One man crew

[TStokes97]

I found out i will be doing a game alone this week, happy to do it just a bit lost its 15U which around here is full on mlb rules and the kids can hit/play so its a "real" game, I currently debating 3 ways to handle the game here they are below, which should i do? 1) Umpire from behind homeplate alone 2) umpire alone from behind the mound 3) ask for a parent volunteer to cover some infield for me. Please help!?

[noumpere]

Use option 1.

 

Don't even think about options 2 and 3.

[jjb]

Agree. Remember your priorities (in this order):

 

1. Fair/foul

2. Catch/no catch

3. safe/out

4. everything else

[MooseLoop]

Got to be behind the plate.  Inexperienced, untrained base umps are much worse than no base ump at all.  Just got out from behind the plate and make the best calls you can based on what you perceive.  Not that hard, really.  And don't dwell on calls that they did not want to pay a base ump for.

[grayhawk]

Use option 1.

 

Don't even think about options 2 and 3.

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

 

Get out there, hustle your tail off, read the play and get in the best position to make your calls.  Angle over distance is even more critical when you are solo.  But if you can get there, then get there.  With no runners and a double or a triple, you should be making calls at the cutout of that base, not from the vicinity of the plate area.

 

If you get out there and hustle, then you earn the right to not get your calls questioned when you are forced to make a call from a distance.  If you hang out at the plate all day, then you open yourself up for whining.

[KLAH316]

Do it alone from behind the plate..... I do ALOT of 1-man around here this time of year and it would be so much worse with a non-umpire helping out. 

 

1.  Strike/Ball

2.  Fair/Foul

3.  Catch/No-catch

4.  Safe/out.

 

On any groundball to the infield, get out from behind the plate about halfway to the mound and get a good angle on 1B. 

Hit to the outfield, get out past the mound and be ready for a play at 2B. 

 

Like everyone else said, "HUSTLE" and get the angles.  Most coaches won't complain too much since your flying solo.  If they do, a stern look usually does it.

 

Good luck!

[JaxRolo]

1

[MPLSMatt]

One man is common in a lot of places, and not as difficult as people make it out to be. Hustle your butt off - coaches will often see that and appreciate your effort.  Also, remember Angle>Distance.  

[SJA]

Do it from behind the plate . . . but you better hide your elbows & arms!!

:-)

[TStokes97]

I do one man in 10U often but here we have too few umps that day to staff this game how they should, Is it ok to get help if I see a guy I know is an ump in the stands?

[grayhawk]

I do one man in 10U often but here we have too few umps that day to staff this game how they should, Is it ok to get help if I see a guy I know is an ump in the stands?

 

Not a good idea.  You were assigned the game solo, so work it solo.  If you bring someone in from the bleachers and he screws the pooch, then it's on you.  Solo on the big field is no big deal.  We do it all the time here.

[Sayhey]

Stand strong and refuse to work 1 man.

There is no such thing as a 1 man umpire crew

Who is going to buy you a beer after the game?

Are you going to buy yourself a beer?

Just kidding, but not about 1 man.

90 percent of our varsity games are 3-man

J.V. is 2 man and the game does not start with 1 man. If we have a no show(highly unlikely) we get on the phone and find an umpire to complete the 2-man crew. This is the case at every level

Park and recs tried to get us to work 10 yrs. 1 msn and we gently refused. Park and rec immediately found money for 2 umpires. When you work 1 man you are taking a paycheck out of an umpire's pocket. Stand together as a group and be respectful but simply refuse to work 1 man

If the problem is lack of umpires I suggest recruiting and a higher pay scale to entice men to become umpires. We are fortunate, we have state championship umpires willing to work 10 yrs. ball

Some associations only have a small pool to choose from because a lot of umpires refuse to work low level games and I understand that

No such thing as a 1 man crew. It is unheard of in our area. We had a coach call late last week

I searched high and low for two umpire but could only find 1, so no crew was sent. They plYed with volunteer umpires(fathers).

[BigUmpire]

Don't do it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grayhawk]

There is no such thing as a 1 man umpire crew

 

I assure you, this is not the case.  In fact, your statement is in direct conflict with the rules in both OBR and Fed:

 

OBR:  9.03 ( a ):  If there is only one umpire, he shall have complete jurisdiction in administering the rules. He may take any position on the playing field which will enable him to discharge his duties (usually behind the catcher, but sometimes behind the pitcher if there are runners). He shall be considered umpire-in-chief.

 

Fed:  10-1-3: If there is only only umpire, he has complete jurisdiction in administering the rules and he may take any position he desires, preferably behind the catcher.

 

If working solo is unheard of where you live, then good for you.  But realize that what's customary for you is not necessarily the norm where others live and giving advice based solely on your region's preferences is not likely to be helpful.  Honestly, I don't get the "United We Stand!" mentality of so many with respect to working solo.  It's just a kid's game - not the major leagues.  Come on down to SoCal with your mentality and I promise that the only thing you'd be working on Saturday is your wife's "honey do" list because you wouldn't be getting any games.

[guyinaredhat]

Sayhey what HS group does 3 man for 90% of its games . Hell Our JuCo group does about 90 % 2 man .

I need to go work in your area .

[Sayhey]

We are in southern Oregon. We are top heavy with college umpires in a high school group

We like 3-man. It is interesting.

I did not mean 1 man does not exist or was not used when baseball began. Most games only had 1 umpire in the big inning (joke) I was at Cooperstown last summer and there is an umpire exhibit. It is 2014 and no umpire should be put in a position to work alone.i have strong feelings about it.

[Sayhey]

Grayhawk, I have seen the united we stand strategy work. We do not have 12 million people in our Valley so out volume of games is minuscule compared to yours. We also do not have millions of potential umpires to recruit and train. I stand by my statement and I believe it serves every umpire in America to listen to me

Refuse to work one man and your local area will change and stop assigning one man to a 3 man job. It is unfair and unnecessary. Are you telling me that a valley with 12 million people can not find and or train umpires so every game has a 2 man crew or better? Full disclosure would let you know that we split a 2 man fee 3 ways and have done so for 15 years. We do not umpire for money. We do it for the challenge and fun.

We spend most of our check on pizza and beer after the game. I count myself blessed to work high school ball 3-man. It is a lot of fun

Side note Billy Haze's 3- man clinic in Sacramento is great.the plate umpire and 1st base umpire from yesterday's Kentucky vs Kansas game were instructors at the camp last Nov. Benches emptied in that game. Billy Joe Speck and Scott Higgins did a great job of game management. You can attend the camp and then go back to your high school association and tell them you want to try 3-man. You will like it.

[TStokes97]

Stand strong and refuse to work 1 man.

There is no such thing as a 1 man umpire crew

Who is going to buy you a beer after the game?

Are you going to buy yourself a beer?

Just kidding, but not about 1 man.

90 percent of our varsity games are 3-man

J.V. is 2 man and the game does not start with 1 man. If we have a no show(highly unlikely) we get on the phone and find an umpire to complete the 2-man crew. This is the case at every level

Park and recs tried to get us to work 10 yrs. 1 msn and we gently refused. Park and rec immediately found money for 2 umpires. When you work 1 man you are taking a paycheck out of an umpire's pocket. Stand together as a group and be respectful but simply refuse to work 1 man

If the problem is lack of umpires I suggest recruiting and a higher pay scale to entice men to become umpires. We are fortunate, we have state championship umpires willing to work 10 yrs. ball

Some associations only have a small pool to choose from because a lot of umpires refuse to work low level games and I understand that

No such thing as a 1 man crew. It is unheard of in our area. We had a coach call late last week

I searched high and low for two umpire but could only find 1, so no crew was sent. They plYed with volunteer umpires(fathers).

well our 10U we do alone because there is no stealing only goes on passed balls and most backstops are way to close to go then, there is no general "lack of umps" we have twice the number of games then usual and many are out of town, as for taking a paycheck from an umpire by doing one man in 10U leagued here would sooner go without umps then pay 2 for 10U then we all go out of work as for beer or in my case post game root beer here you shake hands say good work maybe if an umps young you exchange some advice no post game festivities here, unfortunately

[TStokes97]

Don't do it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And that would mean getting canned by the 1 of 2 leagues/assignors I work for, and this one pays twice the other(I do that one because its coaches are very friendly, and they have issues finding umpires so I help them out)

[BigUmpire]

Understood.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jocko]

@Sayhey - "We do not umpire for money."

True. But I won't LOSE money just for the sake of calling 3 man. Once in awhile? Sure. But I drive sometimes hundreds of miles for games and I figure $ into the equation on whether or not to accept these distant assignments. We struggle to keep an even keel as far as HS game fees go. Why would I give part of that away just to work 3 man? I agree it's fun. I thoroughly enjoy it, but, at the end of the game, I earned my full fee. I don't spend mine on pizza n beer, either. I buy quality gear/uniforms and these items are quite expensive. Plus, I like taking extravagant vacations, which baseball pays for. I'd MUCH rather go back to Australia than work 3 man for a cut rate.

Just one world traveling umpire's opinion.

[TStokes97]

Grayhawk, I have seen the united we stand strategy work. We do not have 12 million people in our Valley so out volume of games is minuscule compared to yours. We also do not have millions of potential umpires to recruit and train. I stand by my statement and I believe it serves every umpire in America to listen to me

Refuse to work one man and your local area will change and stop assigning one man to a 3 man job. It is unfair and unnecessary. Are you telling me that a valley with 12 million people can not find and or train umpires so every game has a 2 man crew or better? Full disclosure would let you know that we split a 2 man fee 3 ways and have done so for 15 years. We do not umpire for money. We do it for the challenge and fun.

We spend most of our check on pizza and beer after the game. I count myself blessed to work high school ball 3-man. It is a lot of fun

Side note Billy Haze's 3- man clinic in Sacramento is great.the plate umpire and 1st base umpire from yesterday's Kentucky vs Kansas game were instructors at the camp last Nov. Benches emptied in that game. Billy Joe Speck and Scott Higgins did a great job of game management. You can attend the camp and then go back to your high school association and tell them you want to try 3-man. You will like it.

Here we have 50 umps, 30 games daily we can't spare a 2nd for 10U its not feasible to send 2 as were not all available every night and its unnecessary we rarely have close plays maybe 1 per 3 games the one man can do it, at least in 10U but 12U or higher get 2 but sometimes 1 man is all we can send its sad, even worse though that the youngest ump(me) is the guy going solo for 12U its unfair to the players to overmatch umpires 10U is very different its easy for one guy, but 12U its much too difficult

[Sayhey]

I work travel ball. Parents pay $750 for son to be on team. Then they have hotel and food bills

Assigning 1 man to a game like that would not work parents and coaches would not stand for it

As far as the paycheck issue- my view is that if you refuse to work one man you open up a spot for another umpire to work and he gets paid

He can buy more gear and tip the waitress at the pub and stimulate the economy. People will take advantage of you if you let them. In my opinion if you work one man you are allowing someone to take advantage of you. We are very big on partner loyalty. If I worked one man I would be lost without a partner. No partner to call the night before. No partner to ask about a check swing

I have no partner going out on a trouble ball. No partner to drink beer or root beer with after the game. Our group is very social. If I worked one man I would need to but myself a beer and talk to myself at the pizza parlor. I've worked 21 years and never even heard of 1-man til I got on this site. So, good for me and good for everyone who stands up for themselves and refuses to work one man. It may be kids baseball but when they pay $750 to be on the team and parents are buying hotels and food on the road it is not child's play

[TStokes97]

@Sayhey - "We do not umpire for money."

True. But I won't LOSE money just for the sake of calling 3 man. Once in awhile? Sure. But I drive sometimes hundreds of miles for games and I figure $ into the equation on whether or not to accept these distant assignments. We struggle to keep an even keel as far as HS game fees go. Why would I give part of that away just to work 3 man? I agree it's fun. I thoroughly enjoy it, but, at the end of the game, I earned my full fee. I don't spend mine on pizza n beer, either. I buy quality gear/uniforms and these items are quite expensive. Plus, I like taking extravagant vacations, which baseball pays for. I'd MUCH rather go back to Australia than work 3 man for a cut rate.

Just one world traveling umpire's opinion.

I wouldn't go free but I don't ump for money I do it for fun its why I am willing to help one league which under pays, because their coaches make it fun really, they don't yell at umps, after a foul nearly hits them they fake limbo, after asking if they are properly equipped a coach yells "Cup Check!" Everyone hits them self and an assistant yells "ow!" Fakes falling over, they make it fun and pay me enough to buy gear and buy pizza now and again to thank my parents for driving, sure they dont pay as much as my other league but the game style is worth the cut

[TStokes97]

I work travel ball. Parents pay $750 for son to be on team. Then they have hotel and food bills

Assigning 1 man to a game like that would not work parents and coaches would not stand for it

As far as the paycheck issue- my view is that if you refuse to work one man you open up a spot for another umpire to work and he gets paid

He can buy more gear and tip the waitress at the pub and stimulate the economy. People will take advantage of you if you let them. In my opinion if you work one man you are allowing someone to take advantage of you. We are very big on partner loyalty. If I worked one man I would be lost without a partner. No partner to call the night before. No partner to ask about a check swing

I have no partner going out on a trouble ball. No partner to drink beer or root beer with after the game. Our group is very social. If I worked one man I would need to but myself a beer and talk to myself at the pizza parlor. I've worked 21 years and never even heard of 1-man til I got on this site. So, good for me and good for everyone who stands up for themselves and refuses to work one man. It may be kids baseball but when they pay $750 to be on the team and parents are buying hotels and food on the road it is not child's play

I work local travel its $200 here to play and people struggle sometimes for that we lack funds and man power to double up in 10U

[Jocko]

@Sayhey - for the record, I don't work one man either. The only level that uses 1 man is coach pitch 8u. And, IMO, one umpire on that field is one too many. But I will gladly work those games if I get assigned to them. Easy $35 @ hour.

I hear what you're saying, and I don't necessarily disagree. But you are more fortunate than some of the other guys on here who do work one man. And if they refused, they'd just get scratched and another guy would work one man. Suddenly, the refuser finds that his phone isn't ringing and he's getting fewer and fewer games.

Remember, we are independent contractors. There's always someone else willing to work if you're not. I'd be slow to draw lines in the sand.