[PeteBooth]

I thought I would get off the Divisional Championships NL/ALCS and World Series for a minute and discuss something that's closer to home

I along with probably most of you umpire a variety of leagues. In my experience, there are no 2 amateur leagues alike, meaning they each have their own nuances or what I refer to as "House Rules".

Also, some even have some strange ones like only 1 base award on any over throw. RE: DBT is only 4 to 5 feet on either side of first or third so virtually any errant throw winds up in DBT.

I umpire a mens league in which they have a 3 hit batter rule meaning if F1 hits the 4th batter, he MUST be removed.

I can go on and on. My point is I 've heard some umpires say "I don't umpire games unless they play by REAL rules"
What are REAL rules?

The leagues we service are the CUSTOMERS so who really cares about what rules they play by. It's THEIR game not ours, so simply enforce whatever they want.

In addition, some umpires say "You are asking for a can of worms accepting House rule type games" My answer "How am I"

I don't know about you but I've umpired games where the rules were determined at the plate conference. It goes something like this "Hey Skip what are we doing today"

Skip " Blue we are using OBR EXCEPT we want the FED DH rule and the FED Force Play Slide rule" If the league(s) do not like the outcome of THEIR own rules then it's up to them to change it.

Some of these leagues especially the mens league pay a good umpire FEE. The men's league in my area pays $75.00 for 9 and $65.00 for 7 and they use WOOD bats so the game doesn't drag on.

Therefore what's your experience with "House Rules" and do you have a problem taking games in which they have some strange rules.

Pete Booth