Plans Broken

[zoops]

One thing I've often thought of but never really had it become a big issue (except for yesterday when my fishing trip got delayed by a 7 inning game that took 3 hours) 

Let's say you're scheduled for a Saturday game at Noon and you need to be somewhere at 6 (another job, a friend's wedding, dinner with visiting family, whatever).  Game plays a couple innings and then is delayed by rain and when the rain quits they say "we're going to work on the field for a couple hours and then re-start the game."  Well, what do you do?  Are you expected to sit at the field all day for $50?  Do you not schedule a game if you have plans for later in the day that can't be broken?  I can see not cutting it close or umpiring on days where you have once-in a lifetime events that you need to be at (your child's wedding, etc), but it seems a bit unreasonable to be expected to have to commit to being there the whole day.  In our area umpires are in pretty short supply so there's almost no way you'd be able to get a replacement on that short of notice.  It kind of also stinks that you almost have to plan as if your whole day is taken up by a game that should take 2-3 hours and doesn't pay much.  I think this is one of the biggest reasons in our area anyway that we have dozens of basketball officials and struggle to get a dozen guys to do baseball - you never know how long you're going to be there.  

[UmpJeff]

One thing I've often thought of but never really had it become a big issue (except for yesterday when my fishing trip got delayed by a 7 inning game that took 3 hours) 

Let's say you're scheduled for a Saturday game at Noon and you need to be somewhere at 6 (another job, a friend's wedding, dinner with visiting family, whatever).  Game plays a couple innings and then is delayed by rain and when the rain quits they say "we're going to work on the field for a couple hours and then re-start the game."  Well, what do you do?  Are you expected to sit at the field all day for $50?  Do you not schedule a game if you have plans for later in the day that can't be broken?  I can see not cutting it close or umpiring on days where you have once-in a lifetime events that you need to be at (your child's wedding, etc), but it seems a bit unreasonable to be expected to have to commit to being there the whole day.  In our area umpires are in pretty short supply so there's almost no way you'd be able to get a replacement on that short of notice.  It kind of also stinks that you almost have to plan as if your whole day is taken up by a game that should take 2-3 hours and doesn't pay much.  I think this is one of the biggest reasons in our area anyway that we have dozens of basketball officials and struggle to get a dozen guys to do baseball - you never know how long you're going to be there.  

NO.  If it's that long and they're dead-set on finishing it out, I'll say you need to find another umpire before it resumes because I have a firm, prior commitment.  Let the record reflect I don't do this for the money.  But, my time is more valuable than that...waiting 2 hours to re-start a game.  

As an umpire, if the field is so unplayable that they need a couple hours to groom it, I'm ending the game.  It's up to the teams to re-schedule.

[Nafxos]

We're paid by the game, and the game has no clock.  It ends when it ends.

If a game was in the 15th inning would you leave because you had something else you wanted to do?

That said, I agree with UmpJeff that if the field needs 2 hours to be worked on, I'm just calling the game.

[ElkOil]

I agree that it's unreasonable, however, that's the way the cookie crumbles in my association.  We're committed regardless.  Having said that, we can call our assigner and ask if he can find a replacement, but there are no guarantees.

[UmpJeff]

We're paid by the game, and the game has no clock.  It ends when it ends.

If a game was in the 15th inning would you leave because you had something else you wanted to do?

That said, I agree with UmpJeff that if the field needs 2 hours to be worked on, I'm just calling the game.

No.  I'm not leaving for something else.  However, the OP was about stopping the game to groom the field...for what I believe to be an unreasonable amount of time.  That's why I said I'm ending it.  

That's a different bird than a 15-inning game.  I'm there until completion.  

Now, if I was scheduled for something that I absolutely had to attend or couldn't be late for, I would not accept a game on that day in the first place.

Edited July 20, 2015 by UmpJeff

[Nafxos]

I get that an extra-inning marathon "feels" different than a rain delay, but it really isn't.  It's one game.  Sometimes they take 1:30.  And sometimes they can take 4 hours or more.

Either way, if the field needs to be groomed for 2 hours to be playable, the game is over if I'm PU.

And does this really come up frequently in your area?  I can't imagine that things like this are the reason you're having trouble finding umpires.

[zoops]

And does this really come up frequently in your area?  I can't imagine that things like this are the reason you're having trouble finding umpires.

It doesn't come up a lot, but I was doing a small invitational tournament a couple weeks ago where I was scheduled to do the last 2 games of the day starting at 2:00 and didn't leave the park until after 11:00 due to a long rain delay.  I didn't really have anything going on but still an awful long day for $100.  Of course we aren't there to get rich but it's always been odd to me why baseball doesn't pay more than football or basketball (in my area anyway) - games are longer and more gear required.  

There are many reasons why recruiting and retaining umpires is challenging, but many of the guys I've talked to list this as one of the reasons they either quit doing baseball or won't start.  Rain delays don't necessarily happen a lot but long games do - it's nothing to have a 2.5 hour baseball game whereas a basketball game taking much more than an hour and half is uncommon.  Many guys aren't crazy about giving up summer days to umpire in our short northern summers too.  Just one of the things working against baseball that nothing can be done about.  With basketball, they know with almost 100% certainty that their game isn't going to be delayed, cancelled, or 3 hours long.  Not to mention the cost of gear and freezing your tail off during spring ball...

[MidAmUmp]

I assign tournaments every weekend all across the Midwest over the summer, and this summer it has rained every weekend in at least one of the tournaments.

Most of the time it's rained overnight and the game times have just been pushed back. There have been a few times where a game has started and got rain during the game. In those times, that game is final...regardless of if it's in the 1st or 6th. They just move on to the next game when they start back up.

I have a lot of guys who take games from me in the morning and another assignor later in the day. I wouldn't expect a crew to sit around all day to finish up a game if other umpires are following them later in the day. I usually just tell them to work it out among themselves and let me know what they figure out.

I did have a situation this year where umpires sat for over 3 hours before they started. They were paid an additional $100 for their time.

As far as games that aren't part of a tournament, why would they want to spend that much time getting a field ready??? I mean most D-1's wouldn't spend 2+ hours trying to get a field ready. I would say have a talk with someone with some common sense and hope they would prevail. If not, you would need to contact your assignor. Personally, I would say it's on you to find a replacement or finish the game.

Edited July 20, 2015 by MidAmUmp

[RichMSN]

Well, I disagree with that -- I assign as well and the minute a start time is pushed back, the contract has changed. If it's a 1pm game and the game is moved to 2pm, the umpires have every right to decline this change. I've done it and have had it done to me. Once the game starts, I'm not sitting around for 2 hours. I'm banging it and going home. If they don't like it, they can hire and pay a replacement crew to come in and work it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[MidAmUmp]

Well, I disagree with that -- I assign as well and the minute a start time is pushed back, the contract has changed. If it's a 1pm game and the game is moved to 2pm, the umpires have every right to decline this change. I've done it and have had it done to me. Once the game starts, I'm not sitting around for 2 hours. I'm banging it and going home. If they don't like it, they can hire and pay a replacement crew to come in and work it. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Who and what are you disagreeing with?? If you're disagreeing with me, I've pretty much stated what you said.

[RichMSN]

Perhaps I mis-Tapatalk-quoted.

[lawump]

I only work levels where once the game has started only I get to decide if it is banged or not.  Hence, I don't have the problems set forth in the OP.  IMO, if you agree to work a game wher you don't have that power, then you are bound by other's decisions.