stl_ump

Picture F5 playing fairly deep and as the ball hits the bag it takes a wicked bounce towards 2nd and hits R2 stealing.

Thanks for your answers. I was doing a little rules clinic for a team and one of the kids asked that and I thought that's what the answer should be but it was one of those odd, maybe never see it kind of plays, that got me thinking. Thanks again.

R2 is stealing and BR hits a line drive that bounces off 3rd and hits R2. Out? Thanks

Here, teams don't hire the umpires, our association does. For me, I do games at my association. They charge teams a set fee to play X amount of games (12?) per season and then the association budgets the umpires for those games. The lower age Rec level games get a rookie umpire and a senior / training umpire. The older / upper level travel teams get the experienced, more senior umpires. You certainly wouldn't want to put a rookie on a travel ball game and the senior umpires typically don't want to do 9 and 10u Rec ball games. Yes, you will have senior umpires that might be questionable as far as quality, but still better than throwing a 14u rooking in there. We've found that having the rookies team up with a "training" umpire goes a long way in helping the new guys to learn AND come back the next year.

Seniority / Experience SHOULD be paid differently. Why should a 1st year ump get paid the same as a guy who's been around a while and knows what he is doing?

Decent pay is one thing but as important if not more so is the backing you get (or don't) from the UIC's and other Admins. We have a very low threshold for misbehaving Coaches or parents. First ejection is a one game suspension (Rec ball or tourneys) 2nd is 5 games and after that you are gone for good. Ouch! That's a long way to go. Hopefully you use that mileage to offset you income come tax time.

Is that for any level of experience or is it a sliding scale?

I knew I left something out... this is for 8u-14u Baseball and Softball. And you can get as many games as you want staying at your "home" park. No travel necessary. A few years back I was doing 200 games plus. And it's on a 1:40 min game time with no new inning starting after time expires. So no 2:30 games because teams can't get an out.

There are about 10 athletic associations within about a 30 min drive of where I work. A lot of competition for umpires. 16 field facility with 4 fields that are turf on the infield. Rec and travel teams. Scale is $30 to $55 depending on experience. Senior training umpires get the $55 down to never-evers getting the $30. 1 1/2 pay for solo games and 1/2 pay if you are at the field when a rainout is declared. Full pay if you get 1 pitch in before the rain starts. Bonus program this year of $250 after 50 games and then $125 after each 25 games. Best part is we have a super supportive UIC who ALWAYS backs the umpires. Several very experienced senior umpires and our lead training umpire was crew chief in AAA for a couple of years. Very spoiled.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks! And on the 2nd scenario, if it wasn't strike 3, would the number of outs matter as to who is out?

2 scenarios that are similar. R2 is stealing and it's ball 4 to the batter. BR starts to head for 1st but the catcher, due to where he caught the ball, throws to 3rd and is bumped by BR going to 1st. Interference? Penalty? Similar situation but this time we have an R1 who is stealing. BR strikes out, (swinging strike three) and his momentum carries him across the plate where he gets in the way of the catcher throwing. Interference? (if so, what's the penalty?) Thanks!

And finally... any thoughts on a chest protector harness replacement? Thanks!

Regarding the mask harness, what's makes one "better" than another one? Thanks

I'm in need of a couple of ball bags. Real ones... not some knock offs. Suggestions? And as for a Mask harness... suggestions on that? Are they pretty much all the same? Thanks

Thanks!

air brush ump.mov

Playing devil's advocate here but... Fans don't come to see umpires no matter how good their mechanics are, how the got into perfect position to make the call or the way the entire crew rotated on that ball hit in the gap. I personally don't officiate to be appreciated. I do it because I enjoy baseball... and the extra $ don't hurt either. :-)

Thanks all!!

Batter sticks his knee into the strike zone and gets hit. Are there any mechanics for letting people know this happened? Or do you call time like normal and then explain what happened as needed? Thanks

That's what I was leaning towards. Thank you for the information.

Batter swings and misses, ball goes into the catcher's glove and pops straight out and on the batter's back swing, he hits it even before it hits the ground and it goes directly to the pitcher. If this would have been the 3rd strike what do we have here? Interference? Nothing? Thanks

Ha! I was thinking that sounds like Missouri weather... didn't think to see where you were from and sure enough... STL. Go Blues.

A balk? No one is on.

... and if he does deliver the ball after stopping? Then what? A no pitch? An automatic ball? Play on? ;-) Thanks