In league play, the individual umpire has full reign over whether to suspend play or not.

In tournaments, the UIC typically has control.

So, you are on the field and have clearly seen multiple flashes of lightning, but the UIC has not yet suspended play.

What do you treasure more, your life or your not getting black-balled?

Multiple?

First flash, and I am calling the UIC over to tell him. If he didn't see it, and we keep playing, I'm definitely done on the 2nd flash.

Doesn't anyone remember the lightning flash that hit the football field where junior high kids were practicing? It didn't hit anyone specifically, but they had a couple of deaths and SEVERAL kids in the hospital for days.

Don't F with Lightning - it will win.

I agree. Lightning is nothing to play with. I am clearing my field, regardless of what is going on elsewhere.

First flash - field gets cleared. If uic hasn't seen it, too bad they can black ball this.

I've been near a lightning strike - it hit several hundred feet away from a field I was playing on - we all got knocked down. MC's right - don't mess with that stuff.

When I UIC I tell the umpires to call it if they see it...then get me so I can stop everyone else.

I agree completely. Call the game and take the chance of getting "disciplined" before taking the chance of having you or someone else hurt due to lightning.

7 or 8 years ago, I was in a tournament and we could see the storm blowing in. I started seeing the lightning up in the clouds and told the TD who was watching the game. He told me to keep on playing, the lightning meter said it was over 20 miles away. I went back to him a couple of minutes later and told him I was clearing the field, because there was no way that lightning was 20 miles off. The coaches agreed and the people started going to the cars. A few minutes, a lightning strike hit a tree in the parking area where the teams' cars were. It destroyed the tree and it fell on a few cars under it. Now, I don't mess with the stuff at all. They can choose not to use me anymore, but at least the fans, players and myself will be alive to know I can't call with that group of umpires anymore.

Exactly as it should be.

One thing to remember with lightening is that it can travel over 40 miles laterally.

Here in the lightening capital of the western hemisphere we take it seriously but with slightly different approaches.

You have to know the weather for your area and how it generally acts.

Everybody wantts a good ball game but NO game is worth someone getting killed or seriously hurt.

Yup, I've got the same approach.

We were at a tournament in the late 80’s where a girl was struck by lighting on the next field. We had just gotten back on the field after a rain delay and there were no sign of lighting except for one streak way in the distances. Seconds later it hit right on top of us. Her heart had stopped, her coach that was a CPR instructor kept her vitals going until help arrived. The girl survived with little ill effects. A small burn on the side of her face and on her foot. Tony knows how it is in Ga. July-August. We get a lot of pop-up thunder storms. I see lighting; we get off the field no matter who doesn’t like it.

Check the handout page on Softball Umpires Web Site for an article taken from the National Weather Service on lightning safety, with some guidelines for ball parks.

Let's see, piss off the UIC and let a kid live, or please the UIC and let a kid die. Wonder if the UIC will back me up later? Guess it's easy to understand why the replies are 100 percent in one direction.

Yep, I am just curious why at the ASA State tournament this year where there were 5 games going on simulaneously, that nobody left the field until the UIC called it.

That was 10 out of 10 the other way. Didn't have the opportunity to ask any of the 10.

Fortunatley I was on the sidelines at the time and was not one of the 10 on the field.

I've been at tournaments where I was specifically instructed on the procedure for weather delays, etc., (including lightning) that it was the UIC or TD who would make the call for all fields in the complex. I would guess you had umpires either who were inclined to play through it or who were following orders.

Fortunatly (for me), I've never had a lightning threat appear in a tournament where I was instructed to defer to the UIC.

So, has anyone actually done this in real life? or just saying "the way it should be"?