my .02
 

If I'm on the plate and you are on the bases, Im looking out and you are looking in.........and you see lightning..........throw your hands up and call time.............

I dont know of anyone I work with that would criticize you for stopping the game........

To me, its just understood that that is one of those things we have equal jurisdiction over..........

Agreed...I've suspended the game quite a few times while on the bases. If my partner disagrees, well that's his tough luck because I'm having everyone inside of the dugouts or emergency shelters immediately. It's one topic I will decide without directly discussing it with my partner, it's for his safety as well.

Seems as though nobody really carries such a device regularly.

-Josh

The unit that the original poster was referring to is made by Strike Alert and it works very well. I have several friends that officiate soccer and they always wear them when the weather warrants. I am told that the units rarely give false alarms (unless you are near a welder) and the units have given ample notice for the officials to clear the fields for an impending storm.

That said, I never invested in one. I check the radar on my cell phone before the game and if there are cells moving in our direction, I inform my partner that we need to be on the lookout. We inform the managers at the plate meeting of the possibility of a weather problem and that thunder will be the first clue that we may clear the fields. I have never had a problem with HS, Summer or Fall leagues using this formula:

• Lightning is difficult to see in daylight.
• In order to hear thunder, lightning had to have occurred.
• If I hear thunder, lightning will soon be seen.
• Successive thunder claps mean clear the field (read below for the reasons).

Now, we don't have the advantage here in CT of being able to see for 30 or 40 miles out. Hell, we are lucky if the terrain allows us to see 4 or 5 miles! So when we see lightning (during daylight hours), it's right on top of us.

Exactly Oz...
 

Since I have a few alternate vocations in the 'Youth Arena', I purchased one of these units.

It is reliable, rarely falses (cell phone calls, motors and fluorescent lamp starts), and gives a decent heads up in my neck-o-the-woods. Which is usually actually IN the woods (Scouting)!

For baseball, it has given me no advantage over simply being alert (and having an alert partner).

One time, it indicated a series of strikes 20-40 miles away. At that time, there was a clear blue sky above. Nothing to indicate trouble brewing. In about 45-50 minutes, the storm was upon us and the game was suspended. That was the only time an alert was associated with a game I was in.

I have used this device more so while camping and hiking since the skyline is even more obscured there.

FWIW.

Strike Alert is a portable system. It's called a personal detector. About $75.

There is also one called Sky Scan (About $200 with Power Adapter). Sky Scan also has a more rugged version for about $800. We have the $200 one at our park.

The permanent one with siren etc. is probably a ThorGuard. It seems to be fairly widely used. From what I've heard form a couple of users, expect to pay 5 figures.

Internet search
 

Not to sure what that will turn up. But if you travel to Phoenix, AZ, they have quite a selection for planning purposes. I would say Phoenix probably has more baseball fields per square mile than any other big city. Check out the lighting at the Red Mountain complex. Others are home to cactus league MLB teams. A few are city diamonds formerly owned by MLB teams.