This sent the wrong message.

[nickrego]

Worked a HS Varsity game with a guy that most of us have nothing but trouble with, and yesterday was no different.

First, he shows up just in time for the plate meeting (he was scheduled to work the bases).

Two innings into the game, the Home Team Coach calls for time, and informs me the JV umpire has not shown up yet. For this league, we are supposed to split, with the Base Umpire suiting up and working the JV game.

So I call my partner in to join the conversation, which the Visiting Team Coach has also joined in on. The Home Team Coach informs my partner of the situation, and asks him to please work the JV game.

My partner replies by saying he has a College game the following day, and there is no way he is going to work a JV game, just to get beat up, and be unable to work his college game, unless, the Home Team Coach is willing to cut him a check, "on the spot", for his college game fees.

The Home Team Coach then asks him, "Are you saying you won't work the game ?" To which my partner replies, "If you try to make me work that JV game, I'll just leave and go home."

Both coaches jaws are now on the ground. They both look at me, and the Home Team Coach asks me, "Nick, what do we do now ?"

Well, I don't want to see the other game get canceled, so I asked my partner, "If I go work the JV game, will you stay and finish the Varsity game ?" To which he replies, "Yeah sure, I'll go suit up." He immediately runs off the field toward his car.

Both coaches jaws dropped even farther. Both coaches walked me all the way to the JV field, saying how much they appreciated me being willing to work the JV game, and a few choice words about my partner. I didn't say anything bad about my partner to them, his actions said enough.

Then, to top it off...

I'm in the middle of an inning at the JV game, when I hear my partner calling to me. I call time...

He asks me what inning it is, to which I reply, "Bottom 7". "Oh, OK then. I was going to change and come help you.", he says. "Don't bother.", I replied, and turned back to my game. He left.

I reported the incident to our Assignor and Secretary, and went up on the Arbiter and BLOCKED him from being scheduled for any further games with me.

[LMan]

Wow. Just wow. At this rate he won't have any partners left, and that's not a bad thing.

Are yall so desperate for umpires that yall have to put up with this?

[mick]

Attaboy, Nick !

[MadCityRef]

You handled it very well. Let's see, you start the JV game 20 mins late and still end just after the varsity? He don't call strikes, either.

[U of M Sam]

Nick:
Maybe your umpire partner thinks he is "too good" to work a JV game since he has a college game the next day. Sounds like a "jerk".
He might be a member of the "AZZ" family and his parents named him Jack!
Sounds like you handled the situation well.
Sam

[David B]

Originally Posted by U of M Sam

Nick:
Maybe your umpire partner thinks he is "too good" to work a JV game since he has a college game the next day. Sounds like a "jerk".
He might be a member of the "AZZ" family and his parents named him Jack!
Sounds like you handled the situation well.
Sam

I feel sorry for the college teams that he calls tomorrow ... they will get the shaft of having a poor umpire call their game.

Thanks
David

[DG]

Originally Posted by nickrego

My partner replies by saying he has a College game the following day, and there is no way he is going to work a JV game, just to get beat up, and be unable to work his college game, unless, the Home Team Coach is willing to cut him a check, "on the spot", for his college game fees.

The Home Team Coach then asks him, "Are you saying you won't work the game ?" To which my partner replies, "If you try to make me work that JV game, I'll just leave and go home."

IMHO he is a wimp.

[UmpJM]

DG,

"Wimp" is much too nice a word for this guy.

JM

[JRutledge]

I would not have handled it that way, but it is not his obligation to work a game he was not assigned. I have "helped out" only to get the shaft in the end. This is not most of our primary job or activity. He was assigned the bases (why this is assigned I do not know) and that is what he was there to work. Now I am not for leaving the game he was scheduled, but he does have the right to say no and if he was working a college game the next day that was his right. It might not be what you want to do, but I am not going to be upset with anyone that turns down a situation they were not scheduled to do.

Peace

[DG]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I would not have handled it that way, but it is not his obligation to work a game he was not assigned. I have "helped out" only to get the shaft in the end. This is not most of our primary job or activity. He was assigned the bases (why this is assigned I do not know) and that is what he was there to work. Now I am not for leaving the game he was scheduled, but he does have the right to say no and if he was working a college game the next day that was his right. It might not be what you want to do, but I am not going to be upset with anyone that turns down a situation they were not scheduled to do.

If it is customary ("For this league, we are supposed to split, with the Base Umpire suiting up and working the JV game.") then he needs to understand and comply with the custom. Or, he can just work his college games.

I was assigned bases for a game yesterday, but my partner called and said he injured his arm in a game earlier in the day when a catcher missed an inside pitch (he was on the way to get an XRAY to see if it was broken). He was trying to get up with our assignor to get replaced but had not gotten up with him yet. I asked him could he work bases and he said he thought he could. I told him no sweat, I will work the plate.

This guy was afraid of getting beat up in a JV game the day before a college game. I broke a finger in the first inning of the first game of a Sunday college DH two years ago and managed to complete both games and go for my XRAY on Tuesday. This guy is a chicken sh*t and I wouldn't accept any more games with him either. Why he is working college games is a big question in my mind.

[tribefan1952]

Hmm.. JRutledge makes a good point, but I suspect if the other game had been varsity, he wouldn't have raised a stink. It sounds like JV is beneath him. I was just wondering if you guys get stuck with only one ump very often, especially at the varsity/JV levels. Around here, it happens for Jr High games and occasionally for freshman games, but not varsity, unless there's a last-minute emergency. Even then, a replacement would be called in pretty quickly. Since this league had adopted an accepted procedure for splitting the umps to cover both games, it must not be that uncommon. Maybe they need to find a way to recruit more umps. (Maybe a pay raise?) It's not right to have only one ump at that level. It's not fair to the umps and it's not fair to the players.

[UmpJM]

tribefan,

After I had taken a minute to digest what he said, I also found myself in agreement with JRut's essential point. Which I understood to be that the gentleman had agreed to work a HS Varsity game as part of a 2-man crew and that he was under no obligation as a result to go work a JV game solo.

However, I found his entire attitude "unseemly" for an umpire. Besides all the BS about, "just in time", "getting beat up", "cut me a check", etc., he seems to display a complete misunderstanding of the purpose and role of the umpire in the game of baseball. I think the individual in question does not understand that...

Each umpire is the representative of the league and of ... baseball, ...

In my opinion, this individual did not represent the league, baseball, or his association very well. Plus, what an a$$hole.

JM

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by DG

If it is customary ("For this league, we are supposed to split, with the Base Umpire suiting up and working the JV game.") then he needs to understand and comply with the custom. Or, he can just work his college games.

Well there is no such custom that I am aware of where I live. In my state it is about the contract and what that contract says. If someone wants to request you to do something else, that is between you and the school. And it is your right as an umpire to not comply with something outside of that contract. This comes back to what I always say on these boards about what you do in your area might not apply somewhere else.

Originally Posted by DG

I was assigned bases for a game yesterday, but my partner called and said he injured his arm in a game earlier in the day when a catcher missed an inside pitch (he was on the way to get an XRAY to see if it was broken). He was trying to get up with our assignor to get replaced but had not gotten up with him yet. I asked him could he work bases and he said he thought he could. I told him no sweat, I will work the plate.

This guy was afraid of getting beat up in a JV game the day before a college game. I broke a finger in the first inning of the first game of a Sunday college DH two years ago and managed to complete both games and go for my XRAY on Tuesday. This guy is a chicken sh*t and I wouldn't accept any more games with him either. Why he is working college games is a big question in my mind.

Whether he was afraid or not is not the issue. I love the "manly" talk that everyone likes to display as if that proves anything. The bottom line he does not have to work a game he was not scheduled. I know I only accept certain levels of games mainly because that is what I enjoy to do. I also do not like to take certain level of games because if and when I get an opportunity at a higher level I will bail on the first game or want to give it back. I do not like to give it back or to ask, so I will not accept games lower than the levels I am used to.

Two years ago I was scheduled to work a varsity basketball game with 3 Person mechanics. I showed up early and was the first varsity official to be on site. When I walked in the door I was immediately approached by someone to work the sophomore game (prelim or JV in other areas) before my varsity game. Without much hesitation I agreed to do the game. When I showed up the game was at half time. So I run to the locker room and hurry up and get dressed to help out an official who was working by himself. I get dressed and the game is about 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. I thought they were waiting on me but I was wrong. I then run onto the court at the first opportunity and work the remainder of the game. I was also not in tune to the game or what had been called and it was clearly frustrating to the players, coaches and even me. I finish the game without much of a hitch and continued to work the varsity game that followed. Several weeks later I get the check in the mail from the school thinking I will get both checks or a significant bump in pay. They paid me only $8.50 more than what I worked for the varsity game. I called the school and I was asked them about what I was paid and why? They told me they prorated the amount because I only worked a quarter and a half of the Soph game. Well to make a long story short they sent me about $10 because I was not happy with that result.

Now this was not a baseball game where I can get hit by a ball or a bat. But it made me think how if I did pull a hamstring or turn a knee or got hurt any number of ways trying to run harder to work a 2 man game as compared to working 3 officials, who was going to pay me for my injury? If I would have lost the season or a significant part of the season would that have been worth it? I say no and I will not do that again if that is the appreciation I will be shown. Now my situation is not exactly like this case here, but it is similar in the fact I do not work many lower level games because I want to stay fresh for my varsity and college basketball games. So I think he may have had a legitimate concern because no one here was going to pay any medical bills or suffer the consequences for anything wrong that may take place. He was assigned a varsity game and if he no one showed up to work the JV game, it is not the obligation of the umpires to make it up if they do not want to.

Peace

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by tribefan1952

Hmm.. JRutledge makes a good point, but I suspect if the other game had been varsity, he wouldn't have raised a stink. It sounds like JV is beneath him.

Maybe it would have been "beneath him" but that is his right to feel that way. I know lower level umpire/officials that feel they are not ready for varsity or college ball. I do know of umpires that are not eager to move up just because they are asked. Some feel they are not ready. And if this story was turned the other way around I doubt seriously that any of us would be using the same hyperbole about this umpire.

Originally Posted by tribefan1952

I was just wondering if you guys get stuck with only one ump very often, especially at the varsity/JV levels. Around here, it happens for Jr High games and occasionally for freshman games, but not varsity, unless there's a last-minute emergency. Even then, a replacement would be called in pretty quickly. Since this league had adopted an accepted procedure for splitting the umps to cover both games, it must not be that uncommon. Maybe they need to find a way to recruit more umps. (Maybe a pay raise?) It's not right to have only one ump at that level. It's not fair to the umps and it's not fair to the players.

It happens very rare to know knowledge, at least not with the organization I work for. Having said that almost all lower level games in this part of the state are assigned with only one umpire (which I personally find as completely stupid, but that is another conversation for another day). It is unusual that most people do not show up for varsity games mainly because everyone does not get those shots. And the consequences for missing a varsity game without a very good excuse can be heavy.

Peace

[nickrego]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

I would not have handled it that way, but it is not his obligation to work a game he was not assigned. I have "helped out" only to get the shaft in the end. This is not most of our primary job or activity. He was assigned the bases (why this is assigned I do not know) and that is what he was there to work. Now I am not for leaving the game he was scheduled, but he does have the right to say no and if he was working a college game the next day that was his right. It might not be what you want to do, but I am not going to be upset with anyone that turns down a situation they were not scheduled to do.

Peace

He was assigned the bases, because we talked the day before and agreed that he would do the bases. It is customary in our association, that we alternate positions. The previous game we had worked, he had the plate, so it was my turn to do the dish.

He does not have the right to say no. It is specifically written in our employment/contractor agreement that in this type of situation, we will split, and the base umpire will take the JV game.