Would turnback a game because...

[Umpire in Chief]

Okay, today I am in a really pissy mood. I'm sick, I'm tired, I have a headache from hell and have a lot of stress.

 

But I realize I am pissy today and so I've shut my office door as a signal of  leave me the hell alone. 

 

I was just thinking that luckily I do not have another game until Sunday because my tolerance for BS does not exist today. 

 

I would probably turn back any games I was assigned because I can only see trouble if I went on the field. 

 

Would you ever turn back a game if you were in such a mood?

[mstaylor]

There is nothing wrong with turning back a game when you know you have no tolerance to umpire. 

[noumpere]

I might block my calendar but if I didn't Id take the game.

 

Too, working a game might help my mood.

[DVA7130]

95% of the time umpiring actually improves my mood.

[Dragon29]

I've turned back a game because of a serious migraine-style headache, but not because of a bad attitude.

 

As noumpere suggests, I've had days when the game has improved my mood.

 

I agree w/Mike, though - if you know it's gonna be a bad thing, don't do it.

[mstaylor]

I might block my calendar but if I didn't Id take the game.

 

Too, working a game might help my mood.

I agree, many times working a game helps get me out of a bad mood. The other week I got called for a game at the last second. I forgot a means of retaining my cup so I was pissed while getting ready. Then I sat on my glasses and almost ruined them. Plus I was tight on time, so by the time I got ready to start I was in a state. By the time I got to the field I calmed down and called a great game and that included a catcher that was catching his second plate. 

[Stan W.]

Yes, I think it is a good idea............I think one of the things we dont teach well, is when to book off a game.....here is my own glaring example...

 

Championship Game COLT league Tourney....I am the plate umpire. On the way to the game it is clear to me that I am not focused on the game. I can't seem to block out the remains of the day. I know that I do not have the clearness of mind to do a good job on the plate that night.

But I was the senior man and UIC. I struggle through all 7 innings and to my best accounting I had a sub par game. My zone was loose and in retrospect, I should have either begged off the plate or booked off the game. This game taught me a hard lesson. I am not immune to being human. Job, life, wife, kids, all assert pressure and I could not "clear the mechanism"...I went home that night disatisfied with my performance and my partners offered no assistance other than the umpires lament that we all have those days...I on the other hand worry that I may have shorted some player my best efforts.....

 

I feel I am much more in tune with myself now........at a minimum, today,  I would have gotten one of my partners to do the plate

[mjr_2013]

For me, doing a game allows me to block out all of the STUPID people who piss me off, and allows me to just have fun doing what I do best, in the best sport ever.

[MidAmUmp]

I have turned back 1 series because of my mood.  I was dealing with way too much stress and the series was a "big series" which would have been intense.  I let the assigner know early that week.  I told him I'd stay on it if he needed me to, but he should expect ejection reports.  He understood and gave me the weekend off which was the best thing that could have happened.  With the weekend off I was able to regroup and ended up finishing the year strong.

 

This was for a D-II conference and I was very good friends with the assigner.  I wouldn't even think of doing it at the D-I level.  You have to know your assigner and know what, if any, repercussions could occur by turning back a game/series because of your mood.

[Jocko]

On the field is where I find my zen. When the world is crazy and swmbo is bitching. The kids are acting up and bills are past due. Dog is sick and I'm worried about everything. I step on the field and all is right with the world. If only for a few hours.

[Jesse]

On the field is where I find my zen. When the world is crazy and swmbo is bitching. The kids are acting up and bills are past due. Dog is sick and I'm worried about everything. I step on the field and all is right with the world. If only for a few hours.

Yes, to go along with that:

 

The diamond is the only place in my life where my mind can rest and just focus on the task at hand. The only thing that matters is the next pitch (or the next F-bomb)...

[umpstu]

I find that when I'm exhausted is when I have my best games. Too tired and sick to think of anything else. Slow timing.

[carolinablue]

Bam would never work if he did.

[law_reb]

I look forward to games when I am stressed.  It's the one place I can go where no one else has access to me.  Any problems of the day are left behind when I pull into the parking lot of the field.  Cell phone goes off and problems don't exist until after the post-game wrap up with my patner.   I enjoy baseball.  The game, the players, my partners, sometimes even the coaches.  I have a job that can be stressful, and deal with issues that aren't real fun sometimes.  The game is kind of an escape for me.  

[Richvee]

Agree with those who say the field is the one place I can go to forget the everyday issues we all face. When I'm having one of those days, and I have a game that night, I WANT THE PLATE!. I can zone in on the game, my mind is completely in the ballgame and life's BS takes a back seat for a few hours. If I'm have one of those days, and I've got the bases, there's much more tendency for the my mind to wonder and start thinking about those "other" things. 

[afaber12]

Given that I'm still focusing a lot before each play about what my responsibilities are, what the possible plays are, and actually making calls, so-called "real life" disappears for me while I'm umpiring. I wonder if that would still be the case when I've been umpiring for years and (like with playing after 20+ years) I know what I'm doing and what I'm going to do more instinctively rather than through conscious thought. From what I'm seeing here, maybe that'll still be the case.

 

I haven't been prepared to test it with umpiring yet, but I know playing baseball has made me feel 100% better whenever I've been recovering from an illness of some kind. I suppose as a player I've got the chance to come out of the game if I start to feel worse, whereas I really don't like the idea of coming out of the game once its started as an umpire, even if its because of something that happens in the game that couldn't be helped. (Don't worry, I'm not someone who'll act like the Black Knight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", but I won't like coming out because of it.)

 

By the way, I think medical researchers should investigate the medicinal properties of baseball. The way playing a game makes me feel when I'm sick, seems like there's got to be some place for it in treatment of the big nasties!

[Umpire in Chief]

Umpiring is a great get away from the real world in some most instances. I love it after a stressful day at work, when the kids are acting up and the like. For 3 or so hours. Everything beyond the fence disappears. No cell phone, no real worries and I am in complete control of this little world.

 

But given my mood the other day, I probably wouldn't have gone the EJ route if someone got under my skin I would have been more likely to verbally and maybe even physically torn somebody a new @$$hole.

 

But I am looking forward to my game Sunday and praying the rain holds out. Working with one of my favorite partners in what is supposed to be a good summer league playoff game and I have the dish.

[umpstu]

And remember, strikes and outs make the world go round.

[BigUmp56]

There's a big difference to me between being stressed out and being mad at the world. If I'm stressed out, I feel much the same as our brother Jocko feels about working a game or two. It can help me tune out the problems for a bit and allows me to re-establish a clearer focus on what's really important. So, I'd say there's not a chance I'd turn back an assignment based on me just being stressed.

That said, when I have those days when I'm mad at the world, it's best for everyone that I find a quiet place to be ALONE. There was a time in my life when I'd get mad and go into a bar just begging for someone to push my buttons. But after being thrown into a few jail cells, and embarrassing the Hell out of my wife and family, I learned to not go looking for trouble when I get that way. I HAVE turned back assignments in the past for situations when I get like that. It's better for me to upset an assignor for a little bit than it would be for me to be banned from a league or conference because I knocked an idiot coach on his arse.

Tim

[UMP45]

Ask yourself this, would I not go to work because I'm mad at the world, stressed out, etc.? I lokk at umpiring the same way. I have a job to do. I think it can help enhance your professionalism to be able to work the game,under control, while all your problems are still there. Just my way of thinking.

[maineump]

A bad day on the field is better than a good day at the job - that being said getting out there clears my mind and clears the bad mood. I even look forward to jacka$$ coaches - I just smile at them and think "he has no idea" how bad this day has been. Seems to push them over the top.