[Texasbock]

Originally Posted by BretMan

I won't confine my observations to just "fall ball". The lag between innings is a year-round occurance.

Why can't the "instructional in nature" extend to teaching the teams the expected behavior between innings and the rules that should be enforced during their "real" games that count?

They can. Imagine calling 10-C ball where half the girls have never played the sport before and where scores aren't kept. Would it be proper to enforce such a rule under that circumstance?

I hear that a lot- "It's only fall ball". Sure, maybe the games are more laid back and than your typical travel ball tournament, but I don't see that as an excuse for an umpire to throw good game management and rule enforcement out the window.

I would probably agree with you if I was officiating in your environment. The point that I was trying to make is that there are times only within the context of fall ball at other venues where enforcing of the hard line rules is not warranted.

Again, I will note that the "between inning" conduct for this league was a point of emphasis by the league organizers. All of the coaches received written instruction to this effect with their league rules. We have been asked to cover this with coaches at the pre-game conference. The folks that run the league- ie: pay our salary- have requested that the umpires enforce these rules to minimize downtime and field scheduling issues, while maximizing playing time for the participants.


In light of all that, if I just ignored those directives, because "It's only fall ball", that would strike me as a bad case of under-umpiring.

I would agree with you. If you went over these things in pre-game and they defied you, then you would have every right in the world to enforce the rule"