What is a reasonable time you expect to be notified for a game that's been cancelled?

[spots101]

I schedule umps for 2 youth leagues (Bronco and Pony). One of the guys who does games now and then told me, because he lives 30 minutes away, to make sure he is called in plenty of time if any games are cancelled. No problem....or at least I thought.
I was at the park in question doing a doubleheader this evening. Lightening forced us to cancel the first game and because it really looked bad we decided to forgo both games. The other league (Pony) decided to cancel their 8pm game because of the lightening. (At the time it was 6:45pm) Because of this ump's previous request, I immediately called his house. He was playing a softball game so I told his wife of the cancellation. She said she would try to contact him as there was no other way of getting ahold of him.
Later that night he was rather adamant about wanting to get paid for the game. He thinks he should get paid because: #1 He thinks the game should've been played anyway because when he got there the weather was fine. #2 It's not his fault there was no way of getting ahold of him. #3 He thinks someone should've gotten ahold of him sooner.
I feel as though I notified him in plenty of time (1 hour and 15 minutes) and I know not everyone has a cellphone but this man owns his own business. There could have been a multitude of reasons why a game is cancelled. The reason for the game (or games) being cancelled is not the issue at hand. Just east of us there were 2 coaches who were struck by lightening after all players were ordered off the field. They went on the field to see if it was playable (after the rain had stopped) and were both hit. One strike was fatal. So as you can see everyone is a bit cautious around here.
But I digress. This guy is a good ump and I too would want to be called in plenty of time but I personally think he is being unreasonable about this. I would like your opinions about any part of this situation. The president of the league told me that if he thinks he should get paid pay him and never use him again.
How do high schools or any other leagues handle cancellations in your area? Are there any written or unwritten rules about how far in advance one should notify an ump for a cancellation? What timeframe is reasonable in your opinion? Thanks.

[GarthB]

Regards high school: In my association it is our responsibility to call in and check with the office or AD two hours prior to game time if the conditions appear "iffy". If we are told that the game is on, we get paid whether it is or not when we get there. If we do not call, we do not get paid if the game is cancelled prior to start time.

I also assign Bronco, Mustang, Pony and Colt. My policy with my umpires in those leauges: If I notify an umpire two hours prior to the game of a cancellation, he gets no fee. If there is no notification and the umpire shows up and finds the game cancelled, he gets half a game fee. If the game starts and is suspended, he gets a full game fee.

Cancelling the game prior to start time is the responsibility of the coaches and commissioners. They are aware of my policy and are responsibile for the fees, so they do their best to notify me of cancellations as soon as feasible.

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by spots101 [/i]


I echo Garths comments. In addition, as long as the assignor calls; either left a message on the the answering machine, talked to your wife , kids or any other method of communication, serves as notice and if you show up - No FEE.

IMO, you should have a WRITTEN CONTRACT that spells all of this out. In both HS and summer ball we have written contracts. We also have a summer meeting in which the assignor goes over the FEE structure for all the leagues we service and the conditions of the contract.

You said one hour and 15 minutes, IMO that's not enough time. Most associations as Garth pointed out use the 2 hour differential. In my area for summer ball we use one hour and a half.

In addition, while you didn't mention it, IMO you should also have a clause that outlines the FEE structure when the umpires do show, but there is no game because the team does not have enough players or a team doesn't show - that's different then when a game is cancelled to do outside factors.

Summary: I strongly recommend that you have a written contract spelling this all out and have a meeting with your umpires to go over this, so that there is no confusion.

Pete Booth

[Jerry]

Under normal circumstances, we use a 2-hour time limit for notifying umpires regarding cancelled games. But there are extenuating circumstances when that advance notice can't be given. Weather and field conditions, for example. If the field deteriorates to an unplayable condition, or if lighting erupts just prior to game time . . . obviously there's no way to notify the officials, or the teams for that matter. If the decision was made to cancel the game at 1-1/2 hours before the contest and there's no way to contact the official, the umpire is out of luck in my opinion.

Best efforts were made but the league has no control over Acts of God. Let's assume for the moment you didn't "pre-cancel" that game . . . and blue shows up. If it begins lightning and storming before a pitch is thrown . . . and the game needs to be rescheduled, he wouldn't get paid then either. In this case, since he told you previously it takes him a half hour to get to the site and you tried calling him at his phone number of record before he would have left home anyhow, I wouldn't give him squat.

Jerry

[Marty Rogers]

Jerry:

In my area, umpires get 1/2 fee if not called
and hour and a half in advance of game time, and they show up at the field. This goes for acts of God or anybody else.
It would be up to the umpire to check answering machines, etc., if he doesn't have a cell phone.
If assignors/leagues had your attitude, the umps here would be saying, "see ya later," and such leagues would have "squat" for umpires.

Full fee if one pitch is thrown. No umpiring
practices (forfeited games).

[brandda]

If this guy is a good umpire as you say and you don't have any of this spelled out in writing, then I would go ahead and pay him this time (not worth the bad feelings), but tell him that he has to get a cel phone or pager so that he can be reached in the future.

Next, write your rules down and make everyone sign their agreement as a condition to working your league. Then you don't have to worry about this.

BTW - You also might want to consider a call in number where cancellations will be posted so that they can check for themselves. That's what we use.

[bluezebra]

I don't care if he's the best umpire in the Western Hemisphere. He doesn't deserve to be paid. HE asked for 30 minutes, he was given 75. He was playing a softball game before coming to the game. Totally unprofessional. What happens if he's hurt and can't ump? Will he pay the assignor, or the league? He should of told his wife to contact him if there was a cancellation while he was playing (which he shouldn't have been). It's not the assignor's job to trace this clown down. And it's not his business that the game(s) was cancelled.

He's concerned only with himself, and to me, he's a royal A... I not only would NOT pay him, it'll snow in Death Valley (at ground level) in August before he worked for me again.

Bob

[Matt S.]

Spots...if I am reading your story right, you live in the Buffalo Grove Area-I'm from Northbrook, and have done games here for 9 years...

No way, no chance, don't pay him-we both know how lightning works in our neck of the woods-anyways, he should be the first one to pick up a rescheduled game, which would compensate for the lost game.

Now if you never called anyone at all, we'd have a different story, but you did all you can do.

[joemoore]

I've done it for nothing and for half a fee. I prefer getting half a fee than nothing. At leat that covers his time for driving there.

[spots101]

I just have a few questions (and a big thank you) for those of you who replied.

First of all, GarthB (or anyone else who would like to answer). In dealing with cancellations, do your coaches notify you and then you notify the ump or do you give the coaches the numbers (and names) of the umps and they notify them directly? Is it customary to give out the home numbers of the umps or is that best kept private? There are 2 reasons why I ask that question. One being basic privacy and the other being the fact that I searched the website of our high school association for those names, which took me a lot of time, of local umps and made the contacts myself. I have also aquired names by word of mouth. Do you look at the list of umps you have as yours or is it really not that big a deal?

Matt S. The interesting thing about what you said is that I did offer him the same game, which was moved to the next night and became part of a doubleheader. I thought I was being thoughtful but the first thing out of his mouth was "Am I gonna get paid?" It kinda ticked me off seeing as how I felt bad that his game was cancelled. To make a long story short, he was scheduled to do a DH last night in the other league and didn't show up.

My last question and then I'll drop this whole thing. Would it be possible to obtain a copy of a few contracts from those of you who assign umps so that I could formulate a contract of my own? Or is that a privacy thing too?

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by spots101

In dealing with cancellations, do your coaches notify you and then you notify the ump or do you give the coaches the numbers (and names) of the umps and they notify them directly?

In the association I belong to the coaches call the assignor who calls us.

The biggest reason for this is that coaches do not know if a change has been made, only the assignor knows this, so if the coaches were to call the umpire for a cancellation they could be calling the wrong umpire.

It's not really a privacy issue but one of practicality.

Pete Booth

[GarthB]

sports101:

The coaches and/or the league commissioners call me and I contact the umpires. It would not do well for the umpires to respond to multiple supervisors, and since I keep records of who worked where when for the payroll, I have to be in the loop.

GB

[Jerry]

Paid umpires are by IRS definition, Independent Contractors, whether they belong to an association or not. Personally, I'm listed in the Michigan High School Athletic Association (by my request)although most (not all) of those assignments are from a local assignor. Summer FED ball usually come from my assignor in a different association, but my phone number and address is listed on the Federation League directory so coaches can call me directly. In those instances, the contract is a verbal one. Lastly, I get referrals from other coaches and umpires who also contact me directly to officiate games.

The only contracts I use are for those MHSAA contests where I contract directly with the AD of the applicable High School.

As far as privacy goes . . . if you want to get games, you'll need some method for coaches and associations to contact you.

Jerry