ASA 12&U National, AL
 

On the other side of the fence for this National. Daughter playing. Have had great weather. Great fields. And some umpires that seem to be out of their element. Not sure if it's the instructions by the UIC or younger (in-expierenced umpires). Things that just don't seem right at a National. Umpires not knowing the run rules. Umpires questioning and checking with partners on courtesy runner rules. Umpires out of the most basic 2 umpire mechanic positions. Illegal pitches being missed or simply ignored. Umpires not being willing to check with partners on different angles. Basic fair and foul balls being missed in front of first base. Now don't get me wrong, NONE of these things have cost us games. It's just wierd/disappointing to see these things missed or happen in an ASA National.

Those weak sticks will be out of the rotation by the weekend. Once they go to 3-umpire mechanics, it becomes pretty obvious who will be on the field as the bracket games whittle the teams away. :cool:

I am in Salem VA right now for another national. No interesting tales to tell, but I am amused by the guys from the Northern states asking 'is it always this hot?'. No, last week it was ten degrees hotter and much higher humidity, thanks for asking and bringing the cool weather with you, LOL.

what field on Fri ?

Here at the 12U tourney. Weather is not nice, its friggin butal, and I live in Alabama. 98 degees with 70% humidity. Heat index in the 110s. Have had 10ish umpires go down due to heat. I had 4 games yesterday, though I was going to die. Games took 2-2.5 hours a piece. Last game was over at 10:30 - washed unis in the sink - woke up and were still wet. Plate game today my fetches were soaked down to the ankles in sweat - looked like charcoal pants. Feeling good, loving 3 man. First nat and having fun!

In Midland for the 14U. Yes it is hot, but it is still 'desert hot'. A couple of blues have dropped out, but UIC had a plan. I was not assigned to this Natl, but worked 3 games today (he knew Mrs Okla21fan was working and I would be there) He also had a couple other blues on standby. Have 3 games tomorrow aswell as on Sat.
high today was 103 but humidity was in the low 20s percent.

Only one thing beats the heat, complete and total and continual hydration.

You can use all the excuses you want, but it comes down to water, water, water. You can drink the fruity sports drinks, but when it comes down to it, water, water, water and that is everywhere for everyone.

Other musts are a good high-SPF sun screen. Again, an area with plenty of excuses or reasons for not wearing it. Take it from someone who was raised worshiping the sun and believed it cured everything, just because you may not burn or you already have a good "base" does not protect you or exclude you from the thousands who die from skin cancer every year.

Plenty of dry undershirts. The umpire shirt will dry quickly, but the undershirt regardless of type will stay damp and even though that may feel good in the heat, you are better offer going back out into the sun with a new "wick" for the sweat. Same goes for the socks and, for that matter, underwear or compression shorts.

Anyone have anything else? I'm sure there are things that others swear by that I haven't experienced.

No issues with heat in my national...Of course, San Diego never gets much over 80 degrees anyway! :)

Seriously....as Mike noted....water, water, water....I like to mix in a sports drink once in a while for some flavor, but water is the best.

I also find that keeping a towel in a cooler with ice is a refreshing wipe down between innings.

There are a couple of other things I have heard, but do not have personal experience with....one buddy of mine buys the individual powder packets of Pedialyte and mixes those in a water bottle...he says it's better than the sports drinks for electrolytes without as much sugar. I've also heard good things about the spirits of ammonia towels. I'm pretty sure we have discussed those here before.

Just remember that no matter where you live and work and how used to the heat you are, it can still affect anybody. The players and coaches get to sit in the shaded dugout for half the game, the blues don't have that option. Be careful out there and take care of yourself and your crews.

Water is not enough for hydration.
Drink water, water, water before and during the game.
After the game have Gatorade for the electrolytes.

Slight salt intake will reduce the amount of perspiration, but be careful not to overdo it. Have a sandwich which help with energy which will also provide a good salt intake.

Elevate feet between games to get the blood out of there.
Then repeat drinking water, water, water...

It is also good to wash your face, hands and arms to cut the dried perspiration, you will feel refreshed. Even better, find a place to shower, if possible.

When on the bases, try to stand on the grass between innings. It will take a lot of heat off the soles of your shoes.

When behind the plate, take your mask off as much as possible. This will allow evaporation, even if it is only 10 seconds at a time; i.e. between batters and even between pitches.

Have some kind of ice towel. FrogToggs are OK, but even better when pulled out of a small cooler with ice water. This will help reduce body heat.

Also have an absorbent towel for head, neck and arms. Use it to wipe the inside of your hat, and the padding on your face mask.

And this is a tough one for a lot of us, but refrain from alcohol at the end of the day.

A couple of weeks ago, I told the parents that the electric fan they had was illegal because they had it pointing the wrong way.

Discussion by umpires after 7 pm game at 12U
 

Derwil,

Was there any discussion after the 7 pm game on Lagoon field 1? Seems like everything that could happen in a game happened. Girl changing feel on bag got called out for leaving early, 2 offensive conferences in a inning, every play was a banger, etc. I'm sure the umpires on the field thought the game would never end. Been there, done that, and got a tee shirt.

By the way the umpires did a great job handing the 2 offensive conferences issue, but the coaches were very unhappy because there is not a penalty for a rule violation.

You mean the penalty (ejection) was not applied, right?

Another thing that works really well is to keep a small ice chest you can carry onto the field with a couple of towels in ice and water with spirits of ammonia in it. I have been using this in this Texas heat for years.

Yes there was a discussion about that game, no I was not in it. So far as I can tell the coach insisted on a second conference but was not ejected. Dunno why.

Did I mention the heat sucks. About 10 umpires have at one time or another gone out of their games. One got hit in the head with a thrown ball and spent the night in the ER getting a CAT scan.

Gotta ask. Was he in the proper position or did the player just throw the ball somewhere she shouldn't have?

Here is what happened:

While U1 was sweeping plate, offensive coach in dugout stepped out of the dugout and told the batter who was walking to the plate to hit the ball. U1 told the coach that that was his offensive conference for the inning. The 3rd base coach did not hear this. Later in the inning play was stopped so 3rd base coach started talking to the next batter while U1 was in the infield. When U1 turned around and saw the coach talking to the next batter he immediately told the coach that he could not talk to the batter since they had already used their offensive conference for the inning. The third base coach got mad because he did not know about the previous conference. The defensive coach ask if the batter is out since the offensive team had violated the second offensive conference rule. U1 told him no and told the girls to play ball. Defensive coach got mad and ask for the UIC to be called to the field. The UIC came to the field, but determined that U1 handle the issue correctly. Of course every play from that point on was a fuss.