Alcohol and Umpires

[softballdad]

This past weekend in a tournament, I heard parents and coaches complaining about a blue that smell like alcohol really bad. He was looking at the home plate umpire for help every time there was a close play on the bases. So the question is when is it ok to drink out of the red cup before after or during the game. To put up with all those crazy parents you got be drunk or don't care at all.

[artomatic]

i heard about an ump this past weekend, probably the same one...
we had a similar situation last year, and it got worse as the day went on...
but even worse is we had a couple of 11 yr old girls in our stands and the ump kept coming to the fence in between innings and talking to them...creepy...

i might be in the minority, but when it comes to umpires AND coaches, i think any alcohol should be consumed AFTER the games/practices are done, away from the fields...and believe me, i practice that theory!

[futurestar]

How do you know he was drunk did you have him take a urine test? Maybe he was just a horrible umpire with bad breath. What tourney was that at?

[Marine2ump]

This official has been identified and reported to our local umpire organization for appropriate action. This is not a condition, we are to be on the field, nor do we condone this behavior.

[umpinva]

This past weekend in a tournament, I heard parents and coaches complaining about a blue that smell like alcohol really bad. He was looking at the home plate umpire for help every time there was a close play on the bases. So the question is when is it ok to drink out of the red cup before after or during the game. To put up with all those crazy parents you got be drunk or don't care at all.

Perhaps his breath smelled of alcohol from the previous night due to poor dental hygiene.

In your OP situation recourse could have been to notify the tournament UIC or tournament director.

[addiction]

sounds like one of my old high school teachers

[umpinva]

sounds like one of my old high school teachers

sounds like my exwife

As hard as it will be to do this, share some positives about her. I have an umpire friend in Ohio that's looking for a future exwife.

[MTR]

Obviously, it is never okay for an umpire to consume an alcoholic beverage until all his/her assignments for that day are completed.

Once that is done, have at it. Just be sure you stop in time to sober up for games on the following day.

[noclu13]

A few years ago we took a team to hawaii. The umpires had a big tent off to the side and had 2 coolers of beer they drank out of all day. We went to talk to the UIC and the tournament director. They were sitting in the shade in their lounge chairs sharing a cooler full of beer. Neither of them moved from their chairs all day. Morning games were great, evening games were interesting.

[pollywolly60]

Common sense should tell you that there is a time and a place for everything.
In our local league, if we show up to an assignment "under the influence", or drink alcohol while calling a game, our career with our local group is over. All the fields that we cover as an association are also alcohol free, so there is also local law enforcement to be dealt with.
Don't know that we have had too much problem with this from our local umpires, though we have had some "out-of towners" that didn't share the same sentiment. My problem with this is: these out-of-town umpires are at our local fields, so they are automatically associated with our local umpire association.