Another bad decision
 

Ala. umpire arrested and accused of being drunk during game | | USA Today High School Sports

Apparently he was putting vodka in his Gatorade. And yes, he was arrested on the field during the game.

A few years ago when I was still living up in northern VA and having dinner at home with my UIC, I got a call from my association's president. He said, "Manny, I need for you to go to XYZ HS and do the plate for the varsity game against ABC HS. Don't want to go into details, but our assignor screwed up and left about five games completely uncovered!" I replied, "What time does it start?" He said, "6:30 pm." It was already about 6:20 pm, and the school was 20 minutes away.

Problem was, I was already on my second glass of wine. I took off to the school and got to the field fully dressed out by about 6:50. By "fully dressed out," I mean protective gear, uniform, and about three pieces of gum in my mouth. The coaches were standing by the backstop pissed off enough that nobody showed up in time; the last thing I wanted was to smell of wine while doing the plate meeting.

We had to wait another ten minutes or so for my partner to show up; they refused to start the game with just one umpire. When he did, he just went straight to the A and we got started. After the end of the T1, my partner came over to me and said, "Shit, I was on my third beer!"

For multiple years, I have enjoyed the camaraderie with a certain group of umpires at a well known western state over the July 4 weekend; quite a few have frequented this board over the years. It is a huge week-long event, and "stuff" happens.

Our coordinator (who will remain nameless for an obvious reason) generally includes as part of his pre-tournament umpire spiel that he considers it a two beer state; in other words, unless you have drank 3 or more, you are expected to go back out on the field if contacted, and not use the excuse.

Especially since most of the beer sold in that state is 3.2

Didn't take long to work out those details. In that state, grocery stores and convenience stores sell 3.2; package goods and bars/restaurants full strength.