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Originally Posted by Rich Ives
Because you can't order the coaches to give you the lineups until the plate meeting.
As to the rule (What constitutes "previous notice" may or may not be part of your contract - if you have one - with the league.):
4.01
Unless the home club shall have given previous notice that the game has been postponed or will be delayed in starting, the umpire, or umpires, shall enter the playing field five minutes before the hour set for the game to begin and proceed directly to home base where they shall be met by the managers of the opposing teams. In sequence --
(a) First, the home manager shall give his batting order to the umpire-in-chief, in duplicate.
(b) Next, the visiting manager shall give his batting order to the umpire-in-chief, in duplicate.
Given that the "ground crew" at most parks has real jobs they don't get to the field much before you do to assess the conditions and get to work fixing as required, your expectation that things be pristine at game time after a day of rain are out of place - and quite naive.
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Naive? Maybe in your mind. I'm there to work. If the field isn't ready at gametime, then my contract terms have changed.
Likewise, I've arrived on the field five minutes before gametime to hear that a team hasn't taken batting practice yet. Well, too bad. Game time is 6PM, we start at 6PM, not 6:20PM.
For you and anyone else that thinks I should be flexible, how about I start showing up at 6:20PM for a 6PM start and see how long that's tolerated.
And I would've left even if it was a LL game. Being a volunteer doesn't mean I am going to stand around and wait for a field to get prepped.