Quote:
Originally posted by RPatrino
I don't carry a push broom, so I never dust the mound, or any base other then home. I don't fix bases, water the field, rake the field, remove lines, redraw lines or any other general housekeeping items.
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Well I had a disagreement with Tee about clean off the pitching rubber, and since have stopped doing it, I think what Seattle is saying is not a horrible thing. If an ump is going to do a little preventive officiating with the pitcher, kicking dirt off the rubber, while looking down at the the ground and talking to the pitcher makes it look a little less obvious.
I recently saw the videos the NCAA put out to it's umpires for training purposes and in one of the clips the home plate umpire did exactly that. He kicked around some dirt while standing between the batter and catcher while basically telling them to chill out on the talking they were doing. It was to the point with them and yet subtle to others. Was he really worried about groundskeeping? No, just keeping the game under control without blowing it out of proportion and his body actions helped in achieving that.