Little League Questions?

[LMan]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

That's right. Laugh at the guy and try to send him elsewhere. I didn't realize Brad had set this forum up for all officiating questions except Little League.


Tim.

*chuckles again* Wrong, Tim, the level of ball has nothing to do with it. The point was, all these questions can be answered in a few minutes in the rulebook, they are black-and-white. Umpires are supposed to be beyond asking "See Dick run" questions, so I assumed he was a fan/dad/whatever....and eteamz is a useful resource for these questions.

...but, of course, I attempt to send no one anywhere, 'twas but a suggestion for additional information. I was confident you would be following shortly in the thread Thank goodness you are here to cut n' paste the rulebook for such hapless souls.

[TussAgee11]

I love doing LL, its alot of fun. In general the atmosphere is much more intense than a Freshman HS game, perhaps because of the closeness of the field. Something is lost when you move to the big diamond for sure. The kids that are mediocre players just seem to stop caring from age 13 on, which is very sad.

And don't anybody go ragging on LL umpires who do just LL. Those guys umpire in front of thousands come tournament time. And its just as difficult as doing a state HS playoff game, if not more difficult because everything is so much faster.

Just a pet peeve of mine, I love the big diamond as well because its more real baseball strategy (no more running to 2nd on a walk with a man on 3rd).

[jackthyref]

By the way I just dont have little league expierence. I have done high school and college before but I got out of it because of the politics...I will give you an example of what I was dealing with at the time...I had this big Triple A school rival game my first year umpiring high school...I got to be in that postition so quick because I was good at what I did..But anyways the situation was I had pitcher that was chewing tobacco...I learned that he was chewing tobacco from the other teams coach that came up to me in the middle of the inning..He asked me if I would check the pitcher for tobacco in his mouth..So I told the pitcher to come here and open his mouth and what do you know he was chewing it..So I ended up tossing the pitcher who was of course the star player on the team..He ended up getting suspended for a couple of games and got a huge fine from the board of ed...

Well the moral of the story is that when I got home that night the umpire that was in charge of all the umpires called me and told me I should have handled the situation differently..He said I should of just want up to the pitcher and seen what he was chewing and told him to spit it out and tell the other coach he was just chewing beef jerky...Well I thought about it and I got pissed so I quit umpiring in the higher levels...I beleive if you cant follow the rules then you dont need to be out on that field playing...That is why they hire us to adminstrate the rules and I just thought I was doing my job out there...

The real kicker to this story is that the next summer I was reading the newspaper and I was reading about this same player playing for a summer league team..And his coach was the man in charge of all the umpires..I was furious...

It is also why I kept on umpiring at the Little League level..I like what I do and I have fun doing it...I dont have bosses or anything..I just goto the field and do my job..If they dont like me then they dont call me back...I havent had many problems though..There has been a few problems with those rule questions from last year..But they were house rules that were made up...And I knew what was in the rule book by the way..I was just making sure I was reading it right..Im trying to help fix this little league in the same sense....

[SAump]

So much for trying to save a kids life. Chewing tobacco rules have been in place for a number of years. Just hope the kid gets help and stops chewing tobacco before its too late.

[SAump]

"Hurdling or going over the defensive player that has the ball and is waiting to make a tag is a legal maneuver. Rule 7.08(a)(3) does not prevent hurdling nor makes it illegal."

Hmmm, Steal cleats to the FACE. I don't think this is allowed. I do remember reading on this website that hurdling is only allowed if the defensive person was flat on the ground. Perhaps someone can clarify it for me.

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by SAump

"Hurdling or going over the defensive player that has the ball and is waiting to make a tag is a legal maneuver. Rule 7.08(a)(3) does not prevent hurdling nor makes it illegal."

Hmmm, Steal cleats to the FACE. I don't think this is allowed. I do remember reading on this website that hurdling is only allowed if the defensive person was flat on the ground. Perhaps someone can clarify it for me.

The thing you remember is a FED rule.

Hurdling is legal in NCAA and OBR-based rules.

LL doesn't allow steel spikes at majors (12U) and below.

FED banned steel spikes for awhile but re-instated them when the found they were getting more injuries with other types (they slip and slide more).

[Az.Ump]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

The thing you remember is a FED rule.

Hurdling is legal in NCAA and OBR-based rules.

LL doesn't allow steel spikes at majors (12U) and below.

FED banned steel spikes for awhile but re-instated them when the found they were getting more injuries with other types (they slip and slide more).

From the 2005 L.L. RIM

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:

Hurdling or going over the defensive player that has the ball and is waiting to make a tag is a legal maneuver. Rule
7.08(a) (3) does not prevent or make illegal hurdling.
Rule 7.08(a-3) is easily the most misunderstood rule in the book. It is easily broken down as follows:
(1) The fielder must have the ball in his/her possession; AND

(2) The fielder must be WAITING to make the tag;

If BOTH of those two criteria are satisfied, then the runner must EITHER:

(1) Slide; OR

(2) ATTEMPT to get around the fielder.


Notice that the rule says, “attempt to get around”, not “avoid”. Contact may occur with no penalty assessed.
There is no “Must Slide” rule and no league may create one. No league may modify Rule 7.08(a-3).

Paul B.