Lineup exchange

[Guest labdude]

Am I supposed to give the lineup cards back to the coaches after they give me the copies?

[maven]

Keep your copy to mark substitutions and make game notes.

[The Man in Blue]

Line up card management is a SEVERE blind spot in our umpire training.  It took me a a few years to realize why it was important, and even longer to figure out a good system for it.  I'm still working on it.

The biggest hindrance to me is no uniformity in the physical line up cards themselves.  While there is a prescribed way for coaches to fill out the line up card, there is no physical spec put on the card itself.  This just makes it awkward, unwieldy, and problematic when we are left no space to record substitutes in a uniform manner or space to record anything else we need to record.

We were talking about this in another thread, but a game card can help you take care of the consistent administrative tasks (conferences, courtesy runners, etc.) and provide you some room to work.

Plate meeting:

You should review the card to make sure no player numbers are duplicated ("Coach, you have #25 on here twice") and that every position has only one player assigned.  You should then verify the lineup with the coach, "make it official", and then ask if the coach if there are any changes.  There is some advantage to making a DH (or DP/Flex in softball) change at this point, so it is not unheard of.  Also use this opportunity to verify that all the players listed are legally equipped.  (No, do not ask him individually, "Is #3 legally equipped.  OK, how about #6?  Yep, and #62?" 😁)

My system for subs:

When a player exits the first time, a slash (this guy: / ) through the number.  Write the sub's number next to this.  I use a red fine point Sharpie and if have quit caring if I have to write over the player's name.

Cross out the sub on the substitute list (this guy: ------ )

If the player re-enters, the sub gets slashed (this guy: / ) and the re-entering player gets circled.  (Now he looks like the Ghostbusters logo.  This is backwards for me, but you get the idea: 🚫.)

If the player leaves and has no re-entry privilege left, they get the second slash leaving them with a big red X over their number.  They are done for the day.

Courtesy runners:

I used to note CR1 (for the pitcher) or CR2 (for the catcher) and the inning next to the sub's number in the sub section.  SO a CR in the 3rd inning for the pitcher would look like this: CR1-3 Now I use a tracking card that I designed with the help of that other thread.

This video has been posted before:

It's a bit much, IMO, but it is very thorough!

[blue23ll]

I have seen all kinds of lineup cards this season,  from a 3x5 card sized one to an 81/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper!

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

@The Man in Blue nails it again. As "Brad" said in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Learn it. Know it. Live it."

~Dawg

[ousafe]

Early in my umpiring career, I once accepted a lineup with names only (no jersey numbers). Huge mistake that I will never make again.

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, ousafe said:

Early in my umpiring career, I once accepted a lineup with names only (no jersey numbers). Huge mistake that I will never make again.

 

I think the problem was how you handled it when you realized it.  Making the players all take their jerseys off may have seemed like a simple solution at the time ... 😁

[834k3r]

6 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Line up card management is a SEVERE blind spot in our umpire training.  It took me a a few years to realize why it was important, and even longer to figure out a good system for it.  I'm still working on it...

<snip>

If @The Man in Blue is still working on a good system, I don't feel bad for not having it down myself.

Personal lesson learned:  our association for JV and below allows for unlimited subs--but are married together. Same with courtesy runners. Pretty much a free-for-all and our district's JV/Frosh coaches have struggled with letting the PU (at least in my experience) know about subs. That leads to lackadaisical attitude about tracking subs by the PU (well, it did for me)...until last week. HT coach used a courtesy runner for his catcher--no worries. At the end of that half inning, VT coach comes to me and says "that last courtesy runner was his starting left fielder."

Oops. EggOnFace.gif

Never again will I let that happen.