Important lessons learned....and more questions asked

[ozzy6900]

Addendum to my normal rant about plate meetings.

The lack of proper field lines needs to be addressed. This is handled by you and your partner taking a stroll to the field before the game and getting a bead on things. My partner & I will determine an object to line up with the outside edge of 1st & 3rd base. This will take care of us calling the fair & foul.

Now when the plate meeting rolls around, I simply let the managers know how we are lining up everything. This lets them realize that we are aware there are no lines but have made a plan to compensate. I then tell them, "Gentlemen, due to the lack of proper field preparation, my partner and I will be as accurate as we possibly can. Please assist us by allowing us and only us to make the call." Total additional time = 15 seconds bringing the total plate meeting to about 1 minute even.

I work many fields that are not properly marked in the early Spring and during the Fall seasons. I rarely have any problem because we are honest with the managers. Also by showing them that we have objects that we use to help with our decisions, it shows them that we are trying to do a proper job.

Regards