Umpire "Etiquette"

[MikeStrybel]

Originally Posted by jdmara

I'd like to hear how this situation was remedied?

-Josh

We had a rough Spring here, Josh. In fact, our playoff games were delayed due to the rain and field conditions. I'm not sure how many baseballs are issued by the state for these contests but they were depleted quickly at our field. It seemed that almost every outfield hit required a new baseball. Between innings, the HC would almost always pick up the game ball and rub it up as his pitcher came out. This hadn't been a problem as the ground was saturated and we did all we could to keep the balls clean and dry. He saw the ball and waved it to me. I figured he wanted another one and flipped one that I had just been given to his pitcher as he came on the field.

After inspecting the suspect baseball, I approached the other HC and asked him why he didn't give me an official ball. He pleaded innocent and said that he just grabbed a ball from the bucket after he saw me show empty ball bags. We had used the supply of new balls and were toweling off others as the game progressed. He knew the opposing HC and apologized loud enough for him to be placated. The opposing team wound up winning so karma prevailed.