FIELD ETIQUETTE

[SDABL-Admin]

To All Team Managers: please read carefully and commit to memory. The following is basically the "do's and don'ts" of field use on every high school and college facility in the SDABL. Violation of any of these points could result in the loss of a field and at the very least a $50 fine to you. These are very "common sense" rules. They are not unfair nor difficult to follow. The quickest way to lose the privilege of weekend baseball is to lose the fields we play on. Please pay attention and play responsibility. Much Appreciation, the SDABL.

1) NEVER TAKE BATTING PRACTICE BEFORE OF AFTER A GAME. Taking infield on most fields is fine (see #2 next), but "BP" just wears down the infield.

2) HIT FROM BEHIND HOME PLATE WHEN TAKING INFIELD. The biggest issue all coaches have with infield is that if taken from a batters box, the first contact the ball makes after it leaves the bat is on the infield grass causing divots. We must make sure we stand far enough back so that the ball will strike the dirt in front of the grass on the first bounce. All of us should imagine how difficult it is to keep the infield grass in good condition, as this is an area coaches must really "baby".

3) NEVER, EVER DO "SOFT TOSS" AGAINST ANY FENCE. This has been stressed for years now and should be common knowledge. Hitting a baseball into chain link will cause the bottom to curl up and effect permanent damage and provide an injury hazard . The only way to do this acceptably is with whiffle balls. The best idea is just to blow off the whole drill.

4) DON'T TEAR, BREAK, CUT, BEND, CRACK, OR DISFIGURE ANY ITEM OF SCHOOL PROPERTY. Now this has nothing to do with your baseball experience, it is something all of us should have learned at home. This includes, but not limited to, cutting locks, slamming bats into trash cans, benches, water fountains, prying off hasps and gate hinges, tearing canvas covers off of pitching mounds, warm-up mounds,and home plate areas (yes, this was just done by a thoughtful team that decided there was no time to remove the corner stakes first), and anything else that we would tell our children not to do! Vandalism of school property before, during or after a baseball game is still vandalism in it's strongest sense.

5) ABSOLUTELY NO TOBACCO PRODUCTS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS. This was a new school district policy a couple of years ago that has become "crusade" this year in all of San Diego County. We have already lost Westhills H.S. permanently due to this and have received "last warnings" from many more coaches. This means we can't smoke it, chew it, dip it, snort it or whatever. This is a hard habit for some to break, but it must be broken.

6) NO ALCOHOL. We have all know this since the league started in 1987. Not in the dugouts, stands or for sure even in the parking lots after the game. Not observing this rule brings the "death sentence" to field use.

7) NEVER LEAVE YOUR TEAM'S TRASH IN THE DUGOUT. Always pickup/clean up your teams trash, garbage, plastic bottles, burger wrappers, line-up cards, and whatever else you might bring in. There's always a trash can near if you actually look for it. Very easy thing to do, not too physically taxing. Just do it !

PLAY HARD BUT PLAY SENSIBLY