As an assignor, you often are asked the following question by Umpires, “How can I get more or better games to umpire? The level doesn’t matter, but moving up or down the ladder takes the same amount of effort or lack of effort. A good baseball assignor will you many things when making the decision to assign an umpire a game. Here are things to help understand things that are important to an assignor.
- Availability : You can be the best umpire in the world, but if you are unavailable to work a game, your talents won’t be displayed on the field. This is likely the greatest opportunity for new or rising umpires to get to show their assignor what value they can present.
- Willingness to Learn : An assignor personal values about how to work a ball game are what guides and organization. One that an assignor loves to see is umpires working to improve their game. It doesn’t have to be going to a collegiate 3 or 4 man camp, it can be as simple as attending the association’s pre-season clinics and rule discussion session.
- What Have You Done Lately : When umpires join new organizations they usually have become accustomed to the way the previous assignor wanted them to work. There are differences in the type of baseball you work. As an example, the difference between Travel Ball and High School or College is huge. Work every game as if a D1 Assignor is watching you and you want to impress them. You never know who is watching … and if you are in your 2nd game of a 3 to 6 game day … and you are resting by not getting down the 1st base line or rotating properly … that may be all it takes to ruin a future opportunity.
- Be Low Maintenance : If you need help with something that you don’t understand, by all means lean on your Assignor. Do Not call are text him/her a bunch of minor simple questions that logic could have helped you resolve.
- Communicate Communicate Communicate : Getting games is a two way street. Help your assignor out if you had a block on your schedule and all of the sudden it opens up. If you had a game somewhere and it gets cancelled, let your assignor know you are still available and they may find work for you on the way home.
- Talent : If you can work, work. Assignors can watch an umpires demeanor and determine quickly how you can handle and control a baseball game as an arbiter. Talent is not a be-all end-all to getting assignments. If you are high maintenance, don’t want to learn anything or update your old school methods to newer and better mechanic or an all around jerk, the umpire community has very little patience for this. Ultimately develop yourself and your capabilities, be humble and the rest will take care of itself.
