A first in my umpiring career
 

Never had this one before.

I assign umpires for a 40-and-over SP league here in central NJ. This morning the township recreation office called to inform me that tonight's games have been postponed on account of HEAT.

Said the director: "The weather channel says it's going to feel like 115 degrees tonight. I'm not going to be responsible for having some guy in his 50s keel over with a heart attack."

What's age have to do with it ?
I wouldn't want kids or even fit 25
year olds playing in 115º heat.
Just sayin'

Smart move Director.

We had a kid here in Georgia (Rockdale) die as a result of football practice and heat monday. Of course there could have been some underlying causes that an autopsy may determine, but he was a 15 year old apparrently healthy kid! I saw on tonights news that some HS coaches are carrying heat monitors which indicate danger levels. I didn't know they existed, but may be nice items to have.

Did the director take any heat (really, no pun intended) for that decision?

I suppose that it's their prerogative to cancel games if they really think there is a safety issue to address.

But I can't imagine the exertion level of the typical slow pitch softball player, who might run for a total of 5-10 seconds then sit in a dugout or stand in one spot for several minutes, comes anywhere close to the exhaustive pace of a typical football practice.

If the over-40 guy was prone to keel over on a 115 degree heat index day, he was probably just as likely to keel over on a 100 degree heat index day, which I assume the league director would deem safe conditions.

Or maybe I'm just not sympathetic since I worked six games this past weekend in full gear with heat indexes around 105 and came out of it not much worse for the wear- just a little sore but no more so than if the games had been played in 75 degree weather.

Those of us working the ASA 18A National this week have dealt with a heat index ranging from 107 to almost 120 all week in Owensboro, KY. Monday I worked 2 games (1 P, 1 B), Tuesday 3 (2 P, 1 B), today 4 (1 P, 2 U3, 1 U1), and am scheduled for 5 (1 P, 2 U3, 2 U1) tomorrow.

FUBLUE is here, also, with a similar schedule; maybe other regulars, too.

Did the director take any heat (really, no pun intended) for that decision?

No, I have since learned that the cancellation was in fact prompted by a couple of managers who earlier in the day had called the director about the heat. And the umpires were happy when I called to inform them that they could spend this evening in air conditioning.

On hot Philadelphia days, when the mid-day sun shone down on the plastic grass in the now-extinct monstrosity called Veterans Stadium, the thermometers at field level often registered 110 to 115 degrees. And that's actual temperature, not heat index.

I would agree with canceling games with a 115 degree heat index, but then again, I used to work in an office where we closed down anytime it got over 80 degrees. We closed once that I can remember in the five years I worked there.

The highest heat index recorded in Mid-Atlantic was 123 on 7/15/95. Several of us umpired 3 games each in a youth FP travel tourney that day, although a few teams withdrew. The games were long, with extra dugout time and extra water time, but we did it. I've wondered a few times if games should have been cancelled, or if it was worth the minimal $. None of the fields had lights, so slipping the sched was not an option.

We played in Panama City Beach during a heat wave a few years ago when the local news was talking about the golfers keeling over on the local courses. I'll never forget watching the other team's left fielder collapse after retrieving a ball that got on the field then she was up to bat the next inning and the coach put her up there since he was out of players - her eyes looked dilated - was an obvious heat stroke that the coach nor the umpires addressed - very scary. As a rookie umpire, what little exposure I had to the heat this year I sure learned who doesn't get to get out of the sun between innings.

I was there C1. Daughter played and I was assistant coach of a rec All-Star team that decided to play some travel tournaments. We moved to Louisiana later that year. She played seven more years of travel ball and four years of college ball on the Gulf Coast -- but I was never so hot on a ball field as that day in 1995. :cool:

It was in Avon-Grove/Oxford, PA. I had mid-day games on a remote field and then one at the main complex.