Never Again

[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.

[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.

[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]

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!

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

Garth:

It's great that working four games in the Summer heat doesn't bother you. I'm sure it's just as hot and muggy where you are as it is here. I think you're more than likely the exception to the rule though. I don't know too many other umpires that can work 23 innings in a row in 90+ heat with high humidity without feeling it.

Tim.

Fourth of July tournament temperatures ranged from 92 to 97 degrees.

This past week end and today at the basketball camp the indoor temps were in the 90's as the air conditioning was turned off.

I didn't say I didn't feel the difference. I said I was prepared for it. I keep my legs in shape. I bike. I run. I weight train. I get plenty of rest at night and I drink lots and lots of water.

If you can't prepare for it you shouldn't work that much. It's not good for you. If you make the choise to work that much without being prepared, then you shouldn't whine about it.

[BlueLawyer]

Originally Posted by GarthB

I didn't say I didn't feel the difference. I said I was prepared for it. I keep my legs in shape. I bike. I run. I weight train. I get plenty of rest at night and I drink lots and lots of water.

If you can't prepare for it you shouldn't work that much. It's not good for you. If you make the choise to work that much without being prepared, then you shouldn't whine about it.

Ironically, my conditioning regimen takes the biggest hit during the season. It's just damn hard to drag my old bones out of bed at 5 am for a run after getting home at 11:30 after nine innings of dish. And I can't get to sleep for a good hour afterwards- gotta wind down some.

Most of us could stand to be in better shape. It's hard to do in baseball season.

Garth, dude, I was in relatively good physical condition before the season, and I'm not that bad off now. The simple fact of the matter is that God did not bless me, at least, with the ability to work at the regular (admittedly sedintary) job from 8 until 3:30, start a ballgame at 5:30 or 6 and work baseball until 8 or 9 and do that 5 pr 6 days a week. I burn out. I feel the effects. My zone, especially, gets sloppy and I take justified sh!t for it. Magnify that x about 4 for tournament time and unless I'm conditioning full time, it wears me out.

Strikes and outs!

[Texas Aggie]

Tomorrow, I'll do forty-five minutes of cardio followed by about 200 crunches. Then about an hour of weight training.

Do it in the exact OPPOSITE order of what you mentioned. You will see much better results and you won't be tired when lifting.

[UMP25]

Originally Posted by DG

Late last July I swore off triple headers. Second day of a Senior tournament (16-18), I had the plate for the first game that started at 11 am with temp around 90. By the end of the 10th, 3 hours later, it was 95 degrees and I nearly stripped in a dugout on an adjoining field after the game. Then two more games on bases. By the time I got home all I could do was lie down on the garage floor with a fan on me and a six pack beside me and try to recover before going back for 2 more games the next day and two the following day. 9 games in 4 days, and 3 on the second with temps over 90. It's too much for me.

Well, here in the Chicago area, this weekend is expected to be hot AND very humid. Highs in the mid-90's Saturday and Sunday near 100, each day with what is being described as "oppressive humidity," with dew points nearing 80!

Anyone who thinks that the intense "dry heat" of the desert southwest is not really different from hot and HUMID is clueless. The latter is what actually hinders the body from sweating, and it is this more than anything that causes us problems in the heat.

Stay cool out there, folks. Drink, drink, and drink some more. And stay away from caffeinated products and alcohol (no joke--both dehydrate you).