What is a LL Umpire

[LMan]

On ESPN Classic the other night, they had the 2003 semifinal game on (a Texas team vs. a New England team). I stopped surfing and watched a few innings.

The PU was something else. He called strikes by sticking his upraised fist as high as he could get it, a la softball style. He looked like he was trying to hang himself....made a biiiiig show of every little thing.

The killer, though, was when a batter (1-2 count) fouled a pitch off right onto the plate, ball then hit F2, went b/w his legs, and rolled to the backstop - PU called a foul tip and a strike (brush-off FT mechanic, then the 'hang yourself' strike motion), and then left the kid at bat.

Even my wife shook her head and said, 'where do these guys come from?'

Are all LL umpires like this? Of course not! But how does one like this get within spitting distance of national television?

[LilLeaguer]

Originally Posted by LMan

On ESPN Classic the other night, they had the 2003 semifinal game on (a Texas team vs. a New England team). I stopped surfing and watched a few innings.

The PU was something else. He called strikes by sticking his upraised fist as high as he could get it, a la softball style. He looked like he was trying to hang himself....made a biiiiig show of every little thing.

The killer, though, was when a batter (1-2 count) fouled a pitch off right onto the plate, ball then hit F2, went b/w his legs, and rolled to the backstop - PU called a foul tip and a strike (brush-off FT mechanic, then the 'hang yourself' strike motion), and then left the kid at bat.

Even my wife shook her head and said, 'where do these guys come from?'

Are all LL umpires like this? Of course not! But how does one like this get within spitting distance of national television?

I'm not defending the Little League umpire, but I did notice this.

I'm pretty sure that I saw Bruce Froemming do this (use the foul-tip mechanic on an uncaught foul ball) on TV the other day. Tamp Bay at Seattle, Aug 7. My young son is learning to be an umpire, and I pointed it out as a mistake that he made.