Do you work as grounds crew?
 

I showed up to a SP Mens league game recently and the teams were standing around and said "aint you gonna chalk the fields blue?"

Uh, no. I dont chalk fields.

"Well the other always umpire chalks it"

I know the umpire, hes a nfhs fed ball umpire who is fairly old.. impressive that he does that.. but I'm not a grounds keeper and thats not my job. I dont care if they chalk them or not, but I'm sure not going to do it.

Do any of you show up to say league games and chalk the field for them?

When I was a home team coach, I did my share of chalking the fields. Its NOT an umpire job. But do any of you do it?

grounds crew
 

In some of our league games the bases have to be moved. It is supposed to be the job of the concession stand crew to make sure the bases are correct. (there is a schedule for them when bases need to be moved)

However, most of the time my partner and I were the ones stuck moving bases. 8-under to 14-under, and back to 8-unders again...

I hate getting my nails dirty. :p

Many times as a coach, never as an umpire.

Though I have erased a few lines before a game that were improperly drawn!

I can recall only two times that I did any "ground work" before a game I was umpiring. This was in local leagues where everybody pretty much knew everybody else. Heavy rain before each game had the fields looking swampy, and I pitched in with a rake and a bag of diamond-dry to allow the games to be played.

Of course, most of my work was concentrated on the area directly behind home plate!:D

Chalk? What's that?

If the other umpire does it, maybe they should give him a call.

Never chalk. I have helped with setting bases with a mechanically inept coach. I have helped rake and dry fields to try to get games underway. But chalk? No, we can play without chalk.

I will pace off the base distance if they won't, but then they are stuck with my locations.

And I also end up replacing bases knocked out of place by runners, but I don't want to.

line the field? I don't think so. Not my job.

I have moved bases and pitching rubbers that were at the incorrect distance.

I also am very hesitant to grab a rake or a bag of "turf Dry" after a heavy rain. Again...not my job.

I may verify that base/pitching distances are correct or incorrect, but I don't move the bases or the pitching plate. I also don't line the fields or do other grounds crew work. Not my job. Every complex I work at have folks for those tasks.

In a word...
 

No. I don't do lines.

Now, as a UIC, JUST because I wanted to get the final game in, I did grab a rake and work a diamond (again, I had a 2 hour drive home, it was already late, and we needed to play the game before I could leave). The grounds crew was one person, and he took forever.

90% of the time, I stay the heck away from any ground work, with the possible exception of helping direct if the people who show up to do the work don't know what they are doing.

The exception to this is my local youth softball league, a league where everyone knows everyone and I was district director for a while - I'm often the first person there on those days, and have been known to bring out the chalk, bases, or pitcher's plate (or even dismantle the temporary baseball mound if it was left overnight) on occasion.

So much for Texas being big - sharing fields with other sports. :p

Ya' know how the game "belongs to the player"? Well, guess what? So does the field.

Good point... I'm in a semi-rural area close to Dallas that is just now catching up to it's population. Halfway through the most recent Spring season, we finally opened our new 4-field (2 softball, 2 baseball) complex. Very nice, very new, and a fantastic shaded play structure right in the center. Unimpeded view of this structure from all 4 fields (makes letting your 3 year old go play over there much more comfortable when you can see them), and a shaded snackbar between two of the fields. Very nice.

And no more taking apart of the baseball mound for me!

Bout time you caught up with the rest of us! :D

I will gladly give directions to the people setting the bases and lining the diamonds if I see them making obvious mistakes. (Batters boxes being chalked incorrectly is a pet peeve of mine. I also like to see the three-foot chute chalked too.) I won't, however, physically line the diamond or set the bases. It's not my job.