohio Valley Babe Ruth regional for 15/16 this year, so I look forward to seeing some better baseball being played soon.


Tim.

[PeteBooth]

We're just so short on experienced umpires that we have to work as many games as possible in the junior tournament or there would be dad's from the stands working them.

Tim, IMO sooner or later this league has "to bite the bullet" meaning get new Volunteers or outsource to a an assignor, otherwise you along with whomever umpires for this league will continue to be over-loaded.

If you are going to be "over-loaded" might as well get paid for it. It's one thing to do triple headers but it's quite another to do the kind of ball you are calling for Free or at a rate considerably below market.

Personally, I do not feel sorry for LL associations any-more. When I was an active member I gave plenty of my time for free. Now it's time for someone else. If they have to get Dad's out of the stands, then so be it. Perhaps then this league will "get the message" and either get new volunteers or pay for umpires. When I say pay for umpires I mean pay at market rates not some below average rate of say $15-$20 pergame.


If you and your colleagues keep doing the games, the league will do nothing about the shortage.

Side Note: Each year my summer assignor is getting more and more LL clients. Leagues have had enough. The concept of Volunteers might have been prevelant years ago but not today.

Pete Booth

[Bainer]

Tourneys do make you walk the fine between interest and physical exhaustion. The important thing is common sense- don't take on any more than you can handle- I think we've all been in that "end of the tournament" mood! Assignors and tournament directors need to use some discretion too.

Worst case of this I've heard recently was last weekend. Four-site tournament with four crews each doing quads for sat and sun. That's do-able, but on Sunday the rook umpire assigned to my friend's crew rolled into his hotel room BLASTED at 5am. The assignor took one look at him at 9am and told my friend "I don't want him behind the plate today". They couldn't find a sub until the late game, so my friend had 3 plate games, then a first base game. Rook will not be invited back!