The Official Forum  

Go Back   The Official Forum > Baseball

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 29, 2019, 09:38am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 90
NFHS 2 umpire required?

Was doing a high school softball game, and the baseball game on the field over had an umpire not show up. The other umpire refused to do the game by himself (or with the help of a parent) and reference that there must be 2 officials at a NFHS game in case issues arise or protests, so he declined to umpire the game and the teams just went home.

Is this a rule somewhere? I have many times umpired a game by myself when the other umpire got sick or whatever and couldnt find a replacement, but i never knew of this kind of situation.

Any comments?
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 29, 2019, 10:49am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 70
Could be a local/state rule. Five years removed from working in Penn. but I remember seeing in the state official’s manual there was a minimum you could start and finish a game with, for all sports. Baseball was had to have 2 to start, but could finish with one.

I’d consider doing solo, but not with a parent.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 29, 2019, 11:53am
LRZ LRZ is offline
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: SE PA
Posts: 768
I just scanned the current PA Officials Manual; unless I overlooked it, there is no mention of the number of officials required for any sport.

Without knowing the underlying facts and circumstances, I would not criticize the umpire's refusal to work solo.
Reply With Quote
  #4 (permalink)  
Old Thu Aug 29, 2019, 05:06pm
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 70
Quote:
Originally Posted by LRZ View Post
I just scanned the current PA Officials Manual; unless I overlooked it, there is no mention of the number of officials required for any sport.

Without knowing the underlying facts and circumstances, I would not criticize the umpire's refusal to work solo.
Looked at it too after I posted and didn’t see it. May have been removed or in a different memo, but I remember seeing it a list of minimums. Like I said, 5 years removed from working PIAA.
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old Fri Aug 30, 2019, 06:49am
Official Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 145
Quote:
Originally Posted by BSBAL18 View Post
Is this a rule somewhere?
Not in Illinois. High school games in the Chicago area frequently have only one umpire, or so I am told.
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old Fri Aug 30, 2019, 11:04pm
Statistician/Ref Hybrid
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: 127.0.0.1
Posts: 1,037
Is it possible it existed at one point but the growing shortage of umpires across the country has led to these requirements being repealed?

In my part of the mitten state, the crunch for umpires is such that it would be difficult to assign two umpires to each and every sub-varsity game (MS, FR, JV) -- even with schools trying to be accommodating in their scheduling. All it takes is one sick, injured, or no-show umpire on any given day to throw a monkey wrench into the day's assignments.

As an example, I had to start a freshman baseball doubleheader solo this Spring because my partner was needed to do the bases in a varsity game going on concurrently at the same site. Once that game ended, he came to my field to finish that game on the bases and did game two on the dish.

At least one area league, due to the shortage of umpires, assigns only one to their Freshman and JV baseball/softball games.
__________________
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." – Dalai Lama

The center of attention as the lead & trail. – me
Games officiated: 525 Basketball · 76 Softball · 16 Baseball
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old Sat Aug 31, 2019, 11:03am
Rich's Avatar
Get away from me, Steve.
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 15,767
Wisconsin requires 2 umpires at every level of HS baseball and softball.

If there's one, the teams can scrimmage, but there can be no game.

Personally, I'm happy about this, because there are schools that would hire 1 just to save some bucks.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
NFHS - Required to Enter Subs ? Chess Ref Softball 9 Sat May 11, 2013 03:26pm
New NFHS Two-Umpire Mechanic. Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. Baseball 32 Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:20pm
NFHS Illegal Sub / Umpire Screwup SRW Softball 7 Sat May 16, 2009 02:23pm
Umpire Interference (NFHS Rules)?? Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. Baseball 17 Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:50pm
NFHS CLINIC umpire umpiregal65 Softball 4 Thu Feb 22, 2007 09:44pm


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:40pm.



Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0 RC1