When Are Umps Supposed to Arrive?
 

How early before a game are umps expected or are supposed to be at a MLB Game?

Nat's game started late yesterday as the Umps were late to the park.

Now, I know a good many things can happen enroute, but, if you plan on getting there an hr or two early.....

Y! SPORTS

Just curious?

Have you ever dealt with DC traffic? :D

I was at Nats Park last night, and it took me over two hours to drive to the stadium. I live about 17 miles from there. And I left the house around 4:30 pm.

It didn't help that not only were the Nats playing, but the Miami Heat were in town to play the Wizards, the cherry blossoms are in peak, and temperatures were in the mid-90s. I saw a number of cars pulled off the road with open hoods, leading to extra rubber-necking. I should've taken the Metro, which is what I plan on doing for tonight's Hurricanes/Caps game.

I have no idea how early MLUs are required to arrive to a stadium. My guess is that it's around two hours. No surprise with what happened to this crew last night.

Actually, this is good to know as I will be at the Nats Game tonight.....and plan on driving, and leaving the same time you did. I'm no fan of the Metro. Blech. :rolleyes:

Page 1 of the MLB Umpires Manual says no later than one our prior to the scheduled starting time.

Oops. Didn't realize you were local. So you are well aware of the traffic around here. :o

Hope the weather holds out for you.

Thanks.

They were probably looking at the cherry blossoms! ;)

Took me 29 minutes!

Weather held.

Umps were on time! :p

Winner!

When Are Umps Supposed to Arrive
 

Can we extend this questions to when do most posters plan on arriving for games they are doing? Youth tournament, HS, college etc.?

This completely depends on the expectations of the assignor. Given NO expectations, I'm getting there at least 30 minutes prior for youth ball, an hour for HS - likely a bit more for college. And possibly a bit less if my partner and I have worked together often already. (that said... I'm almost ALWAYS the first one there for youth ball - even at just 30 minutes early)

Often though, there is a specific expectation by the assignor. I have one that says to get there an hour early for tourney games, but for league ball - as long as your suited up and ready to go at game time, he doesn't care (often these games are at 5:30 or 6:00 on a work day and he understands that a lot of us are dressing at work or even in the car after getting off at 5).

I have another assignor who wants you there an hour in advance come hell or high water... which really means you had better plan on being there EARLIER than that. The "grace period" you're giving yourself in many cases is to account for bad traffic, stopped by a train crossing, etc... but this particular assignor wants you to take all that into account and STILL be there an hour early.

Things vary.

High school games are all I work anymore, I get there 30-45 minutes prior to game time. I work just about every game with the same partner so we always ride to the games together. When I used to work youth games they didn't care if you showed up 5 minutes prior to game time as long as you were ready to go on time.

I don't know what I would do with the extra 30 minutes if I arrived an hour before game time.

Overkill. It's a waste of my valuable time to show up that early for a game. I have a job that requires me to be at my client's site until 5:00 pm. Requiring me to be at the game site an hour ahead of time for a 6:30 pm game would force me to change my commute on game nights so that I park at the client's site (instead of using public transportation, which is my norm) at a much greater expense to me. Given traffic here in the DC area, I'm lucky to get to most game sites 30 minutes beforehand.

What's his rationale for the one-hour requirement? Does he want you to pull out the shoe-shine kit and the travel iron to get your uniform ready? Geez...

For college games, the umpires are required to check in with the coaches an hour before the game. Sometimes they want us to rub up a dozen baseballs. Then we have a thorough pre-game, suiting up and some stretching to do. By rule, the plate meeting is conducted ten minutes before game time and since it is never a good idea to park right next to the field, there is usually a five-minute walk to the field. That hour is pretty much used up. If you show up 59 minutes before game time, you are late.

I usually try to get there an hour early, so when some sort of traffic thing happens I can still be there 30 minutes early.

The two assignors I do 95% of my work with only "require" being on the field, ready to go, 10 minutes before game time. However, they both recommend checking with the coach earlier than that.

I personally try to get to the game site 60 minutes before game time. That's a goal, it doesn't always happen. If I am working the plate, I really like the full hour. Working the bases, I just like to get there in time to have a pre-game with my partner, particularly if we have never worked together before.

I absolutely HATE having to rush to a game and arriving 10 minutes before the game and rushing onto the field. My experience has been that games tend to go bad when that happens.