Little League World Series

[umpandy]

I have a great deal of respect for the men (and women?) who worked a Little League World Series Tournament in August. I can just imagine all of the hard word each of these umpires put into their respective positions and all of the volunteer work they devoted to their local communities and Little League Organizations. I cannot think of a greater ambition for a volunteer umpire who only works Little League games.

On to my point... I attended a couple of games in Williamsport (12 year old tournament) near the end of the tournament. I had the opportunity to catch a couple of Semi-Final Games on the Wednesday evening (Canada/Japan & California/Florida from my memory). I know that it's late to comment on these games, but I thought I'd refer to a couple of 'different' observations I made in my time at the World Series.

#1 - There was no "crew" flow... 6 umpires... acted like 6 individuals. Was that just me?

#2 - The PU seemed to wear a radio or something to communicate on his back (maybe even a microphone?). Why?

#3 - For disputed calls/plays, the umpire crew would not come together, but rather have one-on-one discussions for situations that could have involved the entire umpire 'team.' Is that the procedure taught in Williamsport?

#4 - Between innings, every base umpire would dust their own base, and in some cases the LF or RF umpires would come in to assist with the base dusting, while either the first base umpire or second base umpire would dust the pitcher's mound. I've never seen this before at any level (not even t-ball). Was that for television?

#5 - I only saw one or two balls "disposed" of throughout each game, but the other baseballs would always be returned to the plate umpire. Example: foul ball off the right field fence would be retrieved by the first base umpire, who would then deposit the baseball into his pocket, and return it to the plate umpire between innings. Again, is that something they teach when umpires arrive in Williamsport?

Thanks in advance.