Portable Mounds

[SnareDrum]

Don't really care for them, but I guess they're a necessary evil in today's multi-purpose complex world. Fake plastic grass on a flat top trampoline of rubber protruding pieces of sh... anyway... I'm just looking for a little input on a couple of situations I've come across.

Last night, I was PU of the second of game of 3 on my field (1st as PU that night). The first batter of the game, RH, walked on 4 straight outside pitches. After the third pitch to the second batter, I noticed that the mound was crooked. It was angled just a little, front edges towards 1B foul line by about 3 inches. I guess in theory this could cause a pitcher to throw outside. I decided to wait until after the bottom half of the inning to fix it, but I didn't tell the coaches until after the bottom half was completed. The first pitcher walked one more, and the bottom half pitcher walked two. Indeed, most of the pitches were outside or outer half of the plate. Nobody scored.

Would you have fixed it sooner and when would you have told the coaches? I thought by telling them sooner or fixing it I could get into a "competitive advantage" type of situation...

Last year, it was similar but worse when I had the afternoon session of a tournament and in my first game I was the BU. As I trotted out and I was scanning the field, something looked a little off. The pitcher, a good one whom I had seen pitch a lot that season, was throwing an unusual amount of high pitches. The visitors were strokin', and drawing walks on high pitches, and scored 5 runs. At the half inning, I was passing by the mound and saw that it looked, well, strange. I stared down and saw the almost buried fabric markers where the mound SHOULD have been... it was almost 3 feet in front of the markers (54'). The p.m. session had games involving teams that had played on that field in the morning on the short mound. What would you do? They've been playing on it all day AND the game has started. I'm going to leave you hangin' on what we ended up doing until a little later.

YES!! I know I should have done a better job on confirming the field as "ready for play", but I've kicked myself enough already for that... It is now part of my pre-game to check the mound before EVERY game and every couple of innings at least. Those suckers slide around! DO fell free to kick some more though.

[LMSANS]

Don't really care for them, but I guess they're a necessary evil in today's multi-purpose complex world. Fake plastic grass on a flat top trampoline of rubber protruding pieces of sh... anyway... I'm just looking for a little input on a couple of situations I've come across.

Last night, I was PU of the second of game of 3 on my field (1st as PU that night). The first batter of the game, RH, walked on 4 straight outside pitches. After the third pitch to the second batter, I noticed that the mound was crooked. It was angled just a little, front edges towards 1B foul line by about 3 inches. I guess in theory this could cause a pitcher to throw outside. I decided to wait until after the bottom half of the inning to fix it, but I didn't tell the coaches until after the bottom half was completed. The first pitcher walked one more, and the bottom half pitcher walked two. Indeed, most of the pitches were outside or outer half of the plate. Nobody scored.

Would you have fixed it sooner and when would you have told the coaches? I thought by telling them sooner or fixing it I could get into a "competitive advantage" type of situation...

Last year, it was similar but worse when I had the afternoon session of a tournament and in my first game I was the BU. As I trotted out and I was scanning the field, something looked a little off. The pitcher, a good one whom I had seen pitch a lot that season, was throwing an unusual amount of high pitches. The visitors were strokin', and drawing walks on high pitches, and scored 5 runs. At the half inning, I was passing by the mound and saw that it looked, well, strange. I stared down and saw the almost buried fabric markers where the mound SHOULD have been... it was almost 3 feet in front of the markers (54'). The p.m. session had games involving teams that had played on that field in the morning on the short mound. What would you do? They've been playing on it all day AND the game has started. I'm going to leave you hangin' on what we ended up doing until a little later.

YES!! I know I should have done a better job on confirming the field as "ready for play", but I've kicked myself enough already for that... It is now part of my pre-game to check the mound before EVERY game and every couple of innings at least. Those suckers slide around! DO fell free to kick some more though.

Field review has to be better because of the temporary items, but if something gets by I say fix it when you find it.

[sdix00]

If it is a safety issue, then it must be fixed immediately. Imagine answering for that one in court. Often times the lower divisions will set up the field and managers will agree to move the mound up 3-5 feet thinking they are making the game more fun. Sorry, no can do. I make up scary stories of managers losing their houses because a kid took a line drive to the head on a mound that was not regulation. Sorry coach. Sucks for you that the opposing 7 year old pitcher was throwing 23 mph fast balls from 3 feet closer and none of your kids could hit it, but you get to pitch from regulation distance. My fault? No no, you should have mentioned it before the game started. If it is a batters box, foul line, crooked mound, or other stupid thing, I wait until the bottom of the inning to correct it.

[ukce1861]

The only rule book I've seen that specifically addresses this is USSSA Fast Pitch SB. They say to correct it immediately. That would be my inclination, but absent that rule protection, you're setting yourself up for a coach throwing a hissy fit, at a minimum.

[SnareDrum]

Thanks for the input guys! Yeah, the liability factor DEFINITELY crossed my mind.

After I saw the mound was short and realizing it had been like that for 4 previous games, I casually walked over to my partner and quietly told him what was up. I saw the TD nearby and I waved him over. I told him about the mound through the fence and he asked if I was sure. I nodded and he asked if I had told the coaches yet. When I told him no, he told me to stall things for a minute and he would be right back. He talked on his phone for a couple of minutes and it wasn't a big delay since we had to wait for the catcher anyway.

He comes back over to the fence and said, "Leave it and don't tell the coaches. The grounds crew messed up, but it's been like that all day and I don't need the problems. If one of the coaches notices, we'll handle it then." I asked him if he was sure. "Leave it!" he ordered and walked off. I looked at my partner and confirmed that he had heard that, then I trotted off to "A".

Now it is HIS tournament... but it's MY field. But now I had a tough choice. Roll with it, or do what I (on hindsight) should have done and either corrected it on the spot or at the latest at the bottom of the inning. Of course, there would've been MAJOR problems with the fix because like I said, it had been like that for 4 previous games, including 2 "win-or-go-home" games. I ended up doing as he asked. The rest of the day passed with no problems, but for some strange reason, all of the pitchers seemed a little off that day...

This is one those that has and will always stick with me... Coulda' Shoulda' Woulda'...

[mstaylor]

I had a similar problem in a Christmas basketball tournament. We bought a new temp court and we were running side by side floors. After a whole day and a game, one of the officials realized the backboards were in the wrong spot. They were two feet deep. I set the floor but left to my maintenance staff to set the nets. Should have done it myself. One school that was noted for being a strong freethrow team made almost none. Their coach worked the daylights out of them for not making their shots, then he found out they were shooting almost three point shots as freethrows.

The difference is in your case it could be considered a safety problem because the pitchers are throwing from 6 ft closer.

[SnareDrum]

The difference is in your case it could be considered a safety problem because the pitchers are throwing from 6 ft closer.

EXACTLY! A hundred a times a least that day I thought, "Screw it! I'm movin' it!" But I didn't. I shoulda'... It was really my call, not the TD's. Of course, every team that lost that day would've gone ape feces, but that wouldn't have been my problem. A pitcher taking a head shot would have been.