Positioning...

[urout17]

HS Fed.  I'm sure we've all worked at fields where the location of the setting some becomes an issue.  A few fields here places the setting sun in direct line with HP when working in the A position. F3 is usually staring right into the sun, with sunglasses on and shading his eyes with his glove.  I've pre-gamed this with my partners, when no runners are on base, that I will position myself in B as to not get blinded and drilled by a line drive.  As soon as the sun sets I resume my normal position. Wearing sunglasses for me doesn't help since I get glare no matter what brand I've tried.  Has anyone else done this?

[scrounge]

It's not common, but about 4-5 times in the past 8 yrs I've had to call a sun delay on fields where the setting sun was directly in CF and neither I nor the catcher could see the pitch coming in. Usually lasts no more than 15 minutes. Have never done so or faced the problem on bases. I'd just do your best, watch fielders' reactions to find the ball if necessary, but if truly blinded and there are no other options, going to B isn't the end of the world.

[Aging_Arbiter]

Not the same, position, but adjusted, yes.  We have one LL field if in C position when sun is setting, pre-gamed with partner to take and make initial IFF call, I'll echo and stay out of fielders way.  You can see the line drives & grounders, but noting in the air. Opposite field, we put lights on this field, as for about a month out of the season (if it isn't cloudy) the sun sets directly in the pitchers window for the batter, catcher & HP.  We call a sun delay, and just before it drops behind the mountain, we fire up the lights and resume as soon as possible.

[Aging_Arbiter]

7 minutes ago, scrounge said:

It's not common, but about 4-5 times in the past 8 yrs I've had to call a sun delay on fields where the setting sun was directly in CF and neither I nor the catcher could see the pitch coming in.

Was at our field the other day talking with my JR umpire.....I asked (between 1/2 innings) if he thought it was about time to call the delay.  He said that he could still see. The VERY FIRST PITCH of the half inning, the ol' #1, right down the heart of the plate, the meatball, the pitch any decent batter wants and drools over............no swing, over the top of the glove, and smack into the catchers mask.  Oddly enough, time (and the sun delay) was then called, and umpire informed that there will be an o-1 count on this batter when we resume.......as he kind of looked at me out of the corner of his eye with the "yeah, yeah, I know" expression.

[Thatsnotyou]

I’ve moved and I’ve had partners move. I’d rather see well from B than be battling in A. B and C are OK with runners on, so it should be OK with no one on. 

[yawetag]

For high school and below, if it's unsafe for you to be staring into the sun, you need to wonder if it's unsafe for the fielders, too. A 20-minute delay isn't much to ask for -- and much better than watching a kid take one to the face.

For all the other safety issues we worry about on the field (lightning, rain, even heat) - the sun isn't ever mentioned.

[Biscuit]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:57 AM, yawetag said:

For high school and below, if it's unsafe for you to be staring into the sun, you need to wonder if it's unsafe for the fielders, too. A 20-minute delay isn't much to ask for -- and much better than watching a kid take one to the face.

For all the other safety issues we worry about on the field (lightning, rain, even heat) - the sun isn't ever mentioned.

You'd think just mentioning the fact that there's a giant ball of fire (very relatively) close to the ball field would be enough to suspend the game, but who knows, some people are crazy  

[blue23ll]

Here in the PNW, we don't see the sun enough to have that problem....