Pre-game (days prior) Communication

[Thunderheads]

Hey everyone, ...

This is just a generic question about communicating with my partners a couple days before games.  Our association requires us to touch base and confirm the games on our arbiter a few days in advance w/ the schools.   At that point ...the umpires should communicate with each other.  When I do this, I just specify my time of arrival, my cell #, my vehicle (if I've never worked with them) and then, I let them choose bases or plate (for a single obviously).  Now, every once in a while, I'm asked to take the plate for whatever reason, but it happens, but aside from that, I throw it at my partner.

by the way, our assignor doesn't care who's listed first or second, he wants the umpires to work the game how they decide.

How do YOU do it?  And before we start, this is NOT to stir the pot, or cause an argument, ...there's NO CORRECT answer, I'm just wondering what others do, or go through ...   Thanks!

[Umpire in Chief]

HS & Below - We'd have to communicate 2 days in advance with our partner to get coordinated. Who is doing what, where to meet anything else important.

College - I think it was 3 days in advance. with the partner. Then who ever was listed as the plate communicated with the home coach the day of and the assigner the day of. 

[SH0102]

I work college, HPU for Game 1 is listed so that is never an issue, and they are supposed to contact home school.

I don't do HS anymore but still do HS Summer tournaments, and typically I contact partner in as much advance as possible (oftentimes Summers we know our partner the day/night before morning games), I tell them who I am, when I will arrive, they already have my cell # since I am contacting them, what shirts I have, and try to determine who is doing what plates, though only the 1st one is of utmost importance to determine.

My only preference about plates is changing as few times as possible, so 2/2 rather than 1/1/1/1 or 3/2 if it is a 5-game day rather than 2/2/1, unless it is insanely hot where 3 in a row would be a death sentence.

For a single game (Mon - Wed), I would always prefer to be plate, but I too usually let my partner decide because I don't care much either way, but tourneys are usually Thurs - Sun and are always multiple games.

[BLarson]

I don't do a ton of 2-man games...but seems like when I offer my partner plate or base, they always choose base.   Doesn't bother me for a single game.
But I agree with @SH0102 I try to have a strategy when doing multiple games a day on a Saturday/Sunday.
On hot days I try to volunteer to do the plate the first 2-3 games in the morning.

[Mudisfun]

In our HS unit, the assignments are pretty much what we are expected to work. Plate guy is expected to communicate with the school several days ahead, and if they are really cool partners, they will actually include the base umpire in the email.

CIF only allows us to wear 4 shirts: Black with gray panel, black with white piping on the side, blue with black panel, blue with black piping. With that overwhelming choice of colors, I just show up... Knowing ahead is not really an issue since I have the 4 shirts in the car anyhow. 

In off season ball, often we don't know our partners until the day before, sometimes the day of... in that case I'll bring the wardrobe and we will figure out who is where from there. 

[LMSANS]

HS association - assigned plate/base, but can switch if partner agrees. I will call the school to confirm on game day. I then call my partner and confirm TOA, parking place and position. Since I called him, I have his number and he has mine.

[SeeingEyeDog]

Great question...for my association, the first communication should be an email by the crew chief to the rest of the crew no later than 48 hours prior to game time and everyone on the crew should confirm receipt no later than 24 hours prior to game time. Once we are inside 24 hours...phone call(s) are required. The things each crew is trying to clarify prior to the game is: make, model and color of vehicles, cell phone numbers, arrival time (usually 45 minutes before game time) and parking location.

Once the crew has arrived at the site, the crew chief is responsible for making the game assignments (plate/bases). Once the assignments have been made, the plate umpire chooses the shirt color (assuming of course, everyone has that color). We can wear navy or black (with league and US flag patches) for HS games. For all travel and adult rec games, we are required to wear navy or light blue OR...any other color as long as the crew matches.

And as a suggestion...I have started keeping an image library of Google Earth satellite images of the sites I work with indications of parking and entrance/egress which I share with partners as part of my pre-game communication.

~Dawg