MarsOmega

You say the catcher can throw it back however he wants to. Does this mean you think that the catcher can intentionally throw the ball into the batter as hard as he wants? The issue here isn't that the rules require him to throw the back a certain way, but they do require him to act in control, in a safe manner, and be sportsmanlike. I personally wouldn't allow this to happen as the batter could get injured due to the catcher's unsafe conduct.

This is a very important insight. FIT. As a woman, I struggled to find a chest protector that could fit well and provide the protection I needed to ensure that I was not hurt when taking balls to the chest. Because of this, I settled on the All-Star Cobalt, which I would recommend to any woman looking to get into umpiring. Just a little something from the other side's perspective.

Last night I was umpiring a 15u game. In this division, there are 3 divisions of 15u based on skill. This game was the lowest skill level of the three. They play OBR, with High School balks, and equipment rules (bats, catchers helmets, etc.). Our association has been cracking down on language use this year. The pitching was not great, as can be expected, with one pitcher from the VT hitting several kids. In the fourth inning, the VT pitcher hits #29 in the hands for the THIRD time. He was hit once in the ankle, once in the back, and now the hands. While he is jumping around in pain, he exclaims "F***". Now by my associations and the local rules, I am to immediately eject him for using such language, but I decided on the spot that in this game and future games, players who have been hit for a third time may use some foul language while in immediate pain, as long as the language is not excessive or directed at anyone. Has anyone else done something like this?

I tested as green, which I think is really how I think as an umpire. I am great at learning and memorizing rules, what to do in what situation, learning different and unusual case plays, and knowing where I am supposed to be. The downside is that I struggle with rigidity and knowing when I am supposed to bend the rules. I struggle with calling balks because it is hard for me to know when I am supposed to call them and when I am supposed to let them go (per age group of course). I also struggle with game management for the same reasons. When do I let comments and behaviors go, when do I act on those comments and behaviors and if I do, what action am I taking?

I want to start off by saying I have never ejected a kid from a baseball game before this season, which is my fourth. I have ejected a men's league player for calling me a MF, but no kids. I was working solo at a 12u Little League game last Saturday. The game was going fine until #5 was up to bat in the top of the 4th inning. He checked his swing on the first pitch. I say that he went. Checks his swing at the next pitch. I say he went again. The third pitch comes right down the middle at belt height. I ring him up. He then says the F-word loud enough for me, the catcher the pitcher, and the other team's coaches (in the dugout) to hear. I say "Hey, no, no no. You can't say things like that." The kid ignores me and goes inside the dugout. I approached the head coach for the team and told him that his player was now warned for unsportsmanlike conduct due to his language. The coach says he will talk to his player. Ok great! In the next inning with 2 outs, #5 ends up on third. He attempts to steal home on a past ball when the catcher grabs it, chases him up the baseline back toward third, and gets tagged out. It was pretty close but I saw the glove tag on his chest. I call him out. He then takes his helmet off and slammed it onto the ground. I say "#5 you're gone". I then approached the coach and told him that he was ejected for slamming his equipment after a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. He told me that I can't talk to his players. I told him that I had no choice. For the entire rest of the game, the kid sat on the bench, harassed me, and encouraged his teammates to do the same. He did not have a parent at the game, so I had no choice but to let him remain on the bench for safety reasons. I shut down numerous players who started to loudly question my calls. And that was the end of that game? In my Tuesday game, I had to warn another kid for using the F-word after striking out in a 10u game for the SAME LEAGUE! I thankfully didn't have to eject anyone for that game. Am I doing anything wrong here? I've never had to eject a player before this season and have now had 2 in a week. Any advice would be appreciated because I am a young hothead whose weakest game mechanics are game management. What do you have here guys?

Hello everyone, I am currently using an Adidas gym bag as my equipment bag and am looking to upgrade to a real equipment bag. I was wondering who uses a hockey-style helmet and what bag you use. Thanks!

Bottom of the 5th inning (also the last inning due to time), R2, 1 out. Home team up to bat, I am working alone. Babe Ruth rules. Batter checks swing for the first pitch. I deem it a strike. The batter seems frustrated. the batter checks his swing for the second pitch. I deem it a strike. The batter is now angry. the batter then fully swings at the third pitch. I signal the out. The batter then slammed his bat full force onto the ground, turned to look at me, and yelled "You're DEAD". I walked over to the HTHC and explained what he said, and that he was now ejected. HTHC apologizes and says that the player has some sort of emotional problem and he has been trying to deal with it all season. He understands why the player was ejected and likes the idea that I have to write a report as it will alert the league that the player has gotten out of hand. The third out was made and the game was over. Home team coaches all apologize to me as I am walking out and I tell them I understand and that it's not their fault. Oh and by the way, this was a 10u rec game.

I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as it wasn't disrupting the natural progression of the warm-up.

The authority they have is that they sent invoices to parents who misbehaved. Any parent who refused to pay was banned from all school functions until they did. I understand that a fine just means that the rich can misbehave as much as they want, but what else are they supposed to do. I guess I have a different perspective given that I umpire in NY. Coaches here are paid school teachers and are fined if ejected from the game. This means that the typical school game is usually much calmer that a 10u little league game.

What needs to happen is the schools need to step up or we need to step up. I think a school district in Virginia maybe?? started fining parents who misbehaved at sporting events. We as officials need to demand that schools and or the sections penalize misbehavior properly or we will stop working their games. Just my 0.02$.

I feel it's my way of giving back to my community. I have a thick skin and can take it as long as the league backs the ejections. As a kid, I played coach pitch all the way to LL Seniors. I was never good enough to play high school ball. I loved playing and have always loved baseball. As an umpire, I feel that the kids shouldn't have to suffer by having bad umpires because their parents or coaches are acting a fool.

Yeah, whoops. I'll have to correct it. Thanks for the support. This happened in my second game of summer ball. It always seems like the 8 and 9 year olds always behave better than the coaches.

This all started with an assigning mix-up. A local league contracts with my association for umpires but they have been trying to get their local varsity and JV players to help umpire. I was originally assigned to umpire on field 3 (12u) but when I arrived was told by a board member (who is a very friendly guy) that they actually wanted me on field 1 (10u). I said no problem but notified them that I had studied their house rules for the 12u game and not the 10u game. He says it shouldn't be a problem. Spoiler: It was When I conducted my plate meeting, I explained that my assignment had changed at the last minute and asked about house rules for their age division. They say that there is no leading off, steals can occur once the ball has passed the front of the plate, no stealing home, 5 inning game, 5 run limit, etc... At NO point does any coach mention anything about overthrows or dead balls. This field is not fenced in, so when I am going over ground rules, I explain that the deadball lines are going to be as marked and if there are overthrows passed that line will be dealt with using standard awards. BOTH coaches agree. The first 4 innings went by great. Then in the top of the fifth, this happens: this is copied from my incident report. The home team is in the field. With runners on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and three outs, the ball is hit to F6 who lets the ball go through his legs. R3 scores. F6 then throws the ball to F3 who does not catch it resulting in the ball going past the dead ball line. I called time and awarded 2 bases from TOP. HT Coach tells me that runners cannot score on an overthrow. I stated that I thought they did. He says they cannot. Visitors team head coach tells me that the HT Coach is correct. I then moved the batter-runner back to 1st, R1 to 2nd, and R2 to 3rd. HT Bench coach continues to yell and harass me. After ignoring this for several phrases, I told him that if there were any other problems he could go to his head coach and have him come to me with the problem. I then warned the bench coach. HT bench coach continued to yell and argue after warning. I then ejected the HT bench coach. HT bench coach refused to leave. After being told he needed to leave the premises, he replied "No, I don't". I informed him that if he did not leave, I would suspend the game and leave the outcome to the league. He then left and the rest of the game continued without further incident.

This is a long story so hang in there. I don't know why this is all bolded but I can't undo the bold button for some reason. Last year I worked for both my local association and my town's small little league. The local league never had to contract with the association because they had their own umpires. The year I worked there were 4 of us including me and my father. My association typically paid around 80$ for 10u and 12u. The local league paid 40$ a game. I played for the little league so I felt that working for them was a way of giving back to my community. Boy did I learn my lesson. Around 1 week before the season was set to end, I was given a 12u LL Majors game. My father also umpires and he worked the field while I worked plate. For some reason, I was notified that we were to enforce a new penalty for runners leaving early. The league decided that umpires were to call runners out for leaving early after a warning instead of sending them back. Apparently, the coaches were not notified of this. I don’t remember what inning this was in. R1, 2 outs. VT has been previously warned that their runner left early. Before the pitch reaches the plate, R1 takes off. After the pitch, my partner told me that the runner left early. I called him out for leaving early and said that the team already got a warning for leaving early. All hell breaks loose so I move into the infield where my partner is. VT assistant coach comes towards me from the 1st base coaching box. He wants to know what happened so I explain that because a warning was already given his player was called out for leaving early. Mind you that during the arguing I am backing up trying to disengage from the conflict. He actually chased me from the pitcher's mound to 3rd base. He kept arguing so I said that if there was anything else, he could talk to the head coach and have him come talk to me. He then yells “Well I just want a f*****g explanation!” So I toss him. The head coach comes running onto the field and states that I can’t do that. My father is trying to rodeo clown and tells him that he yelled the f-word at a Little League game. He says “You can’t do that. You do anything like that again and I will have you removed.” I continue to back up but by now every coach is on the field. Me and my partner (dad) decide that things are out of control and we suspend the game and leave. When I called the league president who is also the umpire coordinator to explain what happened, he fired me for causing too much trouble. I was furious but I thought that if they were not going to back up their umpires from abuse from coaches I didn’t want to work for them anyway. My father quit in solidarity. Anyway, I got over it and have been working with my association this year. A couple of days ago, I got a notification through our app that I have 2 new game assignments pending. It's a doubleheader 12u Little League game for the local league that fired me each paying 80$ a pop. I almost fell off the couch from laughing so hard. Turns out that when me and my father left, they lost all their umpires and had to contract with my association which subsequently meant that they had to pay double what they were paying before just to have me come back and umpire for them. Now with supervisors that are supportive and back their umpires even when we make mistakes. I hope the league president is there so I can pretend not to know anyone and wow everyone with my professionalism. This made my month and I am glad to take their 160$ for 4 hours worth of work.

When I text or call my partner, we go over what field we are going to, what time the game is, who should call the AD in case of bad weather, what color shirt we will wear, and positioning. I typically ask if they want the plate or the field making it their choice. That usually results in me doing plate.