Mound Repair (rain)

[VolUmp]

I'll try to make this brief. 

Tourney by FED rules, (so always an extra emphasis on safety).

Rain starts to fall hard during the top of the 4th inning, but we never had to halt play.  Rain stops literally during the last at bat of that half inning. 

Grounds crew runs out to the mound with Diamond Dry and works on the mound for 2-3 minutes. We resume play.

Coach of the home team comes out and complains AFTER the bottom of the 4th that the visiting team had an unfair advantage by having the mound worked on before they started their half inning, and the grounds crew should have waited until after the bottom of the 4th.

I don't know if there is any set protocol, but I told him, "Coach, they couldn't do anything while the rain was coming down, but they are obligated to make it safe as soon as possible, and they took their first opportunity. No one slipped, and if they did, we would have halted play."

He stomped all the way back to his dugout.

Anyone have an official take on this?

[Mike D]

Sounds good to me.

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[VolUmp]

1 minute ago, Mike D said:

Sounds good to me.

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Thanks, Mike, for the "unofficial" take. My question was/is, "does anyone have an official take on this?"

[Mike D]

Thanks, Mike, for the "unofficial" take. My question was/is, "does anyone have an official take on this?"

5.2.1
b. the umpire considers the weather or ground conditions unfit for play;

10.2.3
His duties include those listed in 10-2-1, 2 and the following: a. Inspect the condition of the field...

Is that official enough?


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[VolUmp]

Well, it's not answering the question/complaint posed by my coach in the OP.

If there is no protocol, then I'm fine with judging as I see fit. I'm asking if a protocol exists for repairing a mound during the game.

I know, for example, that lights are to be turned on as soon as requested ... we need not wait until an inning has been completed.

[Mike D]

Well, it's not answering the question/complaint posed by my coach in the OP.
If there is no protocol, then I'm fine with judging as I see fit. I'm asking if a protocol exists for repairing a mound during the game.
I know, for example, that lights are to be turned on as soon as requested ... we need not wait until an inning has been completed.

The protocol is that you as the umpire are responsible for ensuring the field is safe to play on. If in your opinion it is not, then you are responsible for notifying the home grounds keeper to fix it, or you call the game. The key here is that it is at the discretion of the umpire, specifically the UIC or HPU.
The protocol for lights is to have them turned on at the beginning of the inning before they are actually needed.

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[VolUmp]

2 hours ago, Mike D said:

The protocol for lights is to have them turned on at the beginning of the inning before they are actually needed.

Not in FED. 

[Mike D]

Not in FED. 

10.2.3
n. Order the lights turned on whenever he believes darkness could make further play hazardous. Whenever possible, lights should be turned on at the beginning of an inning.

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[VolUmp]

15 hours ago, Mike D said:

Whenever possible

OK. True enough … in a perfect world …

[catsbackr]

I don't know about rule book protocol, but if a coach comes out in the situation you describes, the conversation would be as follows:

 

After his initial question, "Are you serious, Coach?  I saw repairing the mound as a safety issue and I will address all safety issues at the time they occur.  Go back to your dugout."

[noumpere]

More often than not, it's possible to get the lights on at the beginning of an inning.

 

If the lights are on some sort of timer (and that happens at public parks) or the inning is much longer than normal, it might not be practical to do so.

[VolUmp]

9 hours ago, noumpere said:

More often than not, it's possible to get the lights on at the beginning of an inning.

If the lights are on some sort of timer (and that happens at public parks) or the inning is much longer than normal, it might not be practical to do so.

We have schools with lights that are triggered on by a light meter ... and there is never anyone around who could manually override the system.  As long as we see lights, believe me, we're happy.  Someone (retiree) drives around to the schools and parks late at night and manually kills all the lights that don't go off by a timer.