[ozzy6900]

In the local LL that my son umpires in, the Minor's have a similar rule:

A runner may advance on a passed ball or wild pitch to 2nd or 3rd but not to home. The runner on 3rd may attempt to steal once the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher.

I stated once before that this type of rule just prevents having to teach a catcher to "catch". Well on opening day last week, I watched my son's game and in the first inning, a couple of runners wound up on third and the catcher walked the ball out to the pitcher. My son must have read my mind as he allowed this to happen 3 times then called time. He called both coaches over to the plate and informed them "...this is a baseball game! And in a baseball game, the catcher throws the ball back to the pitcher ..." and he would not tolerate this walking the ball to the pitcher any longer (not bad for a 14 year old umpire). From that point on, the catchers threw the ball back and not once did the pitchers miss the ball.

I say again, leagues think that they are helping youngsters by making these silly "add on rules". The best thing that they can do for the kids is leave the rules alone and teach the players to play ball the right way! Somewhere in time, we became so concerned about "fairness" and "equality" that we forgot to teach the fundamentals of the game ... see the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball, hit the ball!