RichMSN

Following the same philosophy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

In reality, because of the runner being pinned to the base till the ball reaches the batter, we let the pitchers do just about anything on a small diamond. And I have zero problem with that unless they gain some advantage not intended by the rules. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

No. The regions all reached out to umpires who have worked events in the past or are connected in some way to the regions. Our district had an umpire scheduled to work and he deferred. It's not the masking protocol that was the issue for him, it was the lack of family and fans allowed. 2 of the umpires that worked the LLWS when I went are going back again this year. All of the LLWS umpires (12 this year instead of 16) have already worked a LLWS. They will be working 4-umpire crews, at least the first week.

I have worked both a LL regional and the LLWS. I have had 3 nationally televised plate jobs in those tournaments (when I did the regional, only the semis and the finals were televised, and I worked the final). My mindset when I worked those plates was this - this is the best LL has to offer and these pitchers will either hit the plate or they can bring someone in who will. I didn't go out or in or up or down. After my regional, I watched my work pitch for pitch and there was one pitch I wanted back that didn't even register at the time - a breaking ball in the first pitch of an inning that I called a strike that was a few inches off the plate - just poor timing. I love LL and I am still involved, albeit in a different way now, and I'm just going to be a contrarian here. The work turned in by some of these umpires has put us back at least five years. I sincerely thought that the perception of the work of umpires during these tournaments had improved dramatically the last few years, with few examples of these kinds of really bad pitches, but I could post at least a dozen of these from 5-6 different games from this week alone. Also, these are mostly umpires who have been there and done that before as those selected mostly chose to defer their selection to 2022. The regions had a chance to bring in the best of the best from previous years - they could've brought back all those who worked championship plates well, and it seems they simply didn't do that. Note: I'm not eligible to work, so this isn't any kind of sour grapes. I know a few of the WS umpires and I know they will do a great job. But to say that the umpiring hasn't been part of the story this week is just putting on the blinders. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

The field at WP didn't feel small at all. The 13-year-olds are gone, the bats are dead, and the number of HRs hit during the week were minimal. The play was nowhere near at the level I saw at my regional in 2012 where there were mostly 13-year-olds. I know that many of you think it's not real baseball if they aren't leading and stealing and turning a walk into a triple in league play, but I think the closed bases are one of the best aspects of LL. It eliminates the farce open bases would be in all but the best games. The thing I absolutely hate most about umpiring baseball is holding runners on and pickoff throws to first base. My God, if anything can put a game to sleep, it's that crap. LL on the 60' diamond has the pace of fastpitch. Even with the LONG inning breaks, my second plate at the series was done in 1:40. I do not understand anyone who would argue pitch counts in 2019. That ship has sailed. That's the way it is in every level of baseball now, and rightfully so. Coaches and parents can't be counted on to protect their own kids, so the groups like LL and the NFHS and others have to do it for them. And that forces more kids to pitch in games where they wouldn't without pitch counts. Win, win.

Humbled to be one of the umpires selected this year, 7 years after I worked my regional. The crew is already communicating regularly and it's going to be a good group -- a new family for me, I can already tell. I didn't umpire last year, with the exception of some LL district games where I jumped on the bases - I'm the UIC and I did that to ensure all games had 2 umpires. Knee injury and surgery. Looking forward to the snow melting and getting back on the diamond.

I worked a AAA state in a place where I don't live and I was amazed at how much the coaches thought their you-know-what didn't stink and how horribly they treated all the umpires. When it came time for the final, I was happy to give the plate job to a local guy who seemed to care. Then watched him eject one of the coaches over something truly stupid. I'll admit, though, the baseball was decent. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The owner, David Mekelburg, died in 2011. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I'll believe it when I see it. I won't buy it, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Well, by definition it was rushed. And it was a foul fly and there's nobody on base, so there's no reason to call anything in a hurry. There never is, but especially here.

Sure you've resorted to name calling - or doesn't "liberal bleeding heart" qualify?

Stalling in a time limited game is one that comes to mind.

Personally, I find getting in exactly the right spot overrated for about 95% of my plays. I've been watching my daughter this year and most of the bad misses by the (admittedly awful, in general) umpires have been because of (1) anticipation of calls and (2) poor timing. I could make 95% of those calls from my seat in the bleachers. The 5% they're likely flipping a coin on anyway. What I'm saying is this -- the wheelchair likely isn't causing the calls to be missed -- it's the person sitting in the chair that's causing that to happen. I assign games for 24 HS and I'd use someone in a wheelchair in a second if that person got his/her calls right.

I'm thrilled that I never have to actually take a game that I don't want here. Of course we have no assigning associations -- I'm a free agent who books with the schools and conferences I want to work. Right now, we only work 3 big school conferences and next year I may cut that back to two. Assigning 24 schools has taken a lot of time, especially with 60 varsity rainouts this spring already.

The negative connotation with Smitty should have died right along with Childress. Just saying.

Never Jimmy. Jimmy was always classy, although back in the day he used the phrase "Internet umpires" with a bit of disdain. I took that with a grain of salt, but also knew what he meant.

And to some minor league umpires taught by Evans, all amateur umpires who never attended school were Charlies. Never cared for the attitude or the term.

Did you get the 2017 BRD, too? Oh, wait...

NCAA uses a stopwatch. How is that arrogant? The problem is this. 60 seconds isn't enough. Give them 90 and then enforce it.

It's the hitch before stepping off. Start/stop.

Just got my new mechanics manual today. I turned, as I do every 2 years, to see who is supposed to take the BR to third on a bases empty triple. And they still have it wrong. Oh, well, right in the trash with it. Edited to add: How can they FINALLY properly designate the plate umpire as PU and then refer to the third base umpire in a 3-umpire crew as U2? My goodness, it's like this in every sport -- it's almost like the NFHS has to be different just for the sake of being different.

Why don't the schools just self assign in Arbiter? They're picking their own anyway. Horrible system.

I see nothing wrong with that. Practical solution to a real-world problem.

Exactly. There are HS conferences around here where the commissioners (assigners) act as though keeping the coaches happy is the most important thing in the world. They keep elaborate scratch lists, they hire officials from over an hour away, they honor requests for who they want to work, etc. All it does is reinforce how important these coaches think they are. I took this side gig cause I thought I could make a difference and a few extra bucks as well. I send who I want to the schools. Doesn't mean I always take the official's side -- I've fired people and I've told people when I think they're made mistakes. I welcome feedback and lists of people coaches prefer -- and I use it as input and a sanity check from time to time. Truth is, though, I know what makes a good official / umpire and I'm the one who's paid to make those decisions.

Giving coaches power to scratch is just not where I am. I'm more likely to feed the coach a diet of that umpire till he gets used to the taste. If the umpire doesn't want to be there, then fine...