Hustling out to positions
 

I was working a middle school game by myself. The home teams gives up 7 runs in the first inning, mostly on errors and the coach is not happy. At the conclusion of the inning, the visiting catcher and pitcher take the field and begin to warm up. The rest of the players (visitors) loaf onto the field. I told the team to "hustle out!" The home coach gets ticked off that the kids (visitors) didn't run onto the field and lets me know about it. The pitcher throws his 8th pitch and we begin w/o delay. This continued throughout the game. Where does my responsibility end and the visiting coaches begin.

Not sure why you care (telling them to hustle out). Not sure why home coach cares, and him yelling at me about it would have gotten some words from me. What the other team does between innings is not only something an umpire should not get involved with, but also something the umpire should not allow the OTHER coach to say a word about.

If they did not delay any actual playing time (and from your words, they didn't) there is nothing for anyone to be even the slightest bit perturbed about. If they were not ready to play by the time the pitcher was, we have a different story ... but I CERTAINLY don't want the opposing coach addressing it.

Why do you care? If the pitcher and catcher are out there doing their job, leave this alone. I would not allow the pitcher and catcher to continue to go over the limit of pitches, but when the other fielders get out there is not something I am going to even address.

Peace

Here at the lower levels(sub varsity and youth ball), we are encouraged to holler "hustle in and out," and most umpires do this just to keep things going. If they don't, that's bad on them

I love it when they don't hustle, then wonder why the catcher is throwing the ball down to second base and they didn't get a chance to warm up. I'm brushing the plate and ready to go to work. 8 and down for a new pitcher, 5 and down for returning pitchers, and I count 'em. I do not tolerate unnecessary delays.

I'm not in charge of team hustle. I'm the umpire. If there is a bonafide delay. I have tools to take care of it.

It's good practice to tell the players to hustle out, especially when there are time limits. At that level, be reasonable. As far as the HC harping on you about it, the second time I'd probably tell him to knock it off. That's not his job. If he continues, give him a warning. I know it sounds trite, but as umpire you don't need to hear it every inning.

Or one minute, timed from the last out of the previous inning, which ever comes first.

That's not his job.

It's not your job either.

I had a game where the pitcher didn't bother to come out for a while for no good reason. I told the catcher to throw the first one down. The pitcher said he was guaranteed five pitches and I told him he used four of them in the dugout.

I will not, will not, WILL NOT tell players to hustle, but I will not play on their clock, either.

Curious why this is "good practice". I'm not the coach. I don't care how they spend their between-innings time. If they delay play, that's a different story and we have remedies/rules for that... but if they want to run laps or play jacks between innings, I don't care - and neither should any of us on this board. Pitcher/catcher get their 8 or 5 pitches or their minute - THAT is our job... "Hustle in/out!!!!" is bush.

(Note - in the OP, even with what I've said regarding the UMPIRE and HIS desire to "hustle" the team out there, I think the bigger crime is allowing the other coach to say a DAMN thing about what their opponent does between innings.)

True - had a tourney game 2 days ago where the pitcher got NO pitches twice in a row, and almost got a ball called on them the 2nd time. First time was a returning pitcher, 2nd time was a new pitcher. They were NOT pleased - but they got the message and were out there timely the rest of the tourney.

He may get 5 pitches, he may get 1. Regardless, they only get a minute. It's their choice what they do during that minute, not mine. They can have a hot dog if they want.

You would think that if the game is played under a time limit it would be in their best interest to hustle. I don't care if they play 2 innings or 7.

I had a game last summer where I didn't allow the catcher to "throw down" boy did I hear about it...but he was taking "forever" and giving me attitude the entire game...it was time for me to enforce some rules that I typically don't enforce.

Read SanDiegoSteve's post again. It isn't my job. It's up to the players and coaches. I don't do it all the time. I don't have to do it for HS games. For lower levels where kids are constantly being moved around, it helps to move the game along so that I don't have to stand there waiting and waiting.

I do it as a courtesy. For those who don't, fine.

Our games around here start @ 6:30 PM, so I kind of enjoy the first month when I know neither team has had their infield and I walk onto the field at 6:25 PM and call for the plate meeting.

Coaches typically give you the, "But we didn't get an infield." or "They had an infield and we didn't". I tell them, "Game starts @ 6:30 and plate meeting happens @ 6:25 PM. Next time show up earlier and make sure you get your infield if you really want one."

I typically show up 30 minutes before the game and walk around the field. When the coaches see me, it doesn't take long for them to get their infields going!!! :)

Well, I've never heard before that saying "hustle in and out" was bush league. It's the first I've ever heard about it. I guess I never got the memo. Most top level umpires I have worked with, including former MiLB guys, even use it as the teams are switching sides. Some say, "bounce out" or "who's walkin'?" or "nobody walks but the mailman" or some variation, but they do say something when necessary.

At higher levels (varsity +) it is usually unnecessary to say anything, because the big boys hustle out as a general rule. It is at the lower levels that it helps move the game along. There are a lot of primadonnas out here who just don't show any kind of interest in playing baseball.

I don't care what they do between innings in the dugout, but once they hit the field, I want them running out to the outfield, not dragging their feet, hanging their heads, and acting like they don't want to be there. I resent their lack of hustle mostly because I show up on time, dressed neat as a pin, and hustle my a$$ off while I'm there, and I expect them to do the same.

No, it's not my job to tell them to hustle, but I sure don't want to listen to them whine that they didn't get to warm up properly either. It cuts into my game time when they take longer than one minute between half innings.

I agreee SDS...teams get furious when an umpire is 5 minutes late for a game (I agree, 5 mins late for gametime is totally unacceptable) but let me go with this...but I consistently show up 30 even 45 mins to an hour early sometimes and nothing annoys me more than when we end up starting the game 10 minutes late (no game before, no waiting on grounds crew)...what do you guys do/say to make sure the game starts on time without giving the impression that you're on a power trip?? What do you tell the visiting teams who show up too late and then whine about not getting an infield...I would refer this question to adult league games...typically my FED/American Legion games are on time...

As indicated in my post, the game starts at time X, I show up for plate meeting at X- 5 minutes. End of infield, outfields, etc. Time for lineup exchange and plate meeting. If they cry about not having infields etc, I tell them to show up earlier next time. It works like a charm.

so they run out to take infield and pretend not to hear you...do you play tough guy here? hasn't happened to me yet...but I could imagine that it could...

If I'm standing three feet infront of him saying, "Coach, infield is over. Time for the lineups." He's going to hear me.

Yep, he hears you...big deal...now what?

We start the game. What's so hard about this?

Your kidding me right? You're going to let a coach ignore you when your standing three feet in front of him and telling him to get his players off the field.

We can get into the what if's till the cows come home.... but if it did happen, I suppose my reaction would be, "Coach we really don't want to start the game this way do we? I'll give you one minute to get your players off the field and you or your replacement to meet me back here with the lineup. Up to you. Thanks"

nothing...but realistically speaking...they keep taking infield and simply pretend not to hear you...is it worth it? or do you wait another 5 minutes and not have to be the tough guy? I get it fellas, and I understand...just looking for a realistic answer here...

I did a tournament game last night - 7 pm start. I'm at the field at 6:40 discussing any special tournament rules, etc. At 6:50, I'm getting baseballs. At 6:52 I'm at the field 100' away and tell the coach, 'you got 3 minutes'. He says why do I only get 3, they had 7'. I said, 'I'm just the umpire ready to start the game'. 6:58 pregame is over, team takes field. 7:00 sharp, First pitch. If I don't say a word, game starts between 7:05 and 7:10. They pay me to start a game on time. So far every game I've done this year has started on time. Telling them to hustle out once in a while keeps the game moving. If that's bush to some, I'll take it any time.

okay...thank you...that's all I'm looking for...yes, I have no problem taking control of the game...but finally, I got some advice...thank you

If you can't stand up to them before the game how much respect do you think their going to give you during the game??

it's not an issue of that...I have no problem managing a game...it's determining what battles to fight...umpiring is a hobby for me, not a job...I wouldn't do it for free, but I don't care to come in to a field wearing a badge either...because that's not fun for me...

Then let both teams do whatever they want. Enjoy your 2 plus hour games.

And, BTW, I know what your response is going to be: "My longest game this year has only been 1 hour and (insert minutes here)", though your previous posts would not corroborate that.

JMO