Mudisfun

Working the Seniors Allstar games tonight at Caruthers Park in Bellflower. District 56 vrs 29 at 5pm and then D38 vrs D30 at 730. Should be fun working this as a 4 man.

Welcome from another So Cal LL guy! As mentioned, make sure you are using LL rules when enforcing plays on the field. For instance, there is no force play slide rule in LL, but we discuss it all the time for HS on this site. If you do not have a copy of the RIM, I highly recommend obtaining one as it provides all kinds of great insight into how LL wants specific situations handled. Have fun out there! All Star time is upon us!

First lesson learned: At the plate meeting when taking the line up cards, ask each manager if they have any ineligible pitchers. Make a note on your line up card. After the plate meeting make sure the head scorekeeper is also aware of who is not eligible. If a manager then tries to enter these players, there is a good chance the change is caught early and before any issue is created. LL expects the officials, managers and scorekeepers to keep this situation from occurring. It is one of the few times I expect the scorekeeper to interject something into the management of the game. Assuming your league plays this under regular season Green Book rules, and this is an intra-league playoff, then your BOD should have a mechanism in place to deal with any potential protest issue. Waiting until the next day is not going to resolve anything, especially if this is an elimination game and the winner has to play again in a day or two. As for the pitcher, if you caught this prior to pitching to a batter: Regulation VI (page 46 in the 2019 book) states under NOTES: 1. The withdrawal of an ineligible pitcher after that pitcher is announced, or after a warm-up pitch is delivered, but before that player has pitched a ball to the batter, shall not be considered a violation. LL officials are urged to take precautions to prevent protests. When a protest situation is imminent, the potential offender should be notified immediately. AR - Minor League Majors and LL Majors: When warming up, if a pitcher is discovered to be ineligible, he/she must be removed and the previous pitcher of record may not return. But in your scenario, you now have an ineligible pitcher, which as defined in Rule 2 - applies to regular season violations of Regulation VI. (See also Rule 4.19) 4.19 (a) Protest shall be considered only when based on the violation or interpretation of a playing rule, use of an ineligible pitcher or the use of an ineligible player.... 4.19 (d) Protest made due to the use of an ineligible pitcher or ineligible player may be considered only if made to the umpire before the umpire(s) leave the field at the end of the game. Whenever it is found that in ineligible pitcher or ineligible player is being used, said pitcher shall be removed from the mound, or said player shall be removed from the game, and the game shall be continued under protest or not as the protesting manager decides. So bottom line... add asking about the pitcher to your plate meeting, Write it down... Next time this comes up, remove the pitcher, eject him if you think it is warranted, log the protest or resolve it ASAP if a playoff game, and move on. Follow the rest of 4.19 and submit your protest report to the league reps within 24 hours.

Guess F6 had better things to do then be part of the rest of the game. Easy EJ.

10 hours ago, The Man in Blue said: *”If she charges again, pull back and hit her with a line drive.” (Player, later notified by my BU it was the coach’s daughter.) *”If she doesn’t move, just throw the ball through her. She has to move.” (Head coach) You end this, now. Right now, before the game gets seriously stupid. I will call time, go to the coach and address that immediately. Coach, did you just instruct a child to purposely attempt to injure another child on this field? Depending on the answer he/she gives depends on if this is the sportsmanship warning with a chance for the coach to 're instruct' his player(s) or the end of his/her playing time with us in this game. NEVER let this go. By the time jack ass, er, I mean the VHC get's to his comments about the other coach on the bucket... he has already been admonished about his unsportsmanlike conduct, or he has already left for the day. If the latter, he can leave now for continuing unsportsmanlike conduct. Play at the plate, 'powerhouse bone'... see ya. He just called your integrity into question and accused you of cheating. He wants to leave, why not pack his bags for him? AC ranting and raving after your partner told him to get back to his spot... punch his ticket since he is continuing his show. Games get heated... your job is to try and manage the personalities as best you can. If you start when the comments are small, then maybe, just maybe, you have sent a message that poor behavior will not be tolerated. If however you allow the behavior to go on, then like little kids, many adults will continue to push your boundaries until you hit a breaking point and eject. The issue here is that by this time, the game is out of control, the personalities have grown emboldened and now you are frustrated and angry. Treat it like business. It is not personal, you are there doing your job. If they get personal, send them on their way, but do it in a business like manner. If you intercede in a business like manner early, often times you curtail the bigger issues and have a much smoother experience.

Last tournament I did a couple weeks back had a very strict policy, published on their web site and handed to the coaches. They, the coaches, were 100% responsible for the conduct of their fans. They were responsible for their actions, their mouths, and if needed, to send them packing. Not in my game, but in a buddies... couple parents started getting dumb... friend called time, went to the coach and just made small talk, never mentioned the noise coming from the two loud mouths. But he did make sure to look in their direction while having the conversation... Never heard another peep from them the rest of the game. Now thankfully, the coach was wise enough to understand what my friend was trying to accomplish, and in this instance it worked. Game management is a skill and an art form. There is no 'one size fits all' for any situation. You will need to decide, at your game, on that day, and in that moment the best way for you to handle the situation. All of this will be based on your perception of your safety, the safety of the athletes, the demeanor of the coaching staff, the availability of site management, etc, etc. Do what you think you need to to to be safe, secure while protecting the kids and yourself.

LL Majors and above, the game is 'suspended and referred to the BOD'. They cannot play with less than 9 by rule. LL Minors? Play on and just skip the 9 spot.

Welcome! Hello from District 62 in sunny Orange County, CA.

This is LL... sadly. I disagree with giving the Asst Coach this much leeway. The first time he does the hands in the air crap, he gets shut down. The manager is going to receive a team sportsmanship warning right there as well. Any further demonstrative actions from ANYONE on that team is now going to be an ejection, or at least you have that as an option since the team is well aware of where the line in the sand is. Asst. Coach for balls and strikes, he gets one knock it off, we're not arguing balls and strikes today warning. If your feeling generous from there, you can tell the manager that the Asst. Coach is a problem, and does he want to handle that problem, or have you handle it? If your not feeling generous, the next time the Asst. Coach argues balls and strikes, you dump him. Never argue with a coach about your zone, ever. If they ask a question" Kevin, was that in/out?' I'll say yes or no, but if they come back with an argument, then were done and moving on to either the B&S warning, or dumping them if they already had the warning. I disagree with telling the Asst. to argue B&S though the manager... Your not going to allow him to argue B&S's, so why even go there? @yawetag already gave you the best answer about talking to the fans... Scorekeeper... they are telling you where to stand or not stand? Yeah, right. My conversation with them is going to be unpleasant. Mr/Mrs. scorekeeper... You are acting in the capacity as an official in this game, which means you actually work for me. If you continue to insert yourself into the officiating of this game, I will eject you immediately. Are we clear? Kids stomping on home? Whatever. At least the other team will know they actually stepped on it. I wouldn't even acknowledge this for Minors... they will tire of it soon enough and go back to missing base touches like they always do.

Coach would have gotten the arguing B ans S warning. Scorekeeper? Are you kidding me? Good bye.

Good EJ. Good job slowing the coach down and getting him chilled before getting to you. Glad it turned into a teachable moment for both the coach, the mom and the player.

We had a coach drop a 'this is f-ing BS' on a Junior umpire, who failed to dump him... the game coordinator failed to do his job and dump him... Game ends and 3 minutes later, my phone is blowing up about the incident. Long story short... as the BOD for our local LL, we met, spoke to the offending coach who admitted to saying what he said... we suspended him from coaching for the SEASON, not just a game. He can come to games and be a parent, but he no longer is on the roster as a coach and cannot be in the dugout or on the field at games. Your league may do things differently, but this is a put your money where your mouth is kind of moment for the league. We all preach, from Williamsport down that this kind of behavior is not tolerated, but then it is tolerated. There is no excuse for this behavior on a LL, or any other youth field.

Make a better pitch, or do a better job of stopping the ball. When the ball hits me, gets behind me, careens off my shin guards or off the toe of my plate shoes, or whatever, I am going to try my best to not impede F2, but considering I'm 6' and 210 LBS, I am not exactly going to become a hole in the dirt.

Coach, I am not a computer and it took me a moment to see what occurred, process the information, and decide on the appropriate ruling. Timing, timing, timing...

I thought I was the only one who noticed that!