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Old Thu Aug 07, 2003, 07:52am
Ump20 Ump20 is offline
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Eye Black Seems stupid

Quote:
Originally posted by Bainer
Hey guys-
I'm a little nervous about starting another thread after the debacle that ensued last time, but here goes-

In last year's season end tournament, a position player (RF)was brought in to pitch in a late inning. The player was wearing eye black.

The opposing teams manager, performing his best Earl Weaver impression, claimed that the eye black, a 'foreign substance' should not be allowed onto the mound.

The umpire ruled that the spirit of the rule was to prevent the pitcher from using a 'foreign substance' on the ball, and so, allowed the player to remain on the mound, along with his eye black.

The manager filed a protest with the tournament committee, and WON! They did find however, that it had no impact on the game, so the result stood. We were thereafter instructed that eye black would not be permitted on pitchers...[snipped]

Bainer.
I think that the opposing coach watches far too much television especially old Orioles games with Earl Weaver or more recent Mets' games with Bobby Valentine.

This said I also think that pitchers who wear eye black look silly BUT I would not make them remove it. HOWEVER as umpires we should remember at times that ours is a service business. If a league decides pitchers should not wear eye black I would have absolutely no problem enforcing that rule and moving on so long as they knew that they are adding their own local flavor to the existing rules of the game. We have leagues that tell us to enforce a No Jewelry rule. Personally I see a big difference between a simple necklace tucked inside a shirt vs. a dangling Lawrence Taylor earring or a Mr. T five band gold necklace BUT in those leagues I announce "no jewelry" and I enforce the ones that are obvious violators.

I bet there is more to this than meets the eye (no pun intended) and it is that the committee has No Umpires on it. None of us appreciate when our views are not honored or even sought. Jim/NYC
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