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[ZebraStripes]

On Monday I was moved to do a pair of games in a church league.  Granted 9-11 year olds aren't known for throwing tremendous amounts of strikes but this one took the cake.

New "pitcher" to start the 3rd inning.  Ball 1, Ball 2....Ball 10, Ball 11....Ball 19, Ball 20.  Then just to be different the 21st pitch hits the next batter in the ankle.  There was no expanding that could have opened up any of these "pitches" to ever being called a strike.  I couldn't have hit some of them with a boat oar while standing on top of the plate.  Queue Harry Doyle "Juuuuuuust a bit outside"  well at least the ones that weren't 12 feet high and hitting the back stop or 6 feet behind the batter.  The 7th batter of the inning got something in the same area code (meaning he could actually reach it) and swung and got a hit.  I would not classify what I called that day as baseball.

[Tksjewelry]

Our church league youths just this year quit having paid umpires under 11. I was sad. I loved doing those games. I didn't gear up but did the games from behind the pitcher, then I wasnt a pinata back there. The games were more instructional than games. They asked that the umps help the kids, move them up in the box, tell the catcher how to sit, help pitchers avoid balks, etc. It was fun for me. No pissy coaches,  the fans were always positive, and the kids always had fun.