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Very timely post. Another umpire and I were discussing this same thing earlier this week. The question was when was the last time you called a LBR violation and neither of us could remember. From freshmen through varsity, the girls simply turn around and go back to their bases now. We decided that it is because they are learning the game some much younger, and so much better, and the coaches are so much better trained, that the LBR is just not an issue anymore. (The majority of our coaches are females that already know the game rather than, as it used to be, ex-baseball coaches that took on a team because "somebody had to do it."}
In this same vein, I've only seen two catchers (both freshmen) that took more than one step and one fake throw before returning the ball to the pitcher. I've only seen two pitchers (one varsity, one sub-varsity) that raised their arm when they turned around to find the runner. I've seen a lot of catchers (including freshmen) that "burn" the ball back to the pitcher, thus preventing the runner from trying for the next base. These kids have learned how to get runners back on the base and the game is a lot better for it.
WMB
WMB
[Edited by WestMichBlue on May 22nd, 2004 at 10:31 AM]
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