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For rules that are not covered within their rule book, OBR rules apply. My interpretation and the one that has always been given to me in regards to a catcher is that either a mitt or nothing at all shall be used. The mitt can either be a first baseman's mitt or a catcher's mitt but has to be a mitt.
Once again Tank, these are 10 yr olds, use some common sense.
I brought up the situation of the coaches wanting to be outside the dugout after I saw the trend develop. The response I received was that we as umpires are not there to play baby sitter to the coaches. I asked about what the rule states, and the response I received was that the coach goes out of the dugout at their own risk and that there are more important things for us to worry about but if that is a rule I wanted to enforce so be it.
You were given a choice, and choose to pick a booger that was'nt necessary.
To me, no one rule is more important than another. If I as the umpire let this rule slide, why should I enforce other rules? The main concern for me though, is that there is not a lot of foul territory and there are 5 buckets sitting in the filed of play that poses a safety concern to the players. I do not know about you all, but I do not feel like seeing a kid crash into one and hurt themselves.
This is the first time you have mentioned buckets. I do a very competitive 11-12 yr old league and at the first, I asked each coach not to bring buckets out for safety reasons, in case there is a foul ball the players don't trip. They are out of the dugout all the time, but not the buckets. We compromised.
It seems as if the game is more about the coaches than about letting the kids play and it is sad to watch at times.
That was your choosing Tank. You stated above that the league gave you the opportunity to enforce or not.
I started off umpiring in this location as it was the closest to my house. I have since started doing games at a location ~20 minutes away, however the UIC supports the umpires and the coaches are a bit more tame.
Coaches are like every other person in life, they will try and get away with anything they can. Sometimes umpires have to learn when to enforce all the rules. This is a 10 yr old league.
Youth baseball is for the kids, not the coaches.
And not the umpires either!!!
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