question on the ground rules

[ump0001]

This is my second year as an umpire and i was reading a recent post on the board and it said that showing you know what you are talking about during the ground rules means alot, is there anything special i should go over when i am stating the ground rules, and special or certain rules i should state? thanks

Your question is a little unclear so here what I think you're asking.

Ground rules are specific to each ballpark. You have to know what is in and out for each park. I usually let the coach or captain do the ground rules. That way there is no question what's going on. If you have fields that are missing fences or you have open face dugouts you have to know what's in and out. There are also benches for the bullpens,gates and any other unusual place that needs to be covered. In high school some of the fields we work don.t have a fence from the dugout to the outfield fence. Some places play a ball that hits fair and goes by the outfield fence as all you can get and some make it a double. All these things need to be covered. Basically look around the park and if you have a question make sure before the game how it is handled. If the two coaches can't agree then you decide.

I just reread your post and I think you are asking about the whole plate meeting. I always introduce mtself and my partner. Try to get the names of the coaches but if you miss them just call the coach. Do the lineup exchange and verify everything looks right. If it's FED ask if their teams are properly equiped. Then get the home coach to do the ground rules. Make sure you and the other coach understand. I usually tell both coaches good luck and then tell the home coach to put them on the field. It's not hard but you do want to be confident and relaxed.



[Edited by Michael Taylor on May 19th, 2001 at 10:23 PM]

[senior]

A confident pre-game will do wonders for you. In addition to the "ground rules" clarification, be sure to let them know how you handle the inevitible "questions", and that you expect them to be reasonable to deal with. I have also mentioned for the past few seasons that if their batter comes up to the plate with a bat, I'll assume he's going to try to use it, and I'll be looking for strikes. This saves a lot of griping when I call my ample strike zone, and several times during the game I hear the Coach telling his team "I told you to get up there and swing", rather than griping and complaining to me about strike calls.