Moving Someplace With More Baseball
 

I am thinking about moving. I live in Central Illinois and needless to say the baseball season is short. I have to squeeze a years worth of games into 4 months. I hear there are places where one can umpire all year or almost. I can work from just about anywhere when I am not umpiring.


Does anyone out there have any suggestions on where to move. I would like someplace that not only has a long baseball season but also has a need for umpires so I could jump right in with a busy schedule.

I have family in Las Vegas but they don't know what the umpiring situation is there. I can find associations on the web but would prefer some first hand accounts if anyone has the time and inclination to share.

Thanks.

I'm just going to go out and say it...

You're making a major life decision based on a hobby?

I doubt his hobby is the only consideration involved in this decision. He's already indicated that his profession affords him incredibly flexibility. Assuming uprooting his family isn't a concern, why not?

If your passion was surfing, and your other major commitments didn't tie you to the heartland, wouldn't you consider moving to somewhere with a beach? ;)

Oahu, HI - I'd probably rather live on the Big Island, or maybe the back end of Maui, but there's plenty of baseball on Oahu.

Carlsbad, CA - Every type of ball, all year round. Right on the coast, and an easy shot up to Orange County for more. Plus, you won't get island fever. Perfect weather, plus everything but winning professional sports teams.

Cuba.

I concur with Kyle. Carlsbad is a great area in North County. Expensive, but you won't run out of baseball or outdoor activities. The play baseball year round all over San Diego County. If you don't like the weather there all you have to do is wait six months and it will change. Plus you can become a Padres fan. Lord knows they need them.

Well,
 

Because you are a fake, it doesn't really matter but:

"Archie 56" lives in Galveston, Tx -- he selects not to work on Christmas Day . . . that is his ONLY "off day" each year . . . go for it if you got the guts.

T

Revisiting his previous 38 posts, I can see how one could reach that concluson.

Matt, do you characterize your officiating as a hobby...because I don't. For me I treat it like the job it is...most people don't get paid for their hobby. I take my officiating very seriously and I am a bit offended that you called it a hobby!

Sorry to be so offensive, but it's just a hobby for me too. I mean, it's just a game, for gosh sake.

Now, when I'm on the field, I take my responsibilities seriously. I dress well, and act professionally. All the while realizing it's a game, played mostly by kids.

Perhaps taking into account what I do in my nine to five, umpirng is not that important in the big scheme of things. But everyone leads a different life, and things take a different priority to each individual. I know guys who's whole life revolves around umpring baseball games. That's cool. For me, it's down a ways on my list. Down in the hobby division with golf, riding motorcycles, and playing my Stratocaster really LOUD. Just because I get a few bucks to umpire doesn't bump it up the list any.

That said, I actually moved closer to where my bicycle racing team was headquarted years ago. So I guess my hobby influenced my choice of where to move. Good thing it was near the coast in San Diego, so when I retired from that hobby I was in a great spot.

Phoenix, AZ.

Year round ball and some pretty good stuff too, from what I understand.
I don't do baseball, just FP softball, but several umpires that I know do both.

Plenty of work all year round, just hotter than h*ll in the summer....

~Sigh~
 

So be offended.

Unless you offficiate sports @ the professional level (players) then it is defined basically as a hobby.

We can be professionally trained, 100% committed, and work the highest level of non-professional baseball -- it is STILL a hobby.

People here take umpiring very seriously . . . trust me I know a lot of them . . . but taking something seriously DOES NOT make it more than it is . . . a hobby.

I retired from umpiring last year and I have a new "hobby." I take professional classes, I go to professional workshops, I use professional resources to get places to be active in my hobby.

Oh yeah, I make a bout $2,000 a month doing my hobby (never made that much umpiring) . . .

But in the end, while I still keep my day job, this new activity will still be only a hobby.

To think it is anything else boarders on being pretentious.

At least that is MY opinion.

T

Thank you
 

Thank you to those of you that have responded thus far.

Umpiring is to me, somewhere between a hobby and a part time job. I started a number of years ago, but didn't really understand how little I knew until about four years ago when I discovered this forum. I like to think I have learned a lot from reading posts and responses for four years. I know I still have a long way to go.

In the area I am in there is no centralized association and no training. The training I have received is by going to clinics and camps hours away from home. The skill level varies widely and the rules knowledge is, in general, horrible.(with some notable exceptions) My current work schedule keeps me out of most high school games, so I have made a "career" out of travel teams and fall ball. The travel teams here start playing evening double headers in April and the weekend tournaments start then also. I can leave work and go to the field and work a double header instead of taking off early and working a single high school game. On the weekends there is enough of an umpire shortage that most of us working the tournament do 8-14 games between Fri, Sat and Sun. The tournaments range from 13U-18U

As I have gotten to know the local travel teams and organizations I have taken over assigning duties for their umpires. The last couple of years I have supplied umpires for a few hundred games each season. The "official" high school games are all contracted through the individual athletic directors as there is no association running things.

My goal if I stay in this area is to develop an association to cover all the games and also actually provide training and evaluation but that is still a long road involving many other people.

I have recently completed training in Lean Six Sigma and will be getting an ASQ certification. This will allow me a lot more flexibility in my job. So I have considered moving to a warmer climate where I can pursue my hobby more often and have people around me that will help me improve more than I ever can by staying here.

I am not basing a major life decision on my hobby, but incorporating something that is a large part of my life already into the decision, while also taking into account all the other important factors.

As far as Tee and Mr. Umpire, I am not sure what I have said or done in the past (I have not gone back and reread my past posts) to suggest that I am a fake. I understand the futility of trying to prove anything on a forum, but I am happy to provide any information that anyone would like to dispel that assumption. JJ is in my neck of the woods and with very little effort could check out my claims.

I have come to respect the knowledge and skills and approach of many of the regular posters on the board and hope to continue to learn from them. It is a little disheartening that I have done something to create the impression that I am not genuine, but, apparently that is the case.

Again thank you for those that have responded and hopefully those that will still respond. I will start looking into options available in the locations mentioned and contacting associations and organizations to find out the situations there.

I think Phoenix would be the place.. or FL..Phoenix is a very big city, Tuscan is less than 2 hours away. good weather for 9 months, ( then hell comes..LOL) .

I think you can do it.. if you love to umpire that much, Heck I have a College fall ball game today..LOL then do it.

You could pick up a different sport for the fall / winter. I find it keeps me "fresher" for spring / summer baseball than when I also did fall baseball.