Little league question

[Dave Hensley]

Originally Posted by aceholleran

There's a way around this, and I have used it.

Mgr. "We want to protest."

Me, "Please specify."

[Substiute your own here]: "That's an illegal pitch."

"No it isn't. This is a judgment call, ergo, no protest will be heard. Play on, MacDuff."

"But the rule book says ..."

"No protest shall be considered on a decision involving an umpire's judgment."

"I'm not happy with that."

"And I'm not happy that this taking so long. Find a seat and resume coahing."

Since the protest is not considered in the first place, there's no need to go through the LL food chain and hold up the game. We have used this standard in our area, and it has cut protests by about 80%.

IMHO, too many LL umps (and admins) panic when they hear the p-word and get on the phone right away.

It gets silly. In a state game (which I did not work or witness), a protest went to Bristol. It was over a--don't gag now--batter who swung and missed at a pitch that hit him. PU didn't know what to do. Neither did his pards. Brain-addled site director had to get on the phone.

I have only (personally) seen two valid protests. One was over an illgeal pitcher (and was upheld). The other was over a misinterpretation of a rule (by me; I kicked it). I lucked out. Back in those days, there was not "protest must be heard before game continues" rule. The protesting team won the game, so there was no need to progress further.

Ace

It may be effective in cutting down on frivolous protests, but it is not within the umpires' domain to make that call. You cannot be the judge when the rule is set up for you to be the defendant, regardless of your innocence.

Whether or not the issue being protested is a judgment or a rule interpretation is, itself, sometimes open to debate, and therefore the consistent instruction, from Little League all the way through professional baseball, is to accept the protest and follow the protest rules, even if you, the umpire, think it is a frivolous or "illegal" protest.