Mudisfun

So for those of you who are in the area... we will be hosting a remembrance of John next month. Per his request, he specifically asked for no memorial "I find them morbid" was his exact words. John was a long time umpire, in several districts,. He was the district UIC for CA 62 as well as 55 and was an all around great guy. His passing has been a complete shock to our group, to say the least. Please feel free to pass the gathering information on to anyone you think would like to join us. January 15th, 6:30pm. Old World Village, 7561 Center Ave, Huntington Beach, CA 92647. We will be meeting in the main hall. If you have any questions, feel free to DM or email me, cmnllblue@gmail.com Thanks - Kevin

I'm not sure which was more boring, my response, or yours.

Honestly, it is UIC's site. However he wants to set it up is fine with me... Neither are going to have any real impact in my life, so honestly? I really do not care.

Little League actually makes this illegal... during the regular season, a league can adopt not to enforce sign stealing rules. Once All-Start begins, sign stealing is illegal in LL and the penalty, under 9.01(d): if the umpire believes sign stealing or other relaying of signs is occurring, those responsible, including any player, coach(es), and/or manager shall be ejected from the game.

Another site I cruise though locks threads after 7-10 days of inactivity on that thread... really annoying when you do not visit daily and have something to add to the discussion. I agree with @Kevin_K, is this really an issue to have to be concerned with?

I think we need to get the youth leagues to start pulling their internal parents back into officiating. We are losing so many umpires out there for so many reasons... age, injury, booming economy, treatment of officials and a myriad of other issues that our ranks are thinning out... As a LL UIC, I laugh out loud at parents who tell me we should just pay for umpires. I ask them where this mythical spring of paid umpires happens to be, especially since outside of LL, I am one of those guys... Tell me where these magical creatures hide! So many of us got into this business because we were volunteered to umpire our kids games. A few of us decided to get better and opened a rule book, went to a clinic and stepped up. Trying to outsource all of these youth games, in my mind, is a self defeating process... we fail to grab those 3-5 guys and gals a year who would become 'Umpires' and stick with it in exchange for taking the easy road and just out sourcing. What happens when there is no 'out source'? Sorry to hijack your thread... I agree with not wanting to work these super small kids and setting a standard for yourself. I did something like 15 9u games last season... why? My daughter was playing and how can I beg people to cover those games if I am not willing to do so? Lead by example. But when it comes to wanting to work those? Man... I would rather work the Majors game if LL, or the Varsity game if HS... 8u? painful.

Arguing with fans on an umpire site is like arguing with Grandma through the fence... you are never going to win, no matter how right you may be.

During a HS game last season being played at Anaheim Stadium, there was rain, hail and lightning. The crew on the field was told by site management that A) they (Angels baseball) were monitoring the weather, B) they have communications with the weather service in place, and were using it just as if this was an MLB game, C) if they told the crew the game was over, the game was over, even though by rule, the umpires are the ones who 'decide'... but their house, their rules. The game continued and was played until the conclusion... rain, hail and all.

Different bell.

In scenario 1, I have an out. Great that he missed the collision, but we have to rule on the actions which occurred, not what might have happened. Scenario 2, I have a run scored... Then I have to determine if I think he tripped on the plate, in which case there is nothing to address other than an 'are you OK?' or determine if he dove... in that case, I can warn both the player and the coach/team for the safety issue. I don't see how I am going to un-ring the bell and remove a run from the board... We do not for MC, and that is a higher level of infraction as it bring an automatic ejection to the party.

All prayers are welcome!

Friends... one of my good friends, and fellow Little League D62 Staff umpire, former OCBOA and OCSBOA Umpire Jim Burley has been diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. This disease has spread to his lungs and other surrounding tissue. As you can imagine, the projected outcome is not promising. His physicians have projected he has somewhere between 6-12 months at this point. Jim has been umpiring for 25+ years. As I am sure you all know, medical costs are through the roof, his wife is having a rough go of it and of course for those of you who know Jim, his daughter has a smattering of her own special needs, which of course cost tons of money. To get to the meat of this post... especially those of you who are or were involved in Little League... Jim has supported our programs for years. He has donated countless hours of him time to support our kids by being on the field umpiring, training, mentoring... all for free. He needs our help now... If you can spare anything, please donate to help Jim and his family in their time of need. Anything you can spare is appreciated and will help. Please share this post with anyone and everyone. I know this is not the purpose of Umpire-Empire, but we call ourselves a Brotherhood, and just like last year when Steve @grayhawk was hurt, we all rallied and rallied and helped as best we could. This brother in blue needs our help now as well. Thank you in advance for your help, and if you are not in a position to aid financially, please say a prayer for him and his family. https://www.gofundme.com/f/jim-burley-assistance-fund

I put this up there with the pitcher cannot wear sunglasses... Unless it is distracting, I am not picking this one. @Rich Ives brings up the actual ruling, but from an officials standpoint, I have no idea why that kid is wearing that arm band, so that is not something I am looking to rule on. Let the kids play, and if that coach is able to motivate his kids, I say let him... Enforcing that regulation is a matter for the league BOD to handle.

Does it surprise me that another umpire did this to you? Sadly, no... go to any travel tournament and you will see a bunch of these guys working games... their mechanics, rules knowledge and ability to infuriate coaches at the plate meeting just makes for a cringe worthy show to watch.

Too bad. I love the pillow for Minors... too many F1's can't pitch and too many F2's can't catch. You haven't been bruised enough yet...

Amazing how few people take advantage of this situation... happens all the time, and the runner and 3rd base coach just stand there chatting.

Work the pillow man, work the pillow! LL minors... I don't use anything else.

It's the minor leagues... no one is/was watching anyhow

Having the computer calling the game fundamentally changes the way you umpire... you not longer are umpiring, you are just the flesh and bone version of a light up board. If/when they figure out how to have the computer call all of the other things we do at the plate, I will bet they find an excuse to remove us from behind the plate, all in the name of being perfect. It would be funny to see how many F2's get scored on because the umpire back stop is no longer standing there blocking many could be past balls.

Awesome mile-stone! Congrats! If this is your 3rd time on ESPN, do you now have to get a SAG card?

Just considering how expensive some bats can be, I would, as a parent who purchased said bats, not be thrilled to have my kids coach allow the other team to use my son's bat. If only LL baseball would distribute to all of the managers, coaches and umpires some form of document which would codify their rules in one easy to access resource. They could bound such book in an easy to see color scheme, like Green, and hand it out to leagues and other participants so that we can all know the rules and be on the same page. Oh, wait... Too bad for the other coach who allowed his players to use illegal bats all season. Sorry they only will be swinging bats they are not use to... However, keep in mind the old adage "if you're not cheating, you're not trying', so maybe this was the other coach just doing his normal thing and trying to get advantages he was not entitled to. Too bad the illegal bats were discovered prior to the game. as the penalty in Allstars is quite severe for use of illegal bats. Sounds like it would have been fun for this coach to get caught using these not eligible bats.

Thankfully for the regular season, we do not use the stealing signs rules... which let's be honest is silly at 12u. Not much we can do during the Allstar tournament, since it is a rule they want enforced at that point.

If the team is just cheering for their players and nothing is changing during the whole time the pitcher is delivering, then other than some unsportsmanlike issue, I'm ignoring. Now if they crescendo when the F1 is delivering, or they are dead quiet until that point and then suddenly loud, that I am addressing.

@The Man in Blue I will tell him so... we are working a game this evening.

Yeah... this was a 8-9 YO game. If he had demonstrated properly? Most likely I would mention to him that if I'm staring at the feet, I'm not watching his pitch... pick your poison Reality, I would use the old... I'll keep an eye out for it coach.