Was it a groundhog or a woodchuck?
A running thread of local umpire frustration
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I’m not making that call from 60 feet away…
Woodchucks went out in the early 80s. It was a compositechuck
Is it a lot of extra work when you work games by yourself? Why would you deserve time and a half?
Think of it from the other perspective. Your customer, ie... the teams playing. They are getting the short end of the stick and getting an inferior product when they get a one person crew. Why should they pay almost as much as they would for a 2 person crew?
- Jan 22, 2011
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To fairly call and have a reasonable chance of only blowing a couple calls a game as a single umpire, you need to do a heck of a lot of hustling. Especially at 12u and above. It isn't fair to the players to have only one umpire, so an umpire deserves a little extra for making that effort. With having to show up ~20 minutes before games, I am barely getting minimum wage in my town for doing plate, and making about half minimum wage doing base.
It's gotten a lot better since, but 5 or 6 years ago in my area a lot of the JV games were only getting one umpire and at the public HS's a few Varsity games were only getting one umpire. I don't have visibility on how Covid impacts umpire availability this year.
My first game goes towards my insurance and I think I have to pay for my own background check.
The rec league I do 4-8 games a spring for as an emergency backup when a game willn't be played if I don't step up has a goal of having two umpires for every game at 10u and above. I would prefer not to umpire, but as a past president, I feel an obligation to ump when contacted. They have done better the past two years, but they don't cover every game with two umpires, due to lack of umpires.
Back 15-17 years ago 2 or 3 coaches would be willing every year would step and cover a few games for walking around money. I am the newest adult umpire/coach for the league, and my DD hasn't played in this league since 2017. The next newest adult umpire's DD hasn't played in the league since 2014 or 2015. Counting me, 3 of the adult umpires are former presidents. The UIC has been UIC at least 8 years since 1994 and most every year since has volunteered in some capacity in the league and done a few games every year. He doesn't get paid for scheduling umpires, watches a few games a week for free as quality control, and only schedules himself when no other umpires are available.
I think I get $45 a game solo, $40 with a partner. Base umpire is usually a youth umpire who I think gets $20 a game. I don't refuse the money because it gives me a little walking around money, plus it helps pay a small part of my DD's fees. Also towards buying gear if I am crazy enough to do some travel ball and High school games once my DD graduates HS.
If I have time, I occasionally do bases for free for an adult umpire for 14u.
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yes
go on...........
Without providing a lengthy treatise on 1 man mechanics, I'll just say, you move more. About 1.5 times more (and yes, I have quantified it - I put my smart watch in my pocket for games, it tracks steps).
Well, if you have a 2 person job at your work, now all the sudden you are doing all the work yourself, wouldn't you like to be paid more?
It's an interesting discussion. You should be paid more if it entails more work IMO. The teams will ask "Are you putting out the same level of quality product that you would if it were a 2 man crew?".
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