Quote:
Originally Posted by ASA/NYSSOBLUE
Holy smoke! I go through two stainless steel ones a year! 
Once the numbers cease locking into place, its sayonara.....
Actually, I usually have THREE in rotation. The oldest one which is my 'bad weather' one, one that is still serviceable and clicks for the bases, and a new one for the plate. Obsessive? Yes!
And I have never used a four wheeler - I ALWAYS know what inning it is! Okay, except the time in a modified FP game that was going so quick, we missed that the home team had got their 10 runs ahead in bottom 4, and we were in B5, when we realized it - game still only took 45 minutes 
STILL looking for the four wheeler with Strikes/Balls/Outs/Hot Moms on it though  |
I started using 4-wheel indicators early on because the umpires in that league were also supposed to keep track of score. Since the wheel goes 0-9, it made counting real easy, even for someone like me. Just click 'em as they cross the plate.
I still kept that habit when I moved here and found that the actual scorekeepers at a particular field weren't doing their damn jobs. They'd miss runs all the time because they were too busy watching TV or reading the paper. I'd click 'em off as they crossed the plate, and if there was any dispute between the teams (rare), at least there was a neutral party (me) who could verify that yes, 10 runs did score that inning. I know, not officially my job, but it's a matter of survival since I'm the one who would end up getting the brunt of their anger (scorekeepers were up in a tower with the windows closed and no working phones).
I've got too much muscle memory in my hand to switch to a 3-wheel indicator now.