UMPIRES, LLC
Rules trinity Umpires, LLC staff is here for you By Dana Fortugno
If Paul Simon says there are 50 ways to leave your lover, then I can say there are 50 ways to ask your umpire a question about the rules. If you don’t get that joke, good for you, you are young so enjoy it while you can. This month, I want to take the opportunity to chat with you about how you can get answers to your rule’s questions when you most need them. Back in the old days (like 30 years ago) we asked each other rules questions and we gave wrong answers most of the time. Nobody cared because professional umpires did not exist, the players had to do the umpiring. When we umpired, we used our understanding of the rules and the plays (that’s all we had). In turn, every time you played a game, you had a unique experience (not in a good way either) with the umpiring. Every player called the game differently. There was a little consistency within a club, and none across clubs. We have come a long way to say the least.
Umpire directors’ phone numbers and emails can be found on uspolo.org under Association, then Umpires.
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We can split this up into two types of questions. First, emergency questions are questions that you need the answers to right away. For example, you are at the field and something happens, perhaps a little out of the ordinary, and the umpires can’t find the answer or there is some disagreement about what the answer should be. Second, non-emergency questions are when you want to know or clear up something that you harbor some confusion about. Perhaps you want an explanation on a rule or play that you just don’t get for some reason or you disagree with another player about. Guess what? We can help you! Not only can we help you, we want to help you. Emergency Questions: • First, take a couple minutes and try to find it in the current rulebook. If you find it you’re done. If you don’t, you likely learned something and move on to the next step.
