CONTRACT
BETHLEHEM UMPIRES ASSOCIATION
The following are the terms and conditions agreed upon between the BETHLEHEM UMPIRES ASSOCIATION (hereafter referred to as BUA) and the LEHIGH VALLEY JUNIOR LEGION BASEBALL LEAGUE (hereafter referred to as the league). This agreement shall be in force for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 to include all regular season and league playoff games.
I. The BUA will provide two (2) umpires to officiate all regular season and playoff games. In return the officials shall be compensated an amount equal to the current year’s game fees.
II. Official Umpire Fess will be:
$44.00 per umpire per game for
2006
$45.00 per umpire per game for
2007
$46.00 per umpire per game for
2008
(For the term of this contract, a half fee will be $22.00 for 2006 and 2007 and $23.00 for 2008)
III.
Game fees shall be paid to the umpires, without exception, as
soon as the game becomes official (after 4 ˝ or 5 innings whichever is
applicable). Under no circumstance
shall the umpires have to wait until the end of the game to receive their game
fee. Teams shall be prepared to pay the
umpires the appropriate fees on the game day.
Umpires shall not have to wait because a team is not prepared to pay the
appropriate fee (travel fee, 1 ˝ game fee, or ˝ game fee in lieu of a full game
fee. If an umpire is told to wait for
payment and does not feel comfortable waiting he is to leave and instruct the
league president of the incident. The
league will be responsible for making sure he is paid.
IV.
Umpires will be required to be on time for the start of all
games. “On time” is defined to be at
the field fully dressed and equipped and at home plate at least five (5)
minutes before the scheduled start time in order to go over the ground rules
with the respective team personnel. At
this time all pre-game practice shall cease and the appointed team personnel
shall meet the umpires at home plate.
Teams shall have the legal number of players required to start the game
per baseball and/or league rules. Teams
(per league by-laws) have a thirty-minute grace period to start a game. A grace period of fifteen (15) minutes will
be allowed before an umpire is considered “late”. This grace period will allow for unforeseen delays. If only one (1) umpire is present at the
scheduled start time the game shall begin with the umpire working behind the
plate.
V.
If for any reason (e.g. darkness, rain, light failure,
unplayable conditions, etc.) a game is started but it is stopped before it can
be declared an official game each umpire shall be paid one-half game fee.
VI. If a forfeit occurs within 48 hours of scheduled game time, the umpires will get full game fee to be paid by the team forfeiting.
VII.
The assignor and umpires assigned to a particular game must be
notified by the HOME TEAM a minimum of one (1) hour before the scheduled start
time that a game has been postponed due to unplayable conditions. If the umpires are not notified of a
postponement and travel to the game site, each umpire will be paid a travel fee
of $15.00. If team personnel are aware
that conditions exist that will prevent a game from being played the assignor
and the umpires shall be notified as soon as possible.
VIII. If a game is postponed within twenty-four (24) hours of the originally scheduled start time for any reason, other than weather, unplayable conditions, loss of field to a team with higher field preference, or participation in an American Legion activity, a full game fee shall be paid to each umpire. The team responsible for the rescheduling shall be responsible to pay the game fees.
IX. If only one (1) umpire is present to officiate a game he shall receive one (1) and half game fee from the home team. He will receive the difference between what he is paid on the field and a double fee from the BUA. If the “late” umpire arrives at a game within fifteen (15) minute grace period as defined in paragraph IV above, that umpire shall take his place on the field and receive a full regular game fee. If the umpire arrives more than fifteen (15) minutes after the start of the game, he may take his place in the field but the home team is not responsible for his game fee. In the event that only one (1) umpire is present for a game, the BUA will pay the league a $20 fine as retribution for not fulfilling their obligations agreed to in this contract.
X. Both teams must report to the assignor instances where the assigned umpire does not show up for the game or when the umpire is more than fifteen (15) minutes late. Umpires who are chronic offenders for being late or for missing games are subject to disciplinary action by the BUA that may include fine(s) and or suspension from working any game(s) in any league contracted to the BUA. Coaches failing to report such incidences will be subject to disciplinary actions of the league that may include a fine and/or suspension.
XI. If an umpire ejects a player, coach, or other team personnel, that umpire will verbally report the ejection to the assignor immediately following the game. A written report will be forwarded to the assignor within forty-eight (48) hours. The assignor will also send copies of the report to the league president.
XII. In the event that the league decides to have an All-Star game, the BUA will provide two umpires free of charge for the game. Seven (7) or nine (9) innings.
XIII. In an attempt to improve the quality of umpiring, the BUA will provide the league members with an anonymous umpire evaluation form to be voluntarily completed and returned to the assignor after each game. The BUA will implement the process for reviewing these forms with the individual umpires.
XIV. The BUA will provide a copy of the current BUA membership roster of Legion certified umpires to the league president of the league by May 15th of each year of the contract. The league will distribute a copy to each team within the league. Failure will result in a $50 fine payable by the BUA to the league.
XV. The league shall provide to the assignor of the BUA a copy of the current local league rules no later than March 15th of each year. The assignor of the BUA will provide copies to each umpire that officiates within the league. Failure will result in a $50 fine payable by the league to the BUA.
XVI. Only current members of the BUA are entitled to officiate within the league. Teams shall report to the league president, who in turn shall report to the president of the BUA, instances where a non-BUA member was assigned or did officiate the game. If a team knowingly plays a game with a non-BUA umpire the game will not be recognized by the league.
XVII. The assignor, as appointed by the BUA, must be a member of BUA, in good standing, as defined by the by laws and policies of the BUA. The assignor shall act as liaison between the league and the BUA. The assignor is required to attend all league meetings from March through the conclusion of the playoffs. Failure to attend a league meeting will result in a $15 fine, which will be taken out the payment he is to receive at the end of the year. The assignor will communicate all issues and concerns with both parties. The assignor shall make all assignments from the current BUA membership roster, and shall provide to the respective teams a listing of the umpires assigned to their games. The assignor shall be compensated by the league an amount equal to one (1) regular game fee per team in the league. The payment will be provided from the treasurer and is given in two parts, one half at the beginning of the season after the initial schedule is handed out and the other half at the end of the playoffs. Failure of the assignor to abide by these terms can be cause for removal of good standing.
XVIII. Each team will provide $15 to the league (as part of the yearly registration) as a pool for expenses incurred by the assignor during the season. The assignor will submit any expenses to the League Treasurer to be paid. Once this pool is used up, the league will not be responsible for any additional expenses incurred by the assignor.
XIX. The league will provide a draft of the schedule to the umpire assignor at least six weeks prior to the first scheduled game. Failure to do so will result in a $50 fine to be paid by the league to the assignor. The schedule will be finalized four weeks prior to first scheduled game.
XX. Once the schedule is finalized, each team is allowed two changes. Any additional changes will require a $5 penalty to be paid directly from the team to the assignor. This does not include changes due to weather and changes due to extreme circumstances. This also does not include location changes due to teams with higher field preference bumping Junior Legion teams as long as the game is played on the original date and time. To insure proper tracking, the assignor shall keep the league’s statistician informed of the number of changes made by each team during the weekly call described in section XXVII below. Teams that do not pay within a timely fashion will be subject to punishment by the league’s policy committee.
XXI. Any forfeits by a team that is not folding for the season will be subject to the $5 change charge as long as the assignor has received notification by the manager more than 48 hours in advance of the scheduled game time. Games within the forty-eight hour window will be covered by section VI above.
XXII. If
a team folds after the schedule has been finalized but before the season
begins, the team will be responsible to pay the assignor a $50 fee.
XXIII. Teams folding during the season will be responsible to pay full umpire fees for all of their games (home and away) that are scheduled within 48 hours of the time the assignor has been notified by the League President. The folding team will also be required to pay the assignor the $5 per game fee for games scheduled beyond the initial 48 hours. If the team has not used its two free changes, it will still receive that benefit.
XXIV. The assignor shall adopt a policy for the canceling of games or for location changes of games. He shall provide the general policy at the last meeting prior to the beginning of the season. The assignor may be responsible for contacting the umpires himself or he may have the teams contact the umpires directly to cancel games. If the teams are to contact the umpires directly, the assignor must provide a schedule of umpires for the entire season and make the coaches aware of changes to that schedule. In the event that a change was made and the assignor did not notify the coach of the home team of the change and an umpire who was not on the original schedule travels to a postponed game, the teams will not be responsible to pay his travel fee (as described in section VII)
XXV. Teams are to deal directly with the assignor when changing or rescheduling games. Teams may not get umpires on their own, under any circumstance, for league games.
XXVI. The league must provide forty-eight (48) hours prior notice for makeup dates. Only in an effort to ensure all games are played before the league deadline will the assignor make attempts to schedule on less than 48 hours. In extreme circumstances, the League President can request that the assignor split crews to cover games. In this case the teams will be responsible to pay double fee for the one umpire and the BUA will not responsible for the $20 fine mentioned in article IX. If the proper forty-eight (48) hours notice is provided and only one umpire can be assigned due to shortages within the BUA, the teams are only responsible to pay one and half fee per the contract with the BUA. The 48-hour rule does not apply to playoffs.
XXVII. Once the season starts, the league Statistician and the Umpire Assignor will have weekly reviews of the schedule to ensure all games are covered and that all games are re-scheduled in a timely manner. The assignor is to notify the statistician of any outstanding money owed to the assignor by the teams or the league itself.
XXVIII. Within this contract there are several incidences where a team may owe money to the assignor and/or the BUA. If a team does not pay these monies, the league will be responsible to pay them. In the event that the league must pay this fine, the team will not be allowed to participate in the league in subsequent years until this fine has been paid to the league. To protect the league, this money owed to both the assignors and umpires shall never exceed at total of $400 in one given season. This does not include the compensation, expenses nor does it include fines that are directly tied to the league (i.e., $50 required for failure to turn over the schedule on time.)
We hereby agree to the above terms and conditions.
BUA:_____________________________ TITLE: _______________________ DATE: ____________
JVJLBL:__________________________ TITLE: _______________________ DATE: ____________