Covering base with dirt
 

Hey guys, had a weird situation happen the other night, Let me know if I handled this right or not. It's High School Fall Ball, pretty good players,but just having fun at this stage of year. I've got the plate the first game, kid hits apparent triple, but can't find second base, so he stops to find it. Coach want 3rd for runner I tell him no he gets second but we'll try to keep bases wiped off better. 2nd game I'm in the field same team out in the field, batter doubles, I clean off base the very next pitch he steals, but its a foul ball, I point the kid back to second but second is no where to be found. I walk over and theres a 1/2 inch off dirt over the base I ask SS and 2b are you guys covering the base with dirt, they just laugh which tell me they are, so I say next runner who can't find 2nd I'm going to call obstruction. It did'nt happen anymore. My fellow umpires said I should have ran the kid, but I did'nt actually see them cover the base. What do you guys think?

Mike

No one else saw them doing it either? Not even R2 between the double and the foul ball?

It's unsporting and they could be ejected. In fall ball, I'd probably laugh along.

If anyone did see it no one said anything. I did laugh about it it was sorta funny. But I got to thinking what if this was in the regular season or maybe a big game.

Why eject anyone for covering the base? Just call everyone safe! They will get the idea sooner or later.

And where does the OP think he is going to find a rule to call obstruction for covering a base? Still trying to make up your own rules, Kleff?

Reminds me of what Jim Evans says about umpires who clean off the bases. Why would you want to do that? If nobody can see the base, they can't really argue with your safe/out calls!

Rule 2.00 OBSTRUCTION is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.

Did the fielders NOT impede the progress of the runner? I'm just sayin'...:)

And that's one of the reasons I think Evans is a pompous a$$!:)

I sure want the bases to look just like they do in the major leagues; clean and white. You think Evans ever let dirt pile up on the side of the base so a runner sliding in can shoot right over it? They don't let the dirt pile up on the bases in the pros, so why should we in our sandboxes we work in?

Not in my opinion! Remember, I am calling the runner safe. :rolleyes:

?
 

I don't understand how a runner would stop and not know where second base was?

This post just blows me away. Bases should, by rule, be a minimum of three inches thick. So maybe the bag is only two inches thick as it may be on some of the fields we work. Like, wouldn't there be a mound of dirt where the bag was? I'd really like to see someone cover a bag with dirt so I couldn't tell where it was. Maybe look under that four inch mound of dirt on an otherwise fairly flat infield. Preposterous!

I have never seen a pro umpire clean a base.

That's because they never get covered with dirt. If they did, they would call the grounds crew out to clean it. And the grounds crew changes the bases midway through every game, so they always are fresh and white. Plus, they don't play in sandboxes where the dirt piles up to start with. They play on manicured infield dirt that doesn't gather all over the bases. And I have seen MLB umpires kick dirt from in front of second base after a runner has slid in. Those guys want that edge of the base clean. Nobody wants to see the runner slide into a pile of dirt and not be touching the base.

I will kick a base, but I will never carry a brush to clean a base or the rubber. The softball guys tend to love to clean those all the time!!

I will also never work to fix a base or clean out the post, thats the home teams job, not mine.

You either don't understand humor or have never met Jim. Pompous? No. Opinionated? Yes. But unlike some who post here who claim to be experts on everything about umpiring, he can back it up. And he does so with humor and good natured self deprecation.

Yeah, well Evans must have forgotten what it's like to umpire on fields with tons of loose dirt that completely obliterates the bases.

Hey, I don't have to like the same people that anyone else does. Something, and I can't put my finger on it precisely, has always irritated me about him.