M-game Solo

[Diante Scharsch]

Lastyear when I was playing 18u we had it happen on two occasions but it was only because the umpires didn't have their equipment with them (I guess they assumed they would have a partner do the plate and they no-showed).

In a 13u tournament I worked earlier in the year one of the teams came down from buffalo and told me that in their travel league they only get 1 umpire per game and the umpires always work from behind the mound:crazy:

The only time I work behind the mound is on a 8u pitching mahine game where we don't have to call balls and strikes. Even then I don't like it. Like spiritumpa said you can really see the ball down the line to well.

Absent not having gear....(That excuse I will never understand as if I am at a game, I have my gear).....Only the lazy umpire works behind the mound. Fair/foul, balls/strikes are called from the plate....and you can bust out and get an angle on plays on the bases.......

I for instance am an Ump that after 5 years of ump still do not have my complete outfit. Why you would ask? Simple. I have not have a proper job for over the past 6 years. Always having a temp. job or projects for 3months or so. As a single mother of 2 children (14 & 10) a complete outfit, which costs over $500.00 is not on my priority list. And unfortunately I will not buy things to use till I have the money to buy the ones I would like, nor do I borrow outfits from my colleagues umpires.

Ump LL games, it's all voluntarly and no pay. That made me move up to the higher levels A and AA to receive payment in order to buy my outfit, but still, it was not on my priority list. So today- almost 6 years later- I have my gear, counter, brush, belt, ball bag, shirts, pants, hat and the chest protector.

So I take a game if necesary from the mount if solo and on bases when more than 1 ump. It's true that lot's of the line calls CAN be tricky but he, when in a 2-man or 3-man system and you are in the 2nd or 3rd hole, you have to call them as well. Same goes for check-swings, etc. I found my strike zone to be more accurate when on the mount but that's because I do not chief on a regular bases from behind the plate so I need the practise in order to realy opinion which one I would prefer, although I can not imagine a ump saying he would prefer to call the balls from a mount. That's not baseball to me.

Regardless of having the proper outfit, not 1 game of mine has been posponed whatsoever, cause I am a commited umpire. I ump 2 to 3 times a week on a regular season and will always reach the stadium 30 min before scheduled time. I am at the stadium almost 3 times a week just to watch and discussed a game with my mentor or fellow umpires. I mantain a house with 2 children and if I'm lazy it won't be for umpiring a baseball game (I do not do softball) from on the mount.

I love the game and am very sory I got my certification when I was well passed 35. If I could do this all over again, I would have started when 18 as that's the minimum age accepted here on the island for being a certified umpire.

Not having gear is the one excuse I do except.....it is those who have the proper gear and choose not to umpire the game from the best position or those who have the gear and fail to bring it to a scheduled game that gets my lazy umpire tag....

It was a PONY (13/14) game. One team forfeited and my partner left. They still wanted to play with an umpire. I decided that I wasn't getting hit for no reason at this point. I already got paid and should be off the field.

Not true. An umpire that's been directed there by the league and/or assignor also works solo from the mound. I take exception (as one who has done at least three games like that this year) to being called a lazy umpire.

My only EJ this year was thanks to that. Think I've told it here, but two tough-ish calls down the 3B line. I get them both foul. They happen about three innings apart, and when the 2nd one happens, I'm told "That's two, Blue!"

I was asked later if there was anything else I could have done. The other option, which I rejected immediately, was to say to the coach "Pay for a second umpire, you cheap f---er, and that might work out differently for you!" Note that I did, in fact, reject that option. Not that it wasn't correct, it just wasn't the thing to say.

Always having a temp. job or projects for 3months or so. As a single mother of 2 children (14 & 10) a complete outfit, which costs over $500.00 is not on my priority list. And unfortunately I will not buy things to use till I have the money to buy the ones I would like, nor do I borrow outfits from my colleagues umpires.

While I admire your devotion to LL, if you are going to Prioritise then you should have looked for other venues that pay. IMO you cannot have it both ways meaning LL games should NOT have been at the top of your Priority list just like buying your equipment wasn't.

Also, while it can cost in the neigborhood of $500.00 for equipment you can get starter packages for around $200.00 or so. When I started out I bought a Starter package (Vest / Shin-guards / mask and accesories) from Honigs for about $200.00. Until I moved up the vest afforded me good enough protection. As I started to advance and do more and more games I THEN bought the top of the line stuff.

You can also visit many Umpire sites and guys / gals that are retiring etc. offer up their equipment for an affordable price. Today there are many venues in which to search for equipment that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

In Summary, it appears you are a dedicated umpire BUT made a wrong choice in umpiring LL games for free. You prioritised in one area but NOT the other. Also, until you have extra money "tailor your needs on equipment" meaning if you have to buy used so be it.

@PeteBooth, when I started umpiring I was working a full time job (nearly 50 hours a week) being a compliance officer at a well known offshore bank. Here I have worked for 10 years. I got divorced just the same time my kids started playing BB and during the season my kid's game got suspended due to no show of the umpire(s).

This happened more than once during the season and I remember that SEDREKO who is in charge for the Ump-organisation of LL was explaining the reason why there was a lack of ump for all the games. Here on the island we only play in weekends. But they announced that the next week they will be starting an umpire course which will be for 3 months. So I decided then that the best way to help my child in order not to have him dressed up for a game and then returning back home disapointed was to start umpiring and so I went to the course and got my certification in 2004. For me it was not a back-up plan or something for money. I did not need the money at that time.

6 month later, FEBEKO (the ump-organisation for higher level: Big League, A and AA, announced they had an international umpire of Copabe coming over to start a course for those levels. A rookie as I was decided that I had to grab this chance as you will never know when we will have such a chance ever again. So I gained my international certification of IBAF. For me umpiring became a sport I used to get un-stressed from my divorce procedures and battles. A while after, my son was having problems at school because of the divorse and I decided to stop working full time and devote my time to pick up with my child.

I started working part time at a school. For my eldest soon, baseball was one of the things that hold him on track of life. So I made every effort to keep him playing eventhough he was not on of the best players. Nevertheless he always ended up on the starting roster. (by his own doing) After a while the school I worked at closed his library and I started working on partime jobs and projects.

Here on the island we are being paid aprox. $12.00 a game for the A and AA leagues. Big League still is voluntarly basis. Our seasons runs through each other so I will always start ump the LL season first and when that's finished in July I start with the upper levels till around Oct/Nov. of each year. So in the higher levels I may ump 10 games a year. In BL a few that are not paying paid for. So I can not put anything apart to buy my equipment as at this moment (since I lost my full time job) this is not on my priority list as mentioned before.

As we have to import every little thing here into the island, a starters kit for a new umpire that in the USA costs around $200 as you mentioned, will cost me around $450.00. And to sell it afterwards second hand will almost be impossible. That's the reason I am buying the stuff I want for real.

That's why I am buying the things I need by priority and as I can. I first bought the red flag, then the base shoe, then counter and brush, then the ball bag, I got my gear, my chestprotector and now I'm heading for my knee protector. For the next season I will be a full umpire...whahaha...

My fellow ump told my UIC that when he put me on for my first game behind plate to inform them all so they can come and cheer the game.... They have been waiting for this almost 6 years now... whahaha lol.

I'm confused on this. What is the "2nd or 3rd hole"? If you're referring to B or C (which are between the mound and 2nd base on either side of the mound), why would you be calling fair/foul from there in a 2-man (or more) game?

We call the fouls out load when there are runners on bases in order to avoid them being hurt when trying to steel the next base. So they don't have to keep on running and maybe colide with the Fielder.

last year I was working the snack bar at our local babe ruth field and the umpire did not show up. I had no gear at all with me but like most of us I always have a couple of shirts and a pair of pants in my truck. So I changed out and had to call the game from behind the mound and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. dont shoot me for this one but at the plate meeting I explained what was happening and asked the coaches if they agreed to help out with the fair/foul calls and they did and we had no problems. not the best case scenario but what the heck, sometimes we have to think outside the box.

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