With #$%&* local rules, no good deed goes unpunished!

[Big Red]

Well, you can now put me down as a card-carrying member of the "local rules are for fools AND I hate 'em" club!

Our org agreed to pick up a local league in a low-income area for at-risk youths. Guess they had some bad experiences w/ some volunteers, so they came to us. We do get paid, but it's very minimal. But, this is one of those things I personally would've done for free.

League consists of 4 co-ed divisions, very similar to LL...Seniors (slow-pitch), Majors (slow-pitch), Minors (coach pitch baseball) and Tiny (T-ball). At our org mtg last week to discuss this league, I was a little concerned when I learned the field was in the middle of a housing complex w/o an outfield fence....one ground rule was that if the ball hits the apartment bldg straightaway center, it's in play!

OK, I can work with that...I know these folks are making the best of what they have.

First games were last nite...my partner is our youngest member, 16, her first season and there are 3 games scheduled...1st is Major, 2nd is Minor, 3rd is Tiny. Scheduler says 2 are required for the first 2, but asks if I'd stick around for at least the start of the third as my partner is going to take that solo and he'd like me there to help out if something happened. Sure thing.

I ask him about any local rules since they were s'posed to e-mail them out but never did. He states the only one he knew of involved the lines marking the halfway point between bases...when time is called, if runner hasn't made it to mark, return to previous base...if past, advance.

Well, he starts the explanation w/ a scenario....R1, batter hits a fly ball. R1 waits to see if ball is caught. No catch, R1 goes but batter-baserunner is on his/her tail. Ball comes in to infield...time.

If R1 has not made it past the 2nd-3rd halfway mark and B-BR has made it past the 1st-2nd halfway mark....(at this point, I'm thinking he's going to tell me to return the B-BR to first but that's what I get for thinking)....nope, lead runner is out!!!! They would both occupy 2nd base and this league says lead runner is out.

Oh boy...what did I get myself into?!?

Get to the park and here's what I got to enjoy:

1. First game. Catchers have to share the helmet and CP...got it. 1st catcher comes out & something's wrong w/ the picture. Look closer and realize the mask on the helmet has no pad, so the metal frame is resting against the catcher's chin and cheeks. Tell the coach that won't work. His reply...that's what they give us so it will have to work. Fortunately, we were able to find an old catcher's mask, so I took the bottom pad off of it and put it on the helmet. GTG...let's play.

Start of 2nd inning....after VT 1st batter grounds out, scorekeeper informs me that batter batted out of order. Go to VT to discuss...they have their own scorekeeper who says they are in order so we go bump it against scorekeeper's book. Find out VT submitted 3...THREE...different line-ups, then they want to blame the scorekeep.

Then, to top it off, coaches ask if the scorekeep brought it up. I say yes and they get all bent out of shape saying they have a local rule that only the coaches can point out batting out-of-order!! Whatever...show me the rule. What's that...you don't have it? Let's play.

2. Second game. R3, 1 out. Batter pops one up to F4 who makes the catch. R3 was off on the hit, comes home while everyone is screaming at him to get back. F4 is clueless...he holds the ball up to get time while the cluebird craps on R3, who is standing on home...starts running back to 3rd. F4 sees him and the race is on. F4 gets to the bag first...out, end of inning.

OC comes out throwing a fit saying that the infielder called time and runner should go back. Told him: First, runner was past half way point when fielder asked for time; second, it's a live ball appeal situation AND we had continuous action, so no reason to call time. He's pretty frustrated and then proceeds to tell me the runner was allowed to run on the hit and didn't have to tag, even if the fielder caught the ball!

Say whaaaat?!? Coach, I know you're upset, but c'mon! "Yeah, it's a local rule and I know it's not what you're used to, but that's how it is."

Ooooh boy.

Tell him has nothing to do with what I'm "used to" but what the rules say and there isn't a ruleset in the world that allows that. "It's a local rule blue." Tell him I'm absolutely not buying that one until I see it pen to paper and walk away, leaving him in the mumble-shed.

3. 3rd game....t-ball. Most of same coaches, so I'm ready for a break. But, partner isn't comfortable w/ taking game by herself w/ these coaches and doesn't want plate, so I agree to help her out and take plate (yeah, yeah; I know...2 umps for t-ball...baseball & umpiring anathema, but that's just how it is for this one).

Anyway, same OC from above. He's now DC, back w/ the catcher.

BTW, did t-ball one time 9 yrs ago...didn't remember a whole herd of coaches out on the field (4 of them!). I was told this league allowed it...yep, another local rule. Not sure if that's how other leagues do it, but no biggie.

So, little fella comes up...bat's taller than him! Big ol' hack, misses and literally screws himself into the ground. Trys again, but he's obviously a little disoriented when he addresses the ball...he hits it and I notice he had one foot completely out of the box (behind the plate). But, it's t-ball...say what you want, I'm not gonna get lynched in a place like this calling a kid out for that.

Sure enough, DC behind me starts chirping about it after play is over. Tells me I need to learn all their....yep, here it comes...."local rules." Took a deep breath right before I started to tell him what he could do w/ his local rules. Told him batting the ball w/ a foot out of the box is not a local rule, but either way, it's little kids whose day is made if they hit that ball. Heck, sometimes they even chase and pick up the ball after they hit it and everybody claps....I'm not gonna call it, and if he doesn't like it he can complain about me to the league! That seemed to shut him up, finally.

Anyway...'nuff of that...sorry for the long vent, but now I know where you guys are coming from that have mentioned this...guess I never had to deal w/ a "local rule" adventure such as this.

However, don't want it to seem like it was a completely negative experience. Had several of the kids ask me when they came to the plate, in an almost awestruck manner, if I was a "real" umpire! Even had a few high five me when they scored a run. Never had so many fans thanking us when we left and the concession stand guy said they'd never had good umpires before and practically offered me everything in the concession stand begging us to come back again.

Did my heart good to see a community, in the middle of some of this city's worst gang territory, w/ minimal resources getting involved with their kids to give them an escape, an opportunity, a fun time and using baseball/softball to do it. The kids were incredible and the entire place was packed w/ family and neighbors out supporting the kids. Even better than seeing it was being involved in it, regardless of all the @*%^!$# local rules nonsense. :rantoff:

Edited June 12, 2010 by Big Red

[maninblack69]

Sounds like a great thing that the community is doing for the kids. Now they just need to get the coaches to see it and stop being jack:censored:s. :)

[poppyfor3]

Big Red--Kudos to you and your org. Hope you sat back and had a cold one with a warm fuzzy. Jack

[yawetag]

Great job on helping out! I'm glad your organization was able to assist.

I agree to help her out and take plate (yeah, yeah; I know...2 umps for t-ball...baseball & umpiring anathema, but that's just how it is for this one).

A plate umpire for t-ball? What are you calling? It seems to me that it would be better, with two umpires, to "split" the infield. One takes U3, the other takes U1.

Heck, sometimes they even chase and pick up the ball after they hit it and everybody claps

And this is the reason I can't understand why umpires are needed, or why a league, who's probably having trouble finding funds anyway, is willing to pay for umpires. Drop the umpires; you'll lower the cost to play.

T-ball is about fun and teaching the basics of baseball/softball. Not calling an out with a foot outside the box? Doing nothing when a batter picks up his own hit? It's obvious that the rules are merely suggestions, so if a dad calls a fair/foul or safe/out incorrectly, it's not going to hurt Johnnie's chance at a major league contract.

Sure, the games are a blast -- I'll enjoy watching my son doing it next year. But I will have a hard time trying to understand why someone thinks "real" umpires are needed at this level. The only reason I can think of is that the parents aren't involved enough to volunteer. If that's the case, there's more to worry about than umpires.

[txump81]

Always fun to hear a story of how jacked up some local rules are, but at the same time, I think it is awesome to see the community come together over America's past time. It is also great to be a part of a community effort.

On the umpires in Tball thing, our league doesn't have umpires, we just have the DCs in the field and they and the OCs call the outs. Don't get me started on my rant about our local "coach pitch" league.

[kcfan102]

You know, we can say all we want about "why we're out there", money/kids/etc. and I know we only have one umpire for t-ball and machine pitch, but at the t-ball age, I think you really have to be out there for the kids.

If they run to the pitcher's mound on their way to first, who cares? If their helmets catch the wind, they will fly off. It's t-ball. Have fun and laugh with them. The parents appreciate what you're doing, the kids are there to have fun, so let them.

Local rules suck. I am very lucky that the only local rule we have that sucks is the spread and time limit. Perhaps that league should publish a "local rules book" and give it to the umpires?

Great job though, really.

[Ump29]

Slow pitch ... ? Half way line ... ? Time called when ball comes into infield ... ? ............ sounds like softball to me ... not baseball !!!

[Big Red]

Big Red--Kudos to you and your org. Hope you sat back and had a cold one with a warm fuzzy. Jack

Thanks, Jack and I did...and did...and did!! Thus the post at 0300!

A plate umpire for t-ball? What are you calling? It seems to me that it would be better, with two umpires, to "split" the infield. One takes U3, the other takes U1.

And this is the reason I can't understand why umpires are needed, or why a league, who's probably having trouble finding funds anyway, is willing to pay for umpires. Drop the umpires; you'll lower the cost to play.

T-ball is about fun and teaching the basics of baseball/softball. Not calling an out with a foot outside the box? Doing nothing when a batter picks up his own hit? It's obvious that the rules are merely suggestions, so if a dad calls a fair/foul or safe/out incorrectly, it's not going to hurt Johnnie's chance at a major league contract.

Sure, the games are a blast -- I'll enjoy watching my son doing it next year. But I will have a hard time trying to understand why someone thinks "real" umpires are needed at this level. The only reason I can think of is that the parents aren't involved enough to volunteer. If that's the case, there's more to worry about than umpires.

On the umpires in Tball thing, our league doesn't have umpires, we just have the DCs in the field and they and the OCs call the outs.

Andrew/txump,

With you 100% on all points! I'm fully in the camp that "real" umpires are not needed for t-ball...my ...and of the four leagues our org worked during spring ball, none required umpires for any of the t-ball games. The only time we had anyone on those games was for our newest members, like the one I worked with Fri nite, just so they could get a very basic feel for being on the field.

Now this particular league wants one umpire for t-ball, and as I found out today, only 1, not 2 for Minors (coach pitch). Reason they want at least one for all games is given some significant issues they had in the past w/ volunteer/parent "umpires" w/ too much of a vested interest (apparently some fights broke out, but that's another story....again, this isn't exactly your local little league park) and the fact that majority of coaches, bless their hearts, don't know diddly about the rules, as I so pointedly found out. Coaches were really out there herding cats more than anything else.

As far as being at the plate, like I said, last t-ball game I worked (seems wrong even writing that) was over 8 yrs ago for training and worked plate there as well. Basically, you have to hold the little ball up, make sure fielders are ready, make sure the coach is finished adjusting the tee, put the ball on the tee and tell the batter he/she can hit it.

I know, I know...ludicrous. FWIW, I worked it for free.

And yes, I DID call them out when they picked up their own batted ball (even funnier was the one batter and the fielder wrestling over the ball!!!). Nobody minded...the kid and everyone else was just excited he/she hit the ball.

And the parents not volunteering isn't an issue. Believe they were TOO involved...as I mentioned previously, they did have volunteers to umpire before, but lots of issues and I suspect that's the reason for most of the dumb@ss local rules. But, everything else at this place is volunteer, and like I said, the place was packed cheering on the kids.

Perhaps that league should publish a "local rules book" and give it to the umpires?

Brandon,

Spot on and I'm not really happy w/ our org about that. At our mtg, they mentioned they would get the rules e-mailed out, but never did. Saw our assignor near the concession stand, but when I finally got a chance to talk to him, he had va-moosed.

Slow pitch ... ? Half way line ... ? Time called when ball comes into infield ... ? ............ sounds like softball to me ... not baseball !!!

Ump29,

I could've been a little more clear in my OP, but it is definitely a mish-mash of rules/procedures. For Seniors/Majors it actually is slow-pitch softball w/ ASA rules. For coach pitch, it's under-handed pitch but w/ one of those softer baseballs, but ASA also. So, yes, time is called when ball comes into infield. T-ball self-explanatory.

And the halfway lines are more of a pain in the @ss than anything. The whole "calling time" thing was definitely an issue. Matter of fact, at our org mtg I specifically asked if we called time because a fielder had the ball in the infield and called time, or is it judgement of umpire based on "continuous action." They said judgement of umpire, but that was where we had most of issues w/ coaches....talked to my regular partner this p.m. as he worked 3 games out there today and he had same issue.

So, I've sent an e-mail to our org telling them we need a copy of rules so we aren't being blind-sided out there, and help w/ the league to get the coaches to understand the "calling time" issue.

[JaxRolo]

In your second scenario when the kid called Time.

Don't forget he asks for time and you call time. So there is no time until you say so.