MarsOmega

I worked a 12u travel game with little league rules last night. Teams were playing music inbetween innings and playing walk up songs. Everything was fine until VT 4th batter had a walk up song that included a four letter word that starts with P and refrences S** work and a six letter word that starts with H and again refrences s** work. At the half inning I go over to VTC and explain that that players walk up song was innapropriate and needed to be changed or shut off. He tried to argue that those words wern't innapropriate. The kids are 11 and 12. Seriously? they switched the song. Any thoughts on profanity or innapropriate language in music for youth baseball, travel or otherwise?

Yeah, I get that, but I think my issue was that they were attempting to get me to draw lines on their batters. In the past, clarifying my strike zone with landmarks has only resulted in confrontations. If I go with the "chins to shins" approach, and I call a strike just above the chin, the coach may decide to come out and argue given that I had told them at the plate meeting that anything below the chin was a strike and anything above was a ball.

Hey all, This has come up a couple of times this season and I honsetly have no idea how to reply to this question. Any ideas are welcome My 15u game last night was cancelled due to air quality up here in the northeast. So my assignor asked if I could help out a youth umpire with a 10u game. I had just gotten my F3 shinguards and had not gotten a chance to try them out so I agreed. At the plate meeting, both coaches asked me to clarify the strike zone. I replied that my strike zone would be a 10u little league strike zone. They kept pressuring me to give them landmarks on the players. I said that it was going to be a 10u strike zone. Eventually we shut it down and the game was played without issue. I had no idea how to reply. I was pretty sure that I shouldn't give them any landmarks as it might lead to a argument about the strike zone later in the game. Any ideas on a scripted response to this question?

Hello all, I belive I am right here but need to make sure. This game was played with standard Little League Majors rules. In my game last night, fielders were constantly asking for time when they had the ball with runners on base. I wasn't calling time because I know in little league, runners can advance until the ball is with the pitcher and he/she is on the mound. A coach asked why I was not calling time, and I told him that the ball was still live. Was I correct here?

I reported the incident immediatly to the president of the league who also happens to be the assignor. I know him well. They are in the process of banning him from all games in our three league orginization. As for the coaches, they were lovely during the game. They understood that their fan could not say such things at a little league game and needed to leave. They told me that he has caused trouble at other games and I was right to chuck him. I leaft the game immediatly after it ended as I usually do. The way this field is, there is a large dirt berm that obscures the parking lot. There was nothing they could do about the incident after the game.

Wow... Ok.... I worked a Little League Minors game tonight in Rochester. It was 85 degrees at the time of the game which I know is not that hot for you southern folks but for us, thats hot. Inbetween the top of the 1st and the bottom of the 1st I asked a catcher to wear a mask with a throat guard. While I was waiting for the coach to find one, A fan who was situated behind the plate fence started making comments. The ones I completely ignored were: "Where are your parents" (I'm 18 thanks) "You need to calm down" and "You're horrible". After the comment: "You probably have never kissed a girl" I gave him a look and then continued waiting. Then this happened: He says "You've probably have a very small (insert inaproppriate male appendage)" At that point I went over to the coach and said that we wern't going to play until the fan left. After some complaining the man went to the parking lot. In the 2nd inning he comes back just like a boomerang. I make the coach make him leave again. The rest of the game goes on without a hitch.... or so I thought haha. After the game, I grab my water bottles and make a break for my car. My dad was picking me up since he had a game as well. As I am taking off my gear and putting it in the back of the car, the guy storms up to me cursing, calling me very interesting names and threating me. Now I'm 5'6" and weigh 120lbs. So I was a wuss and yelled for my dad to get out of the car. After I got the rest of my stuff I went and sat in the passenger seat. This guy continues cursing, calling my father names and threating him. He snaps a picture of the guy and he runs off. We leave. So I guess my worst fear in umpiring came true. A disgruntled fan waited for me in the parking lot.

I've been there. Umpiring is not easy, but as you get more experience certain things will become easier and somtimes automatic. Remember your great games and what you did well. Review your bad games and think about a couple things that you could have done to make that game easier. My advice is to think of this as an art form. This is a craft. Just as artists don't get everything right on the first try neither do umpires.

This is just a funny situation that happened a couple of days ago at my 12u Little League Majors Game. It was the 3rd inning with 1 out and a runner on first. The ball is live. Out of the corner of my eye I see two teenagers walk through the dugout, open the dugout gate and walk onto the field in foul territory. I call time and say: "Hey, you guys, get off the field". I should have been nicer about it, but oh well. One of them responds "We aren't players" I say: "exactly. Get off the field." They leave the field with dirty looks in my direction. I just thought it was histerical that they thought they could just walk onto a field with a live baseball game happening.

I would be able to ump school ball this season if it wasn’t for the department of education dragging their feet. I should be on for next year though. I try to know the rules as best as possible as I know it’s my the best defense in this profession. I appreciate the encouragement and don’t worry. A couple of coaches being jerks isn’t going to stop me. I love this craft and expanding on my knowledge through a school or camp is on my radar. I just don’t have a way to finance it currently.

A couple days ago, I posted my story of my 2 ejections in 4 days. Yesterday, a coach decided he wanted to leave. Ultimetly I didn't eject him even though I could have. This was a 12u 50'/70' Babe Ruth game. Both teams were from the same league. Some backround info is needed from the plate meeting. I went through my usual points and at the end I said, I have been juggeling several different leagues modified rules. Are there any rules that I need to know about here?" Both managers said no. This will be important later. The first issue occured when the home team was up to bat with bases loaded. A past ball occured and R3 attempted to steal home. He dived to try to touch the plate with an outstreached hand. I was watching closly and observed that his hand never made contact with the plate as he slid to the side instead of straight over the plate. The catcher tossed the ball to the pitcher who tagged out the runner. I called him out. Looking back on this play, they have a no head first slide rule, so he would have been out anyway. The head coach, who was the 1st base coach, said "How do you have a out?" I stated that his hand never made contact with the plate. He said "I could see his hand touch the plate from here" I said "Thats not what I saw coach" He walked over and proceded to touch the plate where he thought the runner touched the plate. I said "Thats not what I saw coach". I know what you all are going to say. I should have ejected him there. But I was trying to get a game where I didn't have to eject a coach, and I look like I'm 14 so it makes it hard. After he retreated enough, I put the ball back into play. 4 In the next half inning, with home in the field, there was a runner on first. On a past ball, R1 tried to steal 2nd and was tagged out. The second baseman tagged him in the face and in a way that made his head bounce off the ground. The player was acting like he had a head injuiry and at this age level safety is my priority so I called time. I called out the visitors team coach and assistant coach and we went to check on the injuired player. Before I could notice it, the home team coach went out and called his players around him and began talking stragety. I said "Hey Jim, This is an injuired player that we are checking on. Thats a confrence." The coach said nothing and after the injuired player was helped to the dugout we resumed play. At the end of the half inning, the home team coach Jim walks infront of me to get to the 3rd base coaches box. He walks towards me and says: "Just so you know its a rule that if there is an injuired player I can talk to my guys." I said that that was not the case. He said "Its a house rule. I can talk to my players if someone gets hurt." I stated that he did not mention this during the plate meeting. He replied "Neither did you" I told him it was not my job to present house rules because neither the league nor my association provides umpires with house rules. He keeps insisting on it and says that if I am being a "jerk" I need to get the inning started and am trying to disengage so I say "Enough coach" He replies "Oh is it?" If he had said something else after that I would have sent him to the parking lot. The rest of the game went on without incident. Any thoughts?

Hello all, I was umpiring a Little League Majors game this Saturday and had a funny interaction with a clueless coach I would like to share. Home team was in the field. Visitors were up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball and it was going towards the batters face. He put his hand up to protect his face from the ball. The ball then hit his hand instead of going into his face. The home team assistant coach was outraged. "He can't stick his hand out like that" I said "He was protecting himself from getting hit." He wanted none of that and wanted me to call the batter out. I thought that was histerical. Even if he had stuck his hand in the strike zone and touched the ball, it would just be a strike, not an automatic out. I disengaged and we resumed play. If I was older (I'm 18) and had more bravery I might have gone over and said: "Wait a second, You say the instead of protecting himself, the batter has to let himself get hit full on in the face with the ball?"

The thing was, I know for a fact that they use the infield fly for that league and age group. It’s in their leagues ground rules. So I’m really not sure what that was about. Then they agreed that we had an IFF but said it was a dead ball. In NO rule set is an IFF a dead ball. As for the 10u game, I was still pretty upset from Mondays game and getting hit in the head with a bat certainly didn’t help. I know now that I needed to not engage and walk away.

Wow was this week crazy. I worked 6 games in a 7 day period which is the most I have ever worked. Please keep in mind that I am young and still learning. On Monday, I worked a Little League Majors game with a youth umpire. I think he is 14 or 15. I am a 18 year old. He was working bases and I was plate. Overall the game went ok. In the top of the 6th inning (our last inning) we had an infield fly. There was no outs with a runner on first and second. The batter hit a pop fly to the second baseman who was on the infield grass. I yelled "Infield Fly the batter is out" Due to the commotion from both dugouts, no players or coaches could hear me. The runner from second base waited to see the ball drop and then tried to advance to third. Seeing this, 2B threw the ball to 3B and R2 was tagged out. After the ball was returned to the pitcher, I called time. I stated that the batter, who was now standing on first, was out and that R2 was out as well. coach of the offense yelled that they didn't use the infield fly at this level. I went over this in the plate meeting and knew for a fact that this league did in fact use the infield fly for little league majors. The coach said that in that case the batter was out but the ball was dead and R2 was not out. I explained that no, the ball was live and runners advance at their own peril. After clearing up the confusion with both coaches the rest of the game continued and was finished. As both me and the youth umpire were trying to leave the field, a group of adult men fans tried to prevent us from leaving by blocking us from walking to the parking lot. We both had to jostle our way through them. I reported this to the league president who is also their umpire assignor. I had Tuesday off. On Wednesday, I had a 10u little league minors game. The first two innings were machine pitch. In the top of the fifth inning, with the home team in the field and visitors up to bat, I told the pitcher there was 1 out. Home team scorekeeper/assistant coach corrected me and said there were 2 outs. I corrected myself and stated that there were 2 outs. After several walks a pitching change was made. During this pitching change, VT said he only had 1 out. I checked the VT score book and confirmed that there was a single out in that inning. It should be noted that each team was only filling score books for their own team. I then informed the home team that there was 1 out. Home team coach and scorekeeper/assistant coach then came out of the dugout to discuss. They claimed there were 2 outs and I asked how they had two outs. Home team coach only responded by saying he had 2 outs. As both home coaches were arguing with me I stated that there was one out and I would only talk with the head coach. The rest of the game was completed without incident. After the game, as I was leaving through the visitors team dugout, the home team head coach asked to talk to me. He stated that he had suggestions for me. I responded that he should contact the my association or his league president. He persisted in arguing and told me that I needed to keep track of the outs and that was not his job. I responded by saying that I had been doing this a while. He responded by saying “It dosen’t look like it”. I ejected the home team head coach at this time and headed for the visitors team dugout. While walking through the dugout a parent tried to engage me in a negative conversation. I engaged for a second and then disengaged and continued to the parking lot without further incident. This one was the easiest ejection I have ever made. On Thursday, I worked a 25+ mens league game with OBR rules. This was my first 90ft game and I honstly have no idea what my assignor was thinking. With two strikes, I called a batter out on a called strike. He looked at me and said "you're a motherf*****" and then slammed his bat on the ground, breaking it. See ya. Sorry can't say that and stay in the park. My Friday game went well as did my Saturday game. Any suggestions are welcome.

You know the three P's: profane, personal, or persistant. He gave you both profane and personal in the same sentance. He won a permanet spot on the bench for that game. Good job!

Hello everyone! I am looking for a new chest protector and want one that fits my "build". The only requirements are that it it hardshell and can be adjusted for someone that its 5'5 and around 130 lbs. Thanks, Mars Omega

S So my local little leage asked me to ump for them this fall season. This is a very small league and i've been working hard to try to get better at the craft, but they don't have enough umps to have 2 for each game and this week I drew the short straw. This league has been playing other leagues around us this season. After bringing this to the attention of the umpiring manager, who is also the president of the league. We think that the problem is that fall ball is supposed to be a fun and less competive place for the kids to work on skills and development. Due to some past problems with other umpires, it seems that a lot of other leagues are using fall ball as a way for their kids to continue their TRAVEL seasons into the fall. The rules between travel in my area and little league are vastly different. especially for some of these saftey rules. Heck I almost had to chuck a coach in the game before this one after informing them that they couldn't use USSSA bats. Thanks for the help. This is something I really wan't to do and I appretiate the tip about ejection technique.

To preface this let me explain that I am a 18 year old and this is my 5th season umpiring and i'm still learning, so any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome. In the last game of the season, in a 12u fall ball game played with standard little league rules, I ejected the visitors head coach. I was working solo. In the first inning, VT is up to bat. There is a runner on first with no outs. on a past ball the runner tries to steal second base. I get out from behind the plate and start running up the field so I can see better. The catcher finds the ball and throws down to second. The second baseman catches the ball as the runner is sliding into second when he is tagged.His foot clearly did not touch the base. I call an out. VT is yelling about how was that an out and so on, but the rest of the inning goes on without a hitch, or so I thought. When the inning is over, the VT head coach, who was the 1st base coach, walks behind me and says "Well you blew that call". I said "Coach we are not doing that today." He states that he was talking to his assistant coach and not to me. I say "Uh Huh" and back off. In the bottom of the 5th inning, VT is in the field and their pitcher is boarderline quick pitching every single pitch. He isn't waiting for the batter to even look up and it wasnt like these kids were taking ages to get ready for the ball. He never pauses between his "set" position and his motion towards the plate. On the first batter, one pitch is so quick the batter didn't even have his bat up and ready to swing. I call time, and say " Pitcher, you have to wait for the batter to be ready for the pitch, you can't suprise him. That's a quick pitch." VT coaches are saying "thats not a quick pitch, the batters in the batters box." I say "no coach, your pitcher needs to pause between "set" and delivering the pitch, so the batter can be ready." they keep commenting, but I get back to the game. I say 'play' and that batter walks. the next batter comes up to bat and the first pitch is another quick pitch. I call time and say "thats a quick pitch". VT head coach comes storming out of the dugout and yells "Why are you calling time so much?" I say "Coach your pitcher is quick pitching the ball, thats dangerous" He shouts the "The batter was in the batters box" I say "coach, the batter needs to be ready for the pitch." He yells "Thats not a quick pitch, YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO UMPIRE SCHOOL!!". Thats it "Coach, You're gone" as he's leaving the field he yells "you need to grow up." funnily engough the HT coach had enough of that and yelled back " I think you need to grow up." the rest of the game continued with no further problems, but that is the most scared i've ever been about walking to the parking lot. Was there anything else I could have done to made this game go more smoothly? Should I have ejected this coach?

Hello, this is my first time posting so please tell me if i'm doing something wrong. This was my 4th game of the fall season and I have been umpiring for 2 years. Given I am a new ump. any feedback would be helpful. This was a 12u fall ball game played using standart little league rules. I was on the bases and was in B with a runner on 1st. The home team was in the field. the shortstop (13) was making some remarks about the calls my partner (PU) was making behind the plate saying things such as: we should have got that one, that was a strike, ect. This was unusual for me as usuly I hear these kind of comments from the offensive bench not players in the field but this is fall ball and I tend to let some things go. The batter walked on a ball that was at least 4 inches outside and as I was moving to position "C" I hear 13 say "F-word that call" loud enough for the runner and his team members to hear him. I said, "13 please watch your language". I got no response. I said again " Hey 13, watch your language." He said "I heard you the first time." I decided to not escalate and informed the head coach of this interaction at the half inning. No further incidents happened. Should I have ejected this kid in a fall ball game or was I right to tone it back and warn?