GASTONIA, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) -- The person behind the plate may be one of the most important people on the baseball field -- vital to calling games.
But local umpire James Hayes says it's been tough keeping a stable number of officials.
"It’s been experiencing a shortage for the past couple of years," Hayes said.
Other local umpires say the shortage started during the pandemic. Summertime is around the corner, and recreation and travel leagues will begin play soon.
ACC Network founding host, Charlotte sports radio legend Mark Packer announces retirementWith too few officials, it could push game times back significantly.
"If you got a complex where I was at with four fields, you're talking about eight umpires total out there,” Hayes said. “So imagine you have 120 teams, and you've got them spread over, I would say probably 10 fields that we had. That's a lot.”
Don Mason, the head of baseball operations for Top Gun Sports and USSSA baseball in North and South Carolina says its a different world behind the plate. Not only do umps have to make split second decisions, but they also have to hear commentary from the parents behind them.
"The problem isn't the money, the problem is the verbal abuse,” Mason said. “You have a lot of guys say, 'I don't care how much you pay me, I'm not going back out there because of fan abuse, coach abuse,’ so on and so forth," Mason said.
Umpire James Hayes.Videos of parents and coaches verbally and physically assaulting umpires have gone viral, causing many umps to call it quits.
The National Umpire Association says it had 6,229 members in 2017, but that number fell to 4,995 in 2022 for both youth baseball and softball.
"We've been combating it, we've been going out trying to get our college baseball players or high school baseball players to come out and work," Mason said.
Mason says volunteers could make around $600 a day or more during a tournament weekend. But its the character skills aspect that he hopes draws people in.
"It taught me to make a decision because these umpires are making a split-second decision,” Mason said. “And it taught me to make a public decision. So, it's a great training tool for a young person to get into, to learn for management level.”
He says other sports like basketball and soccer are also having problems securing officials. Hayes says the can be good, but he's also there to help young players grow to love the game.
"When I go out there, I'm going out there for two reasons: God and the kids, because I play the game and there's nothing really strenuous about it," Hayes said.
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