umpire20

Last week my partner and I showed up to a game only to find that no teams were there. The game had been called due to rain, but the site director/coaches failed to notify our assigner. This situation, I believe, should warrant a full fee. Instead, we got a travel fee. How hard is it to tell the umpires the game is canceled?

I'm having a hard time understanding what this excerpt from section 9.16 of the manual means: "With a runner on first base only or third base only, the base umpire should take a step or two in the direction of the midpoint between the 45-foot line and first base or third base, respectively". This is the section concerning the HOKS position. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I might just be thinking about the wording of this too much.

A reminder that any piece of protective equipment isn't going to 100% guarantee you of not getting injured: Francisco Cervelli in tonight's Pirates-Orioles game took a foul ball directly to the mask wearing a Force3 catchers mask. While I'm sure the Force3 worked well, the ball had so much force behind it that I'm confident no mask could have protected him from this shot. He was removed from the game, but was able to walk to the dugout without any help. Stay safe out there guys.

Update on my previous comments about the pants: I now love them. They give you a nice professional look. I have had other umpires in awe at the slight "shine" they have. My only complaint is that they're a little darker than most other charcoal gray shades, but hopefully others will adopt these pants in the near future.

Not the best picture, but here it is:

I'm currently watching Auburn vs. LSU and the home plate umpire seems to have a tan Team Wendy pad on his chin and a black Team Wendy pad on his forehead. What do you guys think of this? Is it unprofessional? It looks strange to me.

I won't let the umpiring profession down.

Ha! She started off with "great game out there blue" and then I sparked up a conversation about college and the next thing you know I was leaving the field with a phone number.

She was probably watching a younger brother play. She approached me as I was done changing clothes and when I was putting the last of my gear in my trunk. To answer the last question, my only response would be that maybe she could be the first one to fall in that category.

I only shake hands if I happen to cross paths with a coach or player who reaches out and tells me and my partner "good game", etc. on the way to the parking lot. Other than that, I'm gone.

I am in college and the female I was talking to is also in college.

I always do a post-game with my partner, but this game was one-man. I should have mentioned that.

After each game I work, I try and get out of there as quickly as possible, but sometimes other things get in the way... an attractive female happened to approach me at my car while changing and I just HAD to keep a conversation going with her and eventually we exchanged numbers. I hope this does not go against any unwritten rule of umpire etiquette, but I just want to make sure. Good luck the rest of the season, gentlemen.

Just to clarify, I'm in PA and there hasn't been a restriction on throwing the ball around or the removal of courtesy runners.

Two weeks ago in a varsity FED game, the visiting team huddled around the HC and AC before taking the field and I let it go for about 10 seconds until I realized the pitcher and catcher were not warming up, so I went over and told the coaches to break it up and take the field. The coaches both gave me a puzzled look and the AC asked me, "didn't they get rid of speed-up rules this year?". I couldn't believe what I just heard, so I replied with "no, please have your players take the field". He gave me another puzzled look and before he said anything else I said, "I'll charge your team with a defensive conference if your guys don't take the field". He said nothing else to me and then told his players to get out there. No problems the rest of the game. Did I handle this correctly?