When to call a non-lightning rain delay

[cyclonehokiece]

Today I had my first non-lightning rain delay in quite some time. I called the delay when the rain really picked up and it looked like a little water (nothing really at the time, but definitely could see the beginnings of it). I did what I though was best for player safety while trying to wait as long as I could. I was just wondering when some of the rest of you would tell the teams to head to their dugouts to wait it out when lightning is not involved.

(Mods: If this is not the right forum, please move appropriately).

[MidAmUmp]

A lot of it depends on what type of field you are working on and what the radar looks like.

If you have a field tarp, pull the players once the field appears to "shine". Any more than that and you'll lose the field.

If you don't have a tarp you need to see what is on the radar. If it's a small cell with nothing behind it I would pull them as above, get them to tarp the mound & plate areas and wait it out.

If you don't have a tarp and it's a huge cell and pretty evident you're not going to be able to finish, I would play as long as you can. You want to check the mound and boxes every 1/2 inning. If you see the pitcher slip or batters are having trouble in the boxes, it's time to pull them.

[mstaylor]

If it is raining hard enough to make hitting uncomfortable then suspend. If it isn't hard enough then continue but watch the field, if pitchers or batters start slipping then suspend. The same for standing water. At that point you have to decide when the field goes unplayable, and that brings in a ton of variables, ground crew, amount of stay dry, dark if no lights, among others. Some fields take water better than others, so you have to know what can and can't be done to ready the field. Of course. tarps make a difference but few of us have that option.