Are Umpires Paid Too Much?

Let me just say this - as an umpire for the past several years, I have seen several pay increases per game. When I first started umping, before I was certified, I was making about $25 per game. Once I was certified, we made $40 per game, which was then upgraded to $45, then in some cases, to $50 per game. To umpire a little league baseball game, $50 is pretty excessive; even I can admit that.

One of the main complaints back home in Northeast Ohio was from umpires who felt that they were underpaid. They compared themselves to associations in New York and Florida, where umpires were paid as much as $60 per game. To do an eleven year game, $50 is excessive, especially when there is a 2 hour time limit in place and they only play 6 innings. Many games wouldn't even last the full two hours, so umpires would be making more than $25 per hour. Either way, it was a pretty sweet gig. When you are in high school and college, there is no reason to work another job - just umpire baseball and you can come away with $3000+ from the summer.

Though we were paid more, this led to several things happening: more games were being scheduled with only one umpire instead of two since we were asking for too much money. This obviously leads to less games available to work. Teams also started increasing the run rules from 10 runs to 12, then to 15. Many leagues also began eliminating time limits, so you could have games that last 3 hours long. There is no reason for a 7 inning game to last 3 hours, but, it happens. Some of us were willing to take a pay cut down to $40 if we could get a 2nd umpire on the field.

When you only have one umpire on the field, typically you get guys who are out of shape, or may even be fat slobs who need to retire. They don't hustle towards the plays and barely move from behind home plate. They just don't give much of an effort - their way of saying "Go hire a 2nd umpire." Not a very good tactic if you want people to get off your back about your lousy calls at 1st. 

In Iowa, games have time limits no longer than 110 minutes and they pay umpires $40 per game. There may be one ump, there may be two. I have to say though, that is a pretty sweet deal. A less than two hour game and getting paid fairly. For me, I'm driving from Ames to anywhere in Des Moines for many games, so that's a lot in gas money. In the end though, it's still worth it. If I have a $30 game in Ames, I'm still making more money, because I'm saving myself 1.5 hours round trip of driving, along with saving gas. 

My point is this - there is no reason to pay an umpire $50 to work a little league baseball game. Some of the local associations seem to be pushing towards this, and I know that it will not turn out the way they want it to. Based on the quality umpire you get and the fact that its little league, there is no reason to jack up the rates.