How many times a year do you have to call managers back to the plate to go through the ground rules? It seems like by week 3 or 4 the managers say Hi, who's home, lets play.

I know the rules dont change for the league. However, I like to go through them to remind them and myself what the rules are.

How many of you make sure to have this meeting before every game and is there anything that you always stress?

There IS a meeting before every game.

Line-up cards ARE exchanged.

Ground rules ARE covered and I don't care how many times the teams have played on that field. Actually, that is why you do ALWAYS cover the ground rules. Like some rules, every field may not look the same to all umpires. There will always be some putz who will start to argue about what Old Joe used last week. I simply ask them if his/her teammate covered the ground rules with the team. After getting a blank stare for a few seconds, I suggest there be a nice conversation with that individual AT THE END of that half inning.

BTW, if you ever have a coin flip, that should always, without fail, be the last part of the pre-game. If you flip the coin first, you could tell them you are dating their mom/dad and they'll not hear you.

The pleasure of working on a real ball park--
everything enclosed and by the book.
The horror of working in converted cow pastures--
"the imaginary line from the backstop to the
big pine tree to the left of the foul line"--
etc. --
such fun !

There is a FP park in our district that has a power line that traverses from center field towards the 1st base dugout...........

As sure as God made little green apples............the one game every two years that this particular powerline is not covered in the ground rules............a fly ball hits it..........

Makes for some interesting conversation..........

I only call on this field 8-10 times a year...........but I ALWAYS cover the local ground rule involving this wire...........

Joel

I used to work men's slo-pitch at a ball field
that had a very short right field with trees that
had a parking lot and public swimming pool
behind them.
The park rule was anything hitting a tree
or going over them was a "ground rule SINGLE".
The macho lefty power hitters would still try to
crank them into the pool for fun !!
The rule should have included retrieving the ball
when they did that !

Even better, I worked a regular season slowpitch tournament in a small city where the fence was only 275 or 285 (I forget which). Any hit over the fence was a foul ball. There were still guys who tried to hit it over the fence, especially if they knew someone else's car was back there. One even knew the opposing pitcher's car was there, and would you know it, shattered glass followed!