We are working so hard in our area to get good qualified umpires to do these games. I can rember when all you got was Dad out of the stands are one of the local High school teams players who usually were pretty good with ball,strike,safe and out but no clue about any other rule. Now we have three umpires that have training and do everything from Fed to Legion,along with three more guys who have passed their Babe Ruth test and are really working hard on their rules and mechanics. For a league that only has 15 teams and play on eight different fields( one field is home for 5 teams) this is not to bad.
The BIG problem is that the other fields that only have one team are still all just using someone they've picked up and is officiating from what they know from watching TV or playing the game. I've gone to games to watch and been asked if I would do the bases and when you call obstruction or almost anything else that is not common knowledge to people not umpires the crowds go nuts and the other umpire goes,"Huh?"
Yes it might not be great baseball and the fans and coaches might not have a clue but darn it doesn't someone have to step up and say we will change this for the better.We will play these games by the CORRECT rules and be fair to both teams,we will start the change to make the officiating better for all concerned.
OK I will now crawl off of my soapbox and come back to reality.