Jewelry, jewelry and more jewelry...when does it end?

[MadMax]

On 5/12/2021 at 9:41 AM, Umpire in Chief said:

I can understand the religious items being exempt although I still don't believe it needs to be worn in sports...

Funny story – Working a sanctioned HS tournament, so a strict "No Jewelry" policy. Big third baseman for the visiting team comes up in the top of the 1st. He's got not 1, not 2, but 3 huge metal rope necklaces on. I direct him to stop and take 'em off. The 3BC ambles down and inquires as to the holdup. I reply, "He can't be wearing all those necklaces, coach." 

Coach: "But necklaces can be worn for religious purposes!" 

Me: "Sure, but they gotta be taped down and under the shirt. Besides, what does he need 3 ropes for?"

Coach: pause ... "He's really religious."

-------

Listen, guys, just ask your question, "Are all players legally and properly equipped?" at the plate meeting, thereby CYA verbally, and then address any issue or instance that occurs, if it does, discreetly. 

[wolfe_man]

I guess I ignore too much. I don’t notice jewelry all that often. Once the games start, I’m looking for game-related stuff and trying hard not to miss that stuff (pitches, balks, calls, etc) to notice if a player has a small bracelet or chain. It’s gotta be pretty bad before I notice it. 
 

I’m getting better, but not there yet. I’ll be honest and say I agree with Max here though. I ask it every plate meeting about being legally and properly equipped, so I did my part to a large extent. I’m not legally responsible if the coach misses the necklace- or they don’t clean their water bottles clear of Covid and a player gets sick.

I’m there to umpire a baseball game, not be fashion police. I know I have to make some efforts here, but it seems out of place in my mind. What’s next, penalizing and judging uniform modification infractions or hair styles? Long hair could be unsafe and it’s becoming more common on the ball fields. At some point, we just ask our question and then play ball, right?

I know some of this is semantics and over-simplifying a problem- but when is our due diligence enough?

[philaump]

On 5/11/2021 at 12:37 AM, SeeingEyeDog said:

My brothers...this business of players in NFHS games wearing jewelry needs to end.

Varsity game tonight, plate meeting, "Are all your players legally and properly equipped and all of your equipment conforms to Federation rules...to include jewelry?" Both managers respond yes.

2 minutes later the leadoff batter for the game comes to the plate wearing two diamond studs. I send him back to the dugout to take them off. He comes back...with them taped. I call my partner over, we agree to let it go and call the manager over and tell him to please check his players for jewelry. We go on to say by rule, religious and medical jewelry may be taped, everything else must be removed or the players will be ejected. The manager apologizes profusely. The player with the taped studs removes them at the half inning and we go on to finish the game without further jewelry incidents.

I never wore jewelry when I played because if I did, I knew my coach would have me running laps at practice until I "remembered" to take it off.

I'm grabbing jewelry infractions nearly every game. It's a complete nuisance. Why is this such a problem? How do we solve this as a sport and what is working for you guys out there?

~Dawg

They can tape them, but a bench warning should be issued.  

[noumpere]

7 minutes ago, philaump said:

They can tape them, but a bench warning should be issued.  

Under what rules? 

[philaump]

33 minutes ago, noumpere said:

Under what rules? 

NFHS.  In PA we are told to make them either remove the earrings or cover them with tape.  Any non medical or religious jewelry MUST come off.

We are to bench warn for the first offense, then restrict the HC & player for the 2nd offense

[noumpere]

20 minutes ago, philaump said:

NFHS.  In PA we are told to make them either remove the earrings or cover them with tape.  Any non medical or religious jewelry MUST come off.

We are to bench warn for the first offense, then restrict the HC & player for the 2nd offense

Thanks.  That's completely the opposite of guidance I've seen from other states.

[Recontra]

There's nothing religious about the gold chain. If they want to take their religious medal off the chain and tape the medal to their body, they can. The Rule specifically permits this. The Rule does not permit gold chains, just as long as there's a crucifix dangling from it. Non-religious players have the same constitutional rights in a public school game as devout evangelicals. Gold chains are jewelry and are prohibited by Rule. The Rule does not reference religious "jewelry." It references only religious medals. Personally, I'd be much more concerned about a lawsuit for permitting a Christian to wear a gold necklace as long as it also has a tiny crucifix dangling from it, while making the poor atheist young man remove his identical gold necklace. That would be patently unlawful (for those who might be fearful of lawsuits)! And you can collect money for discriminating against atheists a lot easier than you could if a kid got scratched by a gold chain during a collision.

I personally think the jewelry rule is dumb. But I also think the Covid mask rule is dumb--the chance of a pitcher, left fielder, center fielder, or right fielder catching or spreading Covid-19 is darn near close to Zero. The chance of a player being injured or injuring another from a thin gold necklace is pretty close to Zero. But the Rules are there. I think the stress and tension come because some umpires in some games think the jewelry and Covid mask Rules are dumb and don't enforce them, and then the crew in the next game takes hell for enforcing the rules. Half the Head Coaches I see are wearing a gold chain. It's what the college and pro guys do. They should just get rid of the rule--but then, even though they say it's because of "risk avoidance," I bet the real reason is that some schools from some parts of town will have lots of pretty gold bling, and the kids from across the railroad tracks can't afford any bling. And if that's the real reason, then I can certainly get behind that, because that would become a true real-life issue.

I'm all for getting rid of the jewelry rule. Most of these kids keep their jewelry in their equipment bag--and they put it on only for the game.

[The Man in Blue]

To the OP, I was with you until you let the kid wear them taped, if even for a moment.  That is why we can’t solve the problem.

IMO, NFHS is the only org that comes close to getting it right: NO.  Not this or that, not an umpire’s discretion, just NO.

That said, if an org wants to allow it, then allow it.  Do NOT be wishy-washy.  Do NOT put ANY liability or judgment on the umpire.  Either all out or all in.

USA Softball says it is an umpire’s discretion ... and it is always a pain when I tell them “My discretion is NO.  It’s not up for discussion.”  “But other umps ... “  “NO.”

@Matt asked about why we don’t have jewelry rules in summer ball ... we do.  Any org that says they use NFHS does.  But TD’s only see $$s and won’t allow umpire’s to administer any rule that might cause a team not to come back.

I was just short of bouncing a team out of a USA Softball state tournament.  Long story short (shenanigans removed): A player refused to remove her earrings after being instructed to do so three times.  I followed her back to the dugout and told the coach she would be ejected if she came back out with them on.  They only had 9 players, so under USA that would have meant a forfeit ... in an elimination game.  Amazing how those “permanent earrings” were able to come out.

You can say I am looking for trouble or doing too much, but I have seen jewelry injuries.  Ugly ones.

The question is not “Why not?”  As was said earlier, the question is “Why?”  Why do you need it to play?  (You don’t.)

 

[aaluck]

On 5/13/2021 at 6:22 PM, Matt said:

If that was the case, why does that not happen in summer ball?

It does to a certain extent.

Again, unless you have a medical condition (and even there if the coach knows it's not a reason) there is no reason to wear jewelry during a game.

If they change the rule to allow it I have no problem with that as well.

[Replacematt]

4 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

To the OP, I was with you until you let the kid wear them taped, if even for a moment.  That is why we can’t solve the problem.

IMO, NFHS is the only org that comes close to getting it right: NO.  Not this or that, not an umpire’s discretion, just NO.

That said, if an org wants to allow it, then allow it.  Do NOT be wishy-washy.  Do NOT put ANY liability or judgment on the umpire.  Either all out or all in.

USA Softball says it is an umpire’s discretion ... and it is always a pain when I tell them “My discretion is NO.  It’s not up for discussion.”  “But other umps ... “  “NO.”

@Matt asked about why we don’t have jewelry rules in summer ball ... we do.  Any org that says they use NFHS does.  But TD’s only see $$s and won’t allow umpire’s to administer any rule that might cause a team not to come back.

I was just short of bouncing a team out of a USA Softball state tournament.  Long story short (shenanigans removed): A player refused to remove her earrings after being instructed to do so three times.  I followed her back to the dugout and told the coach she would be ejected if she came back out with them on.  They only had 9 players, so under USA that would have meant a forfeit ... in an elimination game.  Amazing how those “permanent earrings” were able to come out.

You can say I am looking for trouble or doing too much, but I have seen jewelry injuries.  Ugly ones.

The question is not “Why not?”  As was said earlier, the question is “Why?”  Why do you need it to play?  (You don’t.)

 

Is there a national org that uses NFHS?

[Senor Azul]

As near as I can tell, the Federation has had a baseball rule prohibiting exposed jewelry since 1983. Little League also bans the wearing of jewelry—so does the Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken leagues…

Safety Code for LL Appendix B

• Players must not wear watches, rings, pins, jewelry, hard cosmetic, or hard decorative items.

2019 Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken Jewelry is prohibited. Players shall not wear jewelry…

I suspect most, if not all, youth baseball leagues prohibit jewelry. Since high school has had the prohibition for about 38 years, I am guessing that is the only rule about the wearing of jewelry anyone here has ever known as an umpire. Still, if you truly believe it is a terrible rule, let me suggest you try to lobby the NFHS rules committee to disabuse them of the idea that this rule is a good thing.

[The Man in Blue]

I don’t know about “national” but then I am not as familiar with baseball orgs as I am with softball orgs.

I know I have been calling Grand Slam in Mississippi and they use NFHS as their base.  They do not have a jewelry exception written in, but I have been told NOT to enforce it.  I’m not making any judgment calls — if you tell me to let them wear it, they can wear anything they want.

In softball, PGF uses NFHS as their base rules.

 

[Replacematt]

18 hours ago, Senor Azul said:

As near as I can tell, the Federation has had a baseball rule prohibiting exposed jewelry since 1983. Little League also bans the wearing of jewelry—so does the Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken leagues…

Safety Code for LL Appendix B

• Players must not wear watches, rings, pins, jewelry, hard cosmetic, or hard decorative items.

2019 Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken Jewelry is prohibited. Players shall not wear jewelry…

I suspect most, if not all, youth baseball leagues prohibit jewelry. Since high school has had the prohibition for about 38 years, I am guessing that is the only rule about the wearing of jewelry anyone here has ever known as an umpire. Still, if you truly believe it is a terrible rule, let me suggest you try to lobby the NFHS rules committee to disabuse them of the idea that this rule is a good thing.

If I were to talk to the NFHS rules committee...

[agdz59]

58 minutes ago, Matt said:

If I were to talk to the NFHS rules committee...

Isn't there a regular contributor here on said committee?

[isired]

[mention=177]Matt[/mention] asked about why we don’t have jewelry rules in summer ball ... we do.  Any org that says they use NFHS does.

Was going to say the same thing. Most if not all of the summer tournaments my son has played in are NFHS plus modifications (I think we did one a few years ago that started with OBR). Modifications are usually related to game time allowance, ground rules related specifically to tournament fields, substitution, extra innings, standings tiebreakers, etc.

I'm the guy charged with knowing the specifics of the modifications for each tournament, and in about 75 tournaments over the last 5 years, I don't recall a single mod related to jewelry.

[Replacematt]

12 hours ago, agdz59 said:

Isn't there a regular contributor here on said committee?

Not anymore.

[Senor Azul]

The U-E contributor who was on the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee is lawump. I think he served four years on the committee from 2015-2019. He wrote an open letter to us explaining how the committee operates and it can currently be found on page two of the High School forum in a thread titled All Good Things Must Come to an End dated June 11, 2019.