Hey folks,
Anyone have a problem with fulfilling a request to brush the plate? I have never thought twice about cleaning off the dish, and would feel as though I was not doing a great job if the catcher or coach had to ask.

Today in my son's 9-10 LL post season tournament I told the catcher to call time and ask for the plate to be brushed. I had noticed it from the 3B box in the last half. The PU turns to me in the dugout and asks "why"? So from the dugout I say "So my pitcher can get a better look at it". He does the brush then calls "Time" himself and calls me out of the dugout with his forefinger.

He was upset with the request because he thought I was asking him to brush it so HE could get a better view (He apparently though I was chipping the zone he was calling). I had not even thought of that 'till he tells me. BYW it's the bottom of the 6th and we are in jepardy of walking in the tieing run (11-11). Pitcher is struggling to find the zone.

My question is this:
Would you consider this type of request as chipping, or is it some type of chip that I am just unaware of?

Thanks,
SG

He might've been a tad bit sensitive if I can believe your version of events. Probably in his version of events he would say you were not being particularly nice about asking him to brush off the plate for his pitcher.

Nonetheless, you're 90 feet away in the coacher's box. The pitcher is on a 10-inch high hill looking down on the plate from only 60-1/2 feet away. I'm sure he can see it better.

Plate umpires should not be meticulous about brushing the plate. It interrupts the flow of the game. Of course, they should keep it relatively clean using natural breaks in the game to do their task. Baseball is played outdoors in the dirt. You can't keep dirt off the plate for every pitch. And an umpire shouldn't try.

Finally, there is an old pet peeve among umpires that you stumbled on. It is a tradition dating back decades and decades. Don't request that the plate be cleaned loudly for everyone to hear. Some <b>will</b> draw the conclusion that you're making a subtle hint that the umpire cannot see the plate. No need to complain about it. It's older than the hills and you cannot change it. You have been warned.

The umpires know when and where to dust the plate. For someone to ask, then the umpire to jump to it, in my mind, shows the umpire is listening to more than he needs to, and that he is going succumb to a request in a whim.

The umpire should dust the plate:

In between innings
when a play at/around the plate has placed dirt on it
when there is a visit to the mound
and anytime there is dead ball

This is only if the umpire thinks it is warranted...and that is enough. Anything else is ubsurd. Parrellax view being one of them.

1. On some of the diamonds we use, the plate can get covered completely just by the batter digging in. Thus, we clean the plate more often than those times listed by "whowefoolin".

2. If you're doing your job, no one will have to ask.

GB

Hey I understand those little portable shop vacs with the extendable handle makes brushing the plate faster and do a much better job. Heck you can carry on your belt and whip it right out for any last minute requests.

And when someone says, "Hey Blue, You Suck!!"............

It sounds like I am in the minority, but if a catcher asked me to clean the dish, it would probably not bug me. I tend to try to treat catchers with a lot of respect and give them a lot of leeway during the game since they are sacrificing their own bodies to keep me from getting killed. The issue around the coach yelling the request would depend on the tone, manner and actions that have gone on to that point. Seems like a small thing to pick a fight over to me.

Most of the time, if dust falls on it and I do not want to hold up the game at that point I just step forward and swipe the edges with my foot to make sure I can see them. That seems to work OK and does not hold up play.

brandda, I don't think you are in the minority. Everyone seems to feel that this is part of our job, just as protecting blue is part of the catcher's job. It just seems awfully funny how a coach from 90' away can get in a tizzy over something like a little dust on the plate.

If you read the orignial post you will see that this was a LL game (60') and I was in the dugout (even less). Dish had only been dusted once previously in the game.

No "tizzy" just asked it be cleared, the plate was nearly covered.

Thanks for the responses,
Funny how a post can affect the responses just because I happen to be the coach this time rather than the blue.

No. The tone of the responses was because we all placed ourselves into the situation you posed and then empathized with the umpire. As a coach, asking the umpire to clean the plate is just a way to be a weisenheimer. When they can't see it, the catcher or pitcher will let the umpire know. Otherwise, let the umpire decide when it needs sweeping.