[greymule]

When I played at the high school level in Connecticut (1964-1966), we had the same plate ump for just about every game. Base umps varied quite a bit, though. Even in college in Maine (1968-1970), where we were competitive with anybody in the Northeast (there were no divisions in those days), I can remember only two plate umps for our home games, and one had starred at our college for our coach (who went on to U of Maine and several college world series). Funny though, again the base umps varied. When we played Boston University, we knew who the plate ump would be; same with B.C., Northeastern, Tufts, and some other schools. Nobody thought anything of it. Guess things have changed quite a bit.

In my FED association here in New Jersey, the assigner is very careful to spread the umps around: never two in a row at the same school, no more than three home games a season, never the same two teams, never at a school your kids attend (even if they don't play), and coaches cannot ask for certain guys or even say they don't want certain guys.