How many games in one weekend.....

[baldgriff]

I am a Slo Pitch ump and am working a tourney this weekend. Saturday I will start at 8:00 am and do games until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Then come back the Sunday to finish the tourney. I am guessing that those games plus the league games I do on Sunday evening I will do 20+ games.

What is the most games that you have done in one weekend?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by baldgriff

I am a Slo Pitch ump and am working a tourney this weekend. Saturday I will start at 8:00 am and do games until 9:00 or 10:00 pm. Then come back the Sunday to finish the tourney. I am guessing that those games plus the league games I do on Sunday evening I will do 20+ games.

What is the most games that you have done in one weekend?

As much as I see and hear about umpires doing that many games in a certain time period, it is too many.

Five a day with a partner, only in emergencies, is about the max. There is no way any umpire can work as many games as some claim and give 100% of their game 100% of the time.

Umpires who say they "pace" themselves are not giving the teams 100%.

JMHO,

[mcrowder]

Most I've done and still felt on top of things was 8 in a Saturday (with 3 breaks) and 5 the following Sunday (with 2 breaks). All of us were 2 on, 1 off - and the heat wasn't too bad for Texas.

Worst I've done was 14 1-hour football games with NO breaks. And 100 degrees out. It was a fundraiser, and I worked for half price. 1 guy left with sun poisoning, so the last 8 were shorthanded.

NOT fun.

[Brenda]

I agree with IRISH....you can not give the players the best you have doing that many games. However, having done the same thing to many times I can only suggest 2 on 1 off, plenty of fluids and if offered other off games take all that come your way. By around 3:00 you will find you may just have to wait for your behind to catch up to you.

[BuggBob]

21. 12 on Saturday (10 in a row, one pitch games) and then 6 more on Sunday and then 3 rec league games. I will be the first to admit that by the time my 21st game started I was done. On a 2 base hit I tripped going out towards 2nd and just sat there for about 2 minutes. I was hot and dirty and had worn the skin off of a sensitive area on my chest (remember the Elbeco shirts?).

Bugg

[CLBuffalo]

The most games in one weekend - 14 starting on a Friday evening and ending Sunday afternoon.

The most games in one day - 7 in a row and it’s happened twice.

Last year doing a SP tournament with a partner. It was scheduled that way but I didn’t know it until I got there. After the 5th game I was burning out.

Many years ago I did an ASA 12U FP state tournament and did the 7 games by myself. I don’t remember the last game but I was told I did just fine.

I will never do that again. 2 on and 1 off is the most I’ll do. Ideal would be 1 on and 1 off but I don’t think that will ever happen.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by CLBuffalo

Ideal would be 1 on and 1 off but I don’t think that will ever happen.

No, ideal is one game in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. That is ideal!

[Steve M]

Not doing slow pitch, I don't know about the intensity of those games. I do know that one limit on the number of games I can do in a day is the intensity level. I can readily do 6, maybe 7, maybe even 8 games of high school aged games in a day. For college aged games, that number drops. For men's 'C' level ball, 6, maybe 7 games in a day. For men's major, don't ask for more than 4 games in a single day. Every time that these "limits" are pushed, the performance of the umpire goes down. I don't want to short the game, short the players, or damage my reputation as an umpire by not giving everything I can in every game I work.

Mike is right - ideally it's 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 1 in the evening. But I can't afford to tie up an entier day for only 3 games. The 1 on, 1 off rotation seems to keep me pretty fresh over the course of a weekend.

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Steve M

Mike is right - ideally it's 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, and 1 in the evening. But I can't afford to tie up an entier day for only 3 games. The 1 on, 1 off rotation seems to keep me pretty fresh over the course of a weekend.

For a National Championship Final, or NCAA conference championship, fine. Generally, I dislike 1 on, 1 off; I get more fatigued in that format than 2 on, 1 off. And really hate the way you spend the whole day and seem to barely cover your expenses. Put me on 3 man rotation any day.

[Andy]

I have done 7 FP games in one day in the 2 on, 1 off format. I was beat at the end of the day, and I'm pretty sure that I was just in survival mode for that 7th game.

Ideal for me is four games in a day in a 2 on, 1 off format.

I did ten slow pitch in one day with one break several years ago, various ages nothing over 12u. At almost 53 I am getting to old to do that anymore. This year I did five 12u FP behind the plate with one break then did the final for six in one day. No one complained but I may have been bad all day so it didn’t matter. They had an IF game they wanted me to do but I went home, my legs started to go. Two on one off I think is the best. Sometimes if the sit too long you get stiff.

[SWFLguy]

Back when I was chasing a $$ I'd work up to
5 Slo-Pitch games in a tournament and triple
headers in regular season.
Now I don't even like high school FP double-headers !
One game is fun, more than that and it becomes a
part time job.

[Skahtboi]

The most that I have ever done in one day was eight. And that was far too many. I like to keep the max games that I work in one day to no more that four, though I will do five if my assignor has no other alternative.

[baldgriff]

Interesting answers.

This summer I will be doing 4 games a night 5 nights a week for a local City and Youth program. It is not uncommon when doing weekend tournament to be doing a minimum of 7 or 8 on day one and another 6+ on day 2 (I have 6 weekends already scheduled like this). One man is used typically until the quarters or semi's. Then we go to 2 man.

I know some are probably thinking, here is a guy chasing the money. Not at all. I have been umpiring for almost 20 years and I am only 39. I just love doing this.


Thanks all

[coachsara]

I just love being out there.

Most I've done in a day-slow pitch tourney...13. Fast pitch tourney...11 with no break. Its not so much about the money but more because of the lack of umpires in the area (or people deciding to throw tourneys on the same weekend as other big tourneys).

Our local league gets me 3 games (usually 1 slow 2 fast) a night 3 nights a week. We're hoping once high school ball slows down we'll get some of our regulars back.