Gentlemen,
In terms of the umpiring in the final...
In a different universe than the "International" semifinal the other night. I had the impression on a few pitches early in the game that he was "squeezing" the pitchers - especially on the "low" ones. Overall, solid job and it made for a much better game.
Good no-call on the play at the plate which may have been obstruction. I thought 1BLE would have been a better angle, but I don't think it would have made any difference.
The U1's comment to the PU when he "got help" on the Georgia manager's appeal on a possible HBP (three pitches after the Georgia HR) cracked me up. I thought the Georgia Mgr. was a little out of line even asking & was also a bit of a jerk about how reluctantly he dropped it after the PU was gracious enough to check with his partner.
Other random thoughts...
I always knew Brent Musberger was a pompous a$$ - I can only hope they don't invite him back, because that environment just magnifies it.
Orel Hershiser doesn't say a lot, and I hope they DO invite him back.
The look on the kid's face who hit the home run for Georgia - priceless.
The pudgy kid for Georgia who had all the clutch hits and played solid defense - never judge a book by it's cover.
The Georgia pitcher reminding his teammates to go shake hands with the Japanese kids in the midst of their celebration - leadership and sportsmanship.
Best post on the subject:
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Originally Posted by Dave Hensley
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The PU's strikezone was, in a word, atrocious, and it matters little that it was the same for both teams. It trampled on the game and changed the entire character of the matchups. It was, in one more word, inexcusable.
Now, why did this guy, who had worked two previous TV plates and, while generous, had given no indication that he was in jeopardy of going berserk with his strikezone, all of a sudden just go insane with his calls?
I think there are two basic reasons. The first is I think the Mexican catcher "psyched" him into questioning his own perception of where the limits of the outside corner were, by giving him a first class psych-out job in the top of the 1st inning. Little Mini-Pudge would whirl around and give a "YGTBSM" look on pitches that were a foot off the plate, and for whatever reason, PU folded like a cheap suit, and started calling the pitches strikes. Perhaps an example of "calling the expected zone" gone horribly, horribly wrong, by letting one person - mini-Pudge - define the expected zone.
The second problem is something Garth Benham mentioned on another board - the umpire may have been "tunneling" the pitches, not moving his eyes with the pitch all the way to the mitt. He stopped seeing the pitch about 6 feet in front of the plate, and made his decision there. By the time the catcher was stabbing the pitch with a desperate lunge a foot and a half wide of the plate, PU's decision was long made.
Both of these phenomena combined to produce what I have to admit was one of the worst plate performances in a televised Little League game in my memory. I feel sorry for the guy because I think his prior plate games are surely more representative of his standard game, than the nightmare that was last night. At this point, all we can do is analyze it and try to figure out what went wrong, which is the purpose of my post here.
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This was in reference to the Japan/Mexico game. It wasn't posted on this board, but I thought it the best post I read on the whole LLWS.
Funniest post:
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Originally Posted by bob jenkins
Crap. I was hoping it would be over.
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(In response to the final being rescheduled to Monday.)
Can't say why exactly, but this cracked me up when I saw it. Bob, you owe me a new monitor.
'Til next year.
Congratulations to the young baseball players from Georgia. They looked pretty "real" to me.
JM