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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/03/2019 in all areas

  1. He became a runner. He was not put out. Gotta go somewhere. Put the sub on 1B.
    2 points
  2. A lot of good points in here. The game is evolving - at all levels so LL is evolving too. I absolutely agree. The dicking around with on base runners is really irritating and in effect every single being a triple because 2 pitches later he'll be on third, let's just put him there to begin with and save everybody the time and heartache. This also eliminates the balks. I worked plenty of PONY Bronco games (PONY is bigger than LL around here, but they're 12 y/o with open bases and balks) but the coaches wanting a balk for every little thing. At that age group I could legitimately call a balk on nearly pitch with runners aboard. Pitch count. I use to believe that this was bunk, but now I'm in favor of it. As my umpiring abilities improved over the years I could see and I worked higher level games. I could see and observe pitchers who had better mechanics than others. Even if they were equally effective in hitting the zone. These poor mechanics can cause injuries in the long run. Little Johnny (often the coach's son) is pitching away but the mechanics are poor and next thing you know 12-14 y/o Johnny is having Tommy John surgery. At the youth levels they are at the mercy of well intentioned coaches who may not be the best instructors about things like pitching mechanics. So limiting their pitching is probably a good thing. And don't get me started about the way some kids torque their elbows trying to throw a curveball. Then the next thing is these kids playing baseball all year round. One thing l Liked about the LLWS that I saw on TV they would talk about the other sports the kids were involved in. I think this makes players better all around athletes. Growing up I started playing baseball in the spring (until I realized I was at the bottom tier for natural baseball talent then I went to soccer) then football in the fall , wrestling in the winter. I really think it's important for kids to do other sports. I can't imagine "loving" baseball after playing all year around for so many years.
    1 point
  3. Could you eject instead of forfeit? Not sure, but it feels like you could
    1 point
  4. Then I'd call OBS, award R3 home, and eject F2 from the game. Now, what about my play?
    1 point
  5. Ah - didn't even notice that. Again, he's turning around. Maybe flinching as the ball gets near him. If the ball hit his leg on that exact move, I've got nothing. Catcher, throw more accurately next time - play on.
    1 point
  6. No, the problem is that the “youth athlete (of) today” has been coddled, bubble-wrapped, and either been given a band-aid for every boo-boo or a ribbon or trophy for every doo-doo. Kids spend far more time on console games than they do playing actual physical games. I’m currently 44. How did my generation (and the ones before mine) learn how to hit a ball? Because we were sent out of the house at the crack of dawn, told to go find something to do or else there’d be chores to do. We would meet up at the local baseball / softball / kickball diamond, throw down cardboard pieces as bases (if bags weren’t already there), and just make teams. We’d have anybody or everybody pitch, we’d have a variety of ages from 6-7 thru 12, and one – maybe two – bats for us to use. There weren’t any pitch counts, and we didn’t even really keep specific scoring. If we got enough kids together, we made a neighborhood team. Again, we might have 3 12 year olds, an 11 year old, 4 10 year olds, and Matt’s little 9 year old brother made 9, so we’d have a team. A league might be formed, and we’d work out something where we’d play teams from other suburbs. We wore t-shirts with numbers heat-transferred on the back, and maybe have 2 or 3 bats for the entire team to use. Again, there weren’t pitch counts, and Joey would pitch until his arm fell off (for the day) or he couldn’t find a strike if it bit him in the butt and wouldn’t let go. This was what Little League was all about. But then, something changed in society. In short, no one wanted to “feel bad” about losing. As soon as we couldn’t accept losing, then we had to go and make everything “Fair” and “Equal”. Could it be that this team is losing because it has more 11 year olds than 12 year olds? Then the 11 year olds should have their own team, and the 12’s should be on their own separate team. 10 year olds can’t run as fast to 1B, so they should only have to run 60 feet, not 70 feet. Why is little Liam giving up so many hits? Is his arm tired? Well, he should only throw 40 pitches then. But big Brian is dominating the other teams he’s pitching against? Oh, we can’t have that! We have to be fair! So, we’ll limit him to 40 pitches too! Kids can’t swing a “normal” bat and get hits? Aw... well, let’s make for them special bats that are lighter than a paper towel tube, but are stronger than a tungsten rod so it really creams a ball! Oh wait, those are really expensive, and kinda dangerous, so let’s make them “drop 3’s”... no, wait, “drop 5’s”... wait wait, the little kids need “drop 8’s”. Lemme tell ya, I see more joy in the pickup games of stickball and waffle ball, played by the little siblings (boys and girls) on the grass between fields, than I do amongst their brothers playing a “Little League” or tournament ball game within the confines of a very sterile baseball field. We are on the verge of regulating the game to death.
    1 point
  7. This is applicable to umpiring!: About relationships, wiser words have not been shared:
    1 point
  8. I've umpired for 13 years and have never seen a runner attempt anything when F2 was giving signs to his infield. I'm keeping the ball live.
    1 point
  9. Way too many of you are basing your comments on what you see in the LLWS. These are the a top players in the top leagues. The average LL player would be totally lost on larger fields.
    1 point
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