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Umpiring non-competitive “Fall Ball”


SCRookie
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I have an opportunity to umpire this year’s “Fall Ball” season which begins after Labor Day. It’s basically a come-as-you-are for Little League kids to keep skills sharp and have fun. They get shirts, but supply their own caps and pants. They don’t technically keep score and it’s described as non-competitive. They do, however, bring in umpires to officiate, nonetheless. 

Has anyone worked these kinds of games before, and if so, do you apply the same level of stringency you might use in regular season, or do you tend to lighten up a little? I’ve never done this sort of ball before and don’t want to come off as a hard-ass if it isn’t appropriate. Advice is appreciated!

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I've worked Fall Ball in our LL for the last several years. In our league, fall ball is viewed as more relaxed and developmental for the kids--often quite a few Minors players transitioning to Majors/LL division. It's also a time when I'm often training junior umpires and trying to get them excited about committing to spring season. All this leads to a little more understanding when someone (player/coach/umpire) messes up and we need a quick Time or an extra 30 sec between innings to chat about a rule/mechanic/situation. This is just the culture of our league.

FWIW, I've also worked for another league where parents didn't seem to understand the LLWS was already over. YMMV. Have a chat with the league UIC or a Board member and see if you can get a read.

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2 hours ago, BDad said:

FWIW, I've also worked for another league where parents didn't seem to understand the LLWS was already over. YMMV. Have a chat with the league UIC or a Board member and see if you can get a read.

You also want to get a read on the coaches. Hopefully they'll have the same mindset (relaxed or competitive - but hopefully not LLWS :). You can feel it out and steer it pre-game. 

Being fall ball, you can also have conversation between innings about level of "excitement" with the coaches you may not in the regular season if things are a bit off. 

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I have done fall ball in a few different towns and have been very fortunate that in those all the coaches understood.

This is every bit a learning and teaching moment games are competitive yes but its more about teaching the kids about playing the game as well as working fundamentals 

I routinely during the plate meeting mention if the coaches wish to call time to talk to a child about the situation I have no issue with it and have at.  At the same time I will call time and  instruct kids about batters box etiquette a lot as those 7 yr olds have NO clue where to stand a lot of the time.

 

PS the strike zone is as big as you want it to be and NO ONE complains... LOL

 

 

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As a gear expert, I’m dead serious about developing / modifying / employing one of these for youth (less than 10 year old, specifically) baseball. 

image.jpeg.99273fcff9eb7ef330a65388aadcd10d.jpeg

Pop this down, stand behind it. 

Fringe it in pink or sky blue for softball. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mad Max is joking, but not really 😃  It's been a couple of years since I've done a LL fall ball game, but here's what I learned:

LL Fall Ball, all levels, "a developmental autumn season where everyone AND THEIR LITTLE BROTHER gets to play catcher!"  Dress accordingly, so you have fun, too!

A buddy who is a much senior and much wiser volunteer than me says he always wears an old style Balloon Chest Protector for LL fall ball. When I first did LL fall ball, I mistakenly clung to the naive delusion that "Balloon Chest Protectors are for sucks!" After my second game of being the backstop, I started leaving my chest protector in my pickup, stopped by the League Equipment Shed on my way to the field, and grabbed a balloon protector. That one equipment modification made fall ball as recreationally fun for me as it was for the players who were playing "up" a league--and I never cared when the little brothers came out of the dugout with catcher's gear on, because Balloon Chest Protectors really aren't for sucks!

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  • 2 weeks later...

@SCRookie, every league even the same league fall versus spring has its own culture, flavor, style, etc...and as human beings I suppose this applies somehow to umpires and umpiring, too.

At the same time, one of the oldest clichés in sports is, "How we practice is how we play". And it's true for umpiring, too. If an umpire works fall ball say down at 10U (and that's fine, the game needs umpires at almost ALL levels...) and that umpire starts saying and doing things like, "Oh, it's 10U fall ball...I don't have to clean my shoes." or "It's fall ball, I don't have to be there until 10 minutes before game time." or "It's fall ball, so I'll take a step or two up the line after clearing the catcher but, I'm not going further because I can see swipe tags, pulled feet and running violations from there just fine..." or "Meh...the batter just fouled that ball off the fence but, I'm not going to inspect the baseball because it's fall ball..." Well, guess what is likely going to happen next?

After 2 or 3 months of umpiring fall baseball in this relaxed, casual state...you're going to put your gear away for the winter and not think about baseball and or umpiring until February when you start getting notifications for HS scrimmages and then you show up to work those scrimmages with the same half-hearted efforts you were using to work fall ball and your craft suffers and you have to un-do all those bad habits you picked up. This notion that human beings can "flip the switch" when "the games matter" is largely a myth. How we practice is how we play.

Work fall baseball, absolutely. Work spring baseball, absolutely. Keep a written list of things you are working on. You know what those things are; you've heard them repeatedly from your mentors and umpire brothers that you know and trust. Part of your pre-game for ALL baseball games should be to tell your crew what YOU are working on and have them tell you what THEY are working on. Don't overload yourself. You have a ballgame to work. And then in post-game, review those "working items". How did everyone do? Take notes and consider the feedback you were given. Could any of it be positively implemented on your craft to make you a better umpire?

An umpire who doesn't take the field to work on things is not working to become a better umpire.

~Dawg 

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  • 3 months later...
12 minutes ago, mac266 said:

I've found anything involving LL aged kids has batSH*# crazy people for coaches and parents.  High School is the lowest level I'll work now

Went well here. I'm the opposite. Every HS game I've been to has been a SH*# show (excluding the 20-3 slaughters when the entire losing side knows they are outgunned). If and when I go to HS it will be for the mental challenge/growth of managing the game.

I am spoiled in LL though. 95% of the LL games I do are my local league (and I do mean local as in 500 yards away) which is the best in the 2 entire LL districts I work. The league is pretty under control - high correlation with the fact that we have the most post-season level umpires from our league I'd say.

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2 hours ago, Velho said:

Went well here. I'm the opposite. Every HS game I've been to has been a SH*# show (excluding the 20-3 slaughters when the entire losing side knows they are outgunned). If and when I go to HS it will be for the mental challenge/growth of managing the game.

I am spoiled in LL though. 95% of the LL games I do are my local league (and I do mean local as in 500 yards away) which is the best in the 2 entire LL districts I work. The league is pretty under control - high correlation with the fact that we have the most post-season level umpires from our league I'd say.

That's awesome.  Our HS coaches know the game much better than LL coaches do (and other groups of the same age group).  In Colorado, school-sanctioned sporting events are regulated as school events.  So a kid who gets ejected from a game is treated the same as a kid getting kicked out of class and sent to the principal's office.  The same is true for a HS coach who gets ejected--he could get fired, especially if he is a repeat offender.  The coaches all know this, and the umpires know it, and we don't have to remind them.  If they want to ask a question or want us to get help from a partner, they know how to approach it without causing a scene.  To date, I have NEVER had to eject anyone from a HS sanctioned event. 

Our LL coaches not only have no idea what is in the rule book, they have no idea how to address the umpires.  I've seen coaches of 10 year-olds jumping up and down while yelling F-bombs ("you're gone"), stomping around and making the STUPIDEST rule arguments by yelling across the field ("you're gone"), and all sorts of craziness.  I simply won't work them anymore. 

I worked in an independent minor league last year.  I'm not going back because it's pretty ghetto, and for me it was a pathway into NCAA.  I've made it to one division II's prospect list and am doing their summer and fall baseball while working junior college and high school during the regular season.  I suppose that means I'm a decent umpire, and that would generally mean the youth level baseball organizations would want me around.  They do, but I won't work their games anymore. 

The youth level organizations around here are left with umpires who are umpiring for the $50 and guys who don't have the drive to work hard, get better, and move up.  It's a shame, because in the end it's going to kill the youth game, which will kill the game altogether.

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Interesting @mac266 Thanks. That gives me some hope - or places to consider moving to :) . I work hard to train the coaches and kids (too much historically so finding the balance). I also work for free* and don't have high level aspirations.

* actually, because of my work, proper non-profits get paid for me to work games. I like to say "I'm so bad they pay you to have me umpire". lol

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