stevis

​You say that is if you wouldn't have to sell the hell out of the non-interference call. The defensive coach is probably going to come unglued if you don't give him at least one out here. Count me among the "not running to first is intent to interfere" camp, though I can see the other side. But either way, the batter handed you an excrement sandwich.

Got this email after I sent out the payment worksheet for our LIttle League junior umpires. Names redacted. This kid is very much on the small side--I had to dig up some old catcher's gear to fit him and let him get away with a Navy golf shirt because they don't make the usual umpire shirts that small--and I know we he wasn't the best, and there are definitely some things out there with him that I intend to work on him with in the fall. But this is why, at the end of all the crap with scheduling and reschedule and $#)(&*$(&& parents of 12s (and younger), I like I doing this: "Thanks for a great spring season, [kid] loved it and is looking forward to umpiring in the fall. [We] were not sure about umpiring for [kid] but it turned out to be great for him. For a kid on the small side who was severely bullied in middle school and feels out of place in most situations expect the sport field umpiring gave his self esteem a much needed boost."

This is what I order for our Little League (teenage umpires, I think all the adults have their own gear) http://www.bsnsports.com/umpire-pack-1 It's not high end but it works, especially for a lot of what is 9U ball (and not "travel" 9U ball, natch). Our league has a deal with BSN so we get 10% less than list or something like that, and since we're on half a dozen fields all over the county it's the best deal for us. I do I do insist we keep two sets of gear at any field we anticipate working back to back games--so at least no one has to swap out directly sweaty gear. I buy mesh equipment bags to keep stuff in so at least the air flows around it, and half the time the kids lay it out and don't put it back in the bag anyway. I threw Lysol wipes in the bags last year and I don't think they ever got used. I'm going to take some white vinegar solution and spray everything as I put it away for the summer. Since we have 10-12 sets, none of them get used that much, we can keep the gear for quite some time. We were flush in my equipment budget this year so I went aggressive on replacing old stuff.

​Do you take the highway there?

Was there a calliope playing in the background?

I love 'em. Three head shots since Saturday to two TW masks, and nothing to worry about. OK, it's only LL for me, so they weren't that hard, but still--it's my brain and I give it nothing but the best.

So tonight....LL Majors. Took a foul ball square off my mask, which popped off and fell down in the dirt. At least I looked impressive shaking it off. About two batters later, another foul ball which hit the catcher in the mask and ricocheted directly into my cup. Seriously? Wish I had that one on film. Then the fun started....the U3K I just posted about in Situations, which cheesed off the Visitor coach. (With reason, I now think--I'll wait for your judgements but I'm not happy about my call in retrospect.) LL play in which the home team flung the ball around, I covered 3B when R1 went there, followed him home and was surprised to see my partner didn't take BR into 3rd. So I had to make a call from the plate, which I am happy with but again, pissed of the Vis. coach. He's a nice guy, he didn't cross any lines, but it wasn't fun as he veered near them. So then I helped add to the fun by kicking the next rotation myself and not covering R1 going the 3rd. My partner had this one covered for me though. At least we were even. Then I ended the game by called 3rd strike against the visiting team...the very catcher who took a bat in the arm in the U3K situation. At least it was thigh high down the middle. Not anyone's best night, least of all mine, but time to learn from it and then let it fly away. Thanks for giving me a forum to help do that.

LL Majors, nobody on, outs don't matter. Had an uncaught third strike, near the catcher's feet. Batter takes off, release the bat behind him, catcher steps up to the plate to throw and takes the bat right on the arm. Can't make a good throw. I was focused on the ball to see if he came up with a tag, and the whole situation blew up on me. Naturally the coach wants interference on the batter. I went to my partner while they were tending to him, to see if the bat really came flying back and I missed it--he agreed with me it was released like a batter should and the catcher kind of stepped into it. On the field I kept my ruling of nothing. I was thinking of the bat hitting the ball in the situation and knocking it away from the catcher. More I think about it, I think I kicked it--I didn't need intent for interference there, did I? Doesn't help that it was one of those games where everything close went against that team, including a rotation we kicked...and I took a mask and cup shot about three pitches apart--but I'll save those for War Stories.

Yep, this is the drill. Read the play while in the working area, slide out of the way of the throws. Stay with the ball, let it take you to the play.

I've taught my kids to throw up an open palm as a stop sign while using the words "That's enough." I've also taught the coaches (when they come in at our AAA level) that seeing that means it's time to shut up, sit down, and let the kids play baseball. This doesn't have a lot of field testing at the moment; the league was well cleaned up before I got to it. Though we're growing by a lot and I don't know about this year. At least I'm reasonably confident the board will have our backs (and comfortable walking away if they don't.)

We're doing 50/70 ("Intermediate") this year for our 11/12s...with the regular Majors still available for 10-12 who want it. We'll see how it goes.

No, I think it was a fair distinction. I did pick some potentially troublesome terminology in that post.

Not quite. It's " . . must slide or attempt to go around . . ". Not the same. Don't get caught up with "contact". And BTW hurdling is legal in LL. Obstruction anywhere can only happen if the fielder does NOT have the ball. How would you sell an obstruction call on a fielder who had the ball? I wouldn't. I would sell an obstruction call on a fielder before he had the ball. In this particular case I wouldn't but one could argue that the runner is slowing up because a fielder withough the ball is coming at him. I wouldn't make that call, but I'd back any of my umpires' judgment if they did. This is all what I get for not rolling my chair accross the office, getting the rulebook out of my bag, and making a direct quotation. But what, pray tell, is the attempt of going around if not to try to avoid contact? Note "attempt." Plenty of contact situations are just a no-call. I may not have spoken with Heisenberg-uncertainty-principle-limited precision, but I think I was in the neighborhood. I'll be careful not to speak off the cuff in the future.

My condolances to you (and to all of us, it sounds like.) Cancer is the one rat we haven't been able to eject yet.

Please cite LL Rule that says "must slide" in it. I'll be the first to tell you I don't have the rulebook memorized, but I don't recall seeing "must slide" anywhere in the book. I almost posted that as must (slide or attempt to avoid contact)--one of the two. And you and rick are right, "must" is not in the rulebook. Then again, I didn't use quotation marks--sorry my attempt to paraphrase caused confusion. "Must slide" is a poor phrasing on my part since the emphasis in LL is that there is no "must slide rule."

Awesome sauce! Hope my little teeballer wants to ump with the old man someday.

In the LL ruleset, it's must slide or attempt to avoid contact IF the fielder is waiting with possession of the ball. So I don't have an out there. I'd probably have a trainwreck, since the catcher has the ball before contact I don't think I have obstruction. But I do think you could sell that call.

A beer on me after the game.

Welcome! I'm in my 2nd year as a Little League UIC. Feel free to hit me with any LL specific questions if you like.

Ok I finally added some comments. If it needs lengthening, expand on the local part--the next to last graph about working local, amateur ball. Add your personal experiences/anecdotes! Those should come off with more passion (because they're personal to you) and make the speech less dry. (Not that it dry, necessary, but let's face it--you're in a class of kids all doing this right? you're going to get bored of each other quickly).

I used to do speech/forensics in High School and now I'm an umpire. This is right in my wheelhouse! I'll take a look at this while avoiding family next week. Too swamped today.

..... And be ready for the LL Board to take the side of the coaches if there is ever a disagreement/conflict and not support the umpires. Fact of LL life! Depends on the board, not the organization they belong to. 99% of the time the board will side with the coach. I have to say that my experience backs this assessment up. Most LL boards heavily favor coaches and their supporters. Well, I'm two for two on the good side. Of course there are at least 198 other Little Leagues out there so that proves nothing! That said, gymcoch--you're on the Board! Make it one of the good ones.

Yes, FOX eventually remembered it was a baseball game and showed the appeal execution.

Runners are not allowed to leave early*--how would you choose to enforce that? I admit that rule is cockamamie and the strangest rule to grasp in organized baseball. I do think it's better than just getting an out--which I think most of us would be reluctant to do for getting a one step early advantage. *before the pitch reaches the batter, by LL definition

Welcome! Does your league actually care about the patches? I've got to tell you ours doesn't (because I don't.) Get out there--you'll stink but quickly get better. Always be thinking about how to improve and you'll rapidly become one of the good ones. If you have any LL specific stuff you're curious about, feel free to ping me.