Has Anybody Read.....

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Tim C

To correctly measure a mound you need engineering tools. Slope of field and other oddities can cause a "mound" to look taller than it is. You may consider yourself an "expert" since you once coached I would suggest otherwise.

In the Portland area we had a school that "everyone" complained about the mound height. The OSAA and the league the team played in hired an engineer and the mound was found in compliance with the rules.

As an umpire it is not your responsibility to decide if a mound is legal or not.

Simply tell the offended team to file a complaint with the league.

You have enough real issues to deal with.

Regards,

Yup, some mounds just appear to be higher cause the hill itself is smaller than at other fields. I've never given this a second thought.

I have walked a field before an important game at an unfamiliar field before. Playoffs, unfamiliar crew, we'll do it as part of our pregame, sometimes before we change into uniform.

Funny, in football, we walk the field 30-45 minutes before every varsity game as a matter of course. I walk with the umpire in one direction, and the line judge and linesman walk the other. Of course, we have other duties to perform along the way, but I couldn't imagine not doing this before a game.