IFF wipeoff

[BretMan]

Earlier this spring, I was working a high school baseball game with a new umpire. As many of you know, the baseball guys are crazy with all this signalling back and forth stuff.

(Personally, I do like it for the fact that, for the little effort it requires, it keeps us on the same page and, ultimately, does reduce the chance for blown coverages or missed calls. Those seem like good things to me.)

Anyhow, during the game the IFR came up a few times and we were diligently touching the bills of our caps. I was the base umpire and whenever the IFR was off I was brushing my sleeve (it was cold and we had jackets on). This is an approved and accepted mechanic for our local baseball association.

My partner never mirrored the "brush off" back to me a single time. I kind of shrugged it off. Then, after the game, my partner asks me if there was something wrong with my jacket. Huh? "What do you mean?", I ask.

He says, "I kept seeing you wiping off your sleeve and thought you spilled something on yourself or a bird crapped on you or something".

Got a good laugh out of that one- and, of course, explained what the "brush off" signal was supposed to mean.