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Spray-Chalking bases, pitcher's plate, home plate.


VolUmp
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2 hours ago, VolUmp said:

And someone mentioned a "Smitty" using a brush in the field to dust off bases.  No, I'd prefer he didn't wear a ball bag, but if my partner either between innings or before the game pulled out a brush to do that, I wouldn't give a rip about the "Smitty" label ... who cares?  I'd think, "Well, that was nice of him ... it helps both of us and maybe the players."

Guess I am a smitty cause I do this. I don't wear a ball bag as the BU but keep a brush in my back pocket if I am umping a game on a field that has loose dirt piled up at the bases. I do it to be able to see the play better and done it for years. 

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3 hours ago, VolUmp said:

Mud,

I want the bases sprayed ... for MY sake.  If you go all the way back to the OP, you'll see I stated I found ONE WAY I could help is by spraying the items I wanted bright white.  I specifically stated it likely benefits me more than anyone else.

I wouldn't warm up a pitcher, hop on a tractor to mow grass or drag the infield, grab a rake and start raking, grab a hose and wet down the infield dirt, grab a tamp and start tamping, all of those things are important, and appreciated, yet nothing I should do nor willing to do.  I've never sprayed plates or bases when someone on the crew was gonna do it.  I've only done it when I could tell (or was told) that it wouldn't be done.

And someone mentioned a "Smitty" using a brush in the field to dust off bases.  No, I'd prefer he didn't wear a ball bag, but if my partner either between innings or before the game pulled out a brush to do that, I wouldn't give a rip about the "Smitty" label ... who cares?  I'd think, "Well, that was nice of him ... it helps both of us and maybe the players."

Those who live by the letter of the law die by it.  I'll die of cardiac arrest, most likely, but not because someone told me I broke the precious protocol of the umpire's duties.

Do you make sure there's a rosin bag behind the mound before every game?  And if not, why not?  What does the Rule Book say about that?

I understood why you were doing it... and I can relate just because some fields are hard to see based on the color of the dirt and the fact the bases have not been replaced or cleaned... ever. But the optics and obvious response from the field crew tells me what I need to know. They did not appreciate your 'helping' their field.

Not a bugger I want to pick. If I miss a call due to not being able to see the bag/foot then hopefully it is the home team that gets the call against them... 

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3 hours ago, ElkOil said:

Well, you know, it is all about you, so...

Sophomoric comment. 

I want the bases white for the same reason I want the plate white. To do my job better. To see the pitches and plays better. It is about the integrity of the game ... which is far too lacking in far too many crews and Site Directors. 

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1 hour ago, Mudisfun said:

But the optics and obvious response from the field crew tells me what I need to know. They did not appreciate your 'helping' their field.

It wasn't plural … it was singular … a grumpy Head Coach whom I've known for 16 years. No one else on the crew thought a thing of it. No reaction except, "WTF's his problem?" when they heard him yell.

You don't get it. Or you don't read the details. I've never had anyone object for 3 or 4 years since I've been bringing my own chalk. I've only had people react graciously. That's the only reason for my post. 

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1 hour ago, VolUmp said:

Sophomoric comment. 

The perceived lack of sophistication of my comment doesn't make it less valid. The fact remains that you've made this issue all about you and I find it implausible that you aren't a good enough umpire to overcome the color of the bases or grooming of the dirt. The rest of us seem to.

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5 hours ago, noumpere said:

I agree.

 

Use your foot if it's needed, or -- ask F4/6 to do it.

Just curious what is the big deal with doing this? If it gives me a better view of the base and helps me do my job better than who cares. 

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7 hours ago, Kckumpire said:

Just curious what is the big deal with doing this? If it gives me a better view of the base and helps me do my job better than who cares. 

It's about perception.  And, perception doesn't always have to make logical sense.  It doesn't really add anything, and it (likely) detracts from something -- so, I don't do it.

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8 hours ago, Kckumpire said:

Just curious what is the big deal with doing this? If it gives me a better view of the base and helps me do my job better than who cares. 

You're on the field as an authority, not a worker bee. Your job -- what you are paid to do -- is to be the arbiter of the rules of the game. You show up, do your job by working with what you've got for better or worse, then leave. Period.

To @noumpere's point, handling groundskeeping tasks presents you in a different image than the one you're paid to present. It can make you look overly involved in aspects of the game that are not under your purview, and that makes you look like a busy-body at best, which is a very small step away from full-blown smitty. Also, it shows up the groundskeeper (if there is one) and makes it appear that you are trying to do his job better than he can. As umpires, we draw the line when someone shows us up. Let's not do that to someone else.

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2 hours ago, noumpere said:

It's about perception.  And, perception doesn't always have to make logical sense.  It doesn't really add anything, and it (likely) detracts from something -- so, I don't do it.

HOGWASH

55 minutes ago, ElkOil said:

You're on the field as an authority, not a worker bee. Your job -- what you are paid to do -- is to be the arbiter of the rules of the game. You show up, do your job by working with what you've got for better or worse, then leave. Period.

To @noumpere's point, handling groundskeeping tasks presents you in a different image than the one you're paid to present. It can make you look overly involved in aspects of the game that are not under your purview, and that makes you look like a busy-body at best, which is a very small step away from full-blown smitty. Also, it shows up the groundskeeper (if there is one) and makes it appear that you are trying to do his job better than he can. As umpires, we draw the line when someone shows us up. Let's not do that to someone else.

DOUBLE HOGWASH

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15 hours ago, VolUmp said:

Sophomoric comment. 

I want the bases white for the same reason I want the plate white. To do my job better. To see the pitches and plays better. It is about the integrity of the game ... which is far too lacking in far too many crews and Site Directors. 

The bases and plate are already white before you run out there and spray them. 

1 hour ago, ElkOil said:

You're on the field as an authority, not a worker bee. Your job -- what you are paid to do -- is to be the arbiter of the rules of the game. You show up, do your job by working with what you've got for better or worse, then leave. Period.

To @noumpere's point, handling groundskeeping tasks presents you in a different image than the one you're paid to present. It can make you look overly involved in aspects of the game that are not under your purview, and that makes you look like a busy-body at best, which is a very small step away from full-blown smitty. Also, it shows up the groundskeeper (if there is one) and makes it appear that you are trying to do his job better than he can. As umpires, we draw the line when someone shows us up. Let's not do that to someone else.

Exactly. I cannot believe we are having this conversation. 

If you are just starting out umpiring, don't do this. Ever. 

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There is a league in my neck of the woods that has the guys in blue shirts use a tin can with holes punched in the bottom, attached to a stick, to sift the lines pregame before they call the game. Note that I did not use the word umpire in that sentence.

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1 hour ago, zm1283 said:

The bases and plate are already white before you run out there and spray them. 

Are you stupid? The bases that inspired this OP were dark reddish brown. The plates had been sprayed white.

1 hour ago, zm1283 said:

Exactly. I cannot believe we are having this conversation. 

If you are just starting out umpiring, don't do this. Ever. 

We're having this conversation because it's worthwhile. Keeping the bases viewable is a worthy cause. It helps the umpires get the calls right. It is far different than all the other grounds keeping tasks that we've all mentioned.

If you're just starting out, don't wear a ball bag in the field, but if you want to use your foot or a brush to clean the bases, do it. If you would like them sprayed white, ask your partner if it's worth asking the groundskeeper to do it and either live with them being dark, or thank him for spraying them.

If you're a veteran, ASK before you spray. That's my only regret. If the groundskeeper refuses to spray them, live with it ... but he doesn't get to say, "We'll do anything you want … just ask," and then refuse to spray the bases. He can say, "We spray the plates, but not the bases. That's off the table."

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7 hours ago, VolUmp said:

Are you stupid? The bases that inspired this OP were dark reddish brown. The plates had been sprayed white.

We're having this conversation because it's worthwhile. Keeping the bases viewable is a worthy cause. It helps the umpires get the calls right. It is far different than all the other grounds keeping tasks that we've all mentioned.

If you're just starting out, don't wear a ball bag in the field, but if you want to use your foot or a brush to clean the bases, do it. If you would like them sprayed white, ask your partner if it's worth asking the groundskeeper to do it and either live with them being dark, or thank him for spraying them.

If you're a veteran, ASK before you spray. That's my only regret. If the groundskeeper refuses to spray them, live with it ... but he doesn't get to say, "We'll do anything you want … just ask," and then refuse to spray the bases. He can say, "We spray the plates, but not the bases. That's off the table."

If I'm not mistaken the bases, pitchers plate, and home plate haven't moved in a hundred years!

 

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1 hour ago, UMP45 said:

If I'm not mistaken the bases, pitchers plate, and home plate haven't moved in a hundred years!

 

In fact, the distance to the bases is the ONLY dimension on the baseball field that has been exactly the same since the game was invented. The 90 feet is just as good now 170 years on as it was way back when.

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