Japan and Saudi Arabia...

The manager from NH is saying that the runner at 2nd is stealing signs. He told his players at the mound conference that Georgia is "stooping to that level." Hasn't anyone ever told him that stealing signs is part of the game? He shouldn't be disparaging the kids from Georgia for doing what players are supposed to do. There is no shame in the art of sign-stealing.

Here's a thought.... SWITCH UP THE SIGNS!

The answer is both simple and sad. These umps, for the most part, are the honchos of their local areas. They don't do HS, Legion, whatever. They have never been in a position where someone will take a look at their game and come back with any critique.

They got there through longevity and working games for free.

There is no mechanism in place to tell these shlubs that they look like horsesh&t. There's n one in W-port who'll do that, either. And W-port doesn't care, either.

Remember, we are in a vast minority when we cast asparagus at these umps. Even diehard baseball fans don't notice all the (minor and major) inadequacies of guys who couldn't buy a HS varsity game in Buttlick, ND.

You get to W-port via lobbying by your District Administrator, years of volunteering and not p*ssing anyone off.

Saddest of all, there is no one at LLHQ who is truly interested in advancing the excellence of LL umpiring. It's more about, "Joe Blow in SoCal, who has been in a D. A. the system 35 years, has an ump he wants in the WS. We have to throw him a bone."

And that's the way it is. Trust me on this.

Ace

Not only is that the way it is, but that is the way it will stay as long as the umpire fraternity in Little League remains, at its "upper echelons" a fraternity of insiders who dominate the instruction and attendance at the regional schools, and use the regional schools more for networking and establishing pecking orders for postseason assignments - state, regional, WS - than for training umpires to be able to go back to their local leagues and institute LOCAL training and development umpire programs that are based on sound teaching principles, rather than the current system of Smitty trains Smitty, Jr. which leads to homegrown, inbred, ridiculous habits that then make their debut to our horror on national television at the LLWS.

The idea of regional weeklong umpire schools is a great one. The implementation, so far, leaves a lot to be desired. The focus has become grooming the select few for moving up, rather than extending professional instruction to "the masses" of LL umpires back in their local leagues.

If it really were "for the kids," reorienting the focus of the regional umpire schools would be a good place to start to prove it.

'Cast asparagus'! You just slay me, Ace!

Sadly but well stated!
 

Sadly this is true of most all of the kids leagues now not just LL. In our state was have Dixie ball, Dizzy Dean, and a couple of select leagues and it is amazing the lack of quality that is seen in their tournaments.

My son and I went to two different "World Series is what they call it" tourneys this summer and the umpires that called the games were simply "taking money"

But as stated above, its not going to change and probably is only going to get worse as more and more the quality umpires are giving it up.

I gave up small ball about five years ago and I feel for my son who is now going to be playing with these kind of umpires for the next ??? years.

Thansk
David

I agree for the most part. I work Dixie and travel ball during the summer. I have done many State tournaments and have done a couple of the "World Series", and the quality of umpiring varies greatly depending on the organization and the location.

The travel ball tournaments exclusively use the local association for both State tournament and "World Series" games. We have some very good officials in our assocation, but we also have some who are less than proficient. When it comes tournament time, the assignor has to use whoever is available, and with multiple sessions occuring simultaneously on eight or more fields, he sometimes has to scrape the bottom of the barrel.

In Dixie, the State tournaments are also primarily covered by the local associations, and the "good-old-boy" network can come into play. I am fortunate that the State UIC lives in my area and he does a good job thinning the pool and having high-quality umpires work the local State tournaments. The "World Series" is a different matter. They supposedly bring in the best from different areas. We usually send two guys a year to one. Most times they are both very good, but occasionally, the state UIC does "reward" one of his long time umpires. The "rewarded" umpires usually get a couple of games on the bases and maybe a losers bracket game on the dish, then they are done.

I believe that Ace is right here. But it is sad.

A couple of years ago, I was concidering attending the Eastern Regional school in Bristol. I wasn't trying to break into the LL system, or make contacts, I just wanted to be critiqued and improve my game.

I didn't go because after watching the jamokes that LL says is the "cream of the crop", I thought that they couldn't help me. If the mechanics I see during the WS is what's being taught, I'm better off critiquing myself.

Ace The Evaluator
 

ACE

I wouldn't group all the LLWS umpires as "shlubs". The Umpire Wed night ILL vs OR (L.B. Vidor TX.) called a great game. Maybe he didn't look like a "pro" but thats because he isn't a pro. Are you?

I will be the first to agree that there are some here who are simply not ready for this level, but not because it's televised and offends you, but because of the obvious magnitude of the games and the desire to eliminate umpire error. Some are better trained by their region or perhaps area association, and some have more experience.

Andy uses the umpires sent by the Regional Directors. When the elimination games begin, he tries to utilize those who have proven themselves the better of the 16. He would like it if all 16 were well trained, knowledgable, and used proper mechanics, but this is usually not the case. I know first hand that there is no favoritism nor politics in his assigning.

I'm sure like you would feel better if LL used Professional Umpires, and while that would seem like a great idea, it wouldn't be long before there would be a LL umpires union. A list of contract demands would be submitted to LL International and before you could say "were in it for the kids" we would have a strike.

NO THANKS.

The truth is that every year there are a few individuals who watch these LL Umpires on national TV and are pi$$ed that it's not them. Your comments wreak of such an individual.

AND THATS THE WAY IT IS. TRUST ME ON THIS!!!

Eagle Eye,

Step back from the kool aid.

1. To LL's credit, the umpires who worked Regionals this year were, overall, excellent. Most posters here agreed to that assessment and posted such.

2. To LL's shame, they did not use umpires nearly as good at Williamsport. There is no arguing that. You can say it's because "they were simply not ready." But it was obvious that they were simply not as good.

3. Many posters making these obsevations do not work LL and have no intention of working LL and are certainly not pi$$ed about not being at Williamsport.

4. Other posters here have excellent LL credentials and some have worked Regionals. They just don't drink the LL kool aid are able to be subjective.

5. If you can honestly look at tapes of the regionals and tapes of the WS games to this point and claim that LL has placed the best umpire at WS you are no "eagle eye".

6. If you believe that ability is the primary consideration, or even in the top three of considerations for work at WS, it may be too late to save you.

7. I note with interest that on LL's WS Umpire Assignment Policy, it states that the WS director may also "invite" umpires.

Pleas tell me how this happens...
 

EAGLE EYE,

Could you explain how it is that some of these umpires can't (don't) correct some things that have been pointed out in this thread? I don't mean habits that are hard to break, I mean things that just make them look umm..... well... bad.

Example: The guy who didn't trim the straps of his mask.
The guy whose shirt is constantly untucked.
The guy who 'sells' every call he makes. Even obvious plays at first.
The guy who refuses to move up the first baseline on ground balls in the infield.
The guy who is set watching 2nd base intently while the play is on the runner advancing to third.


And one of my all time favorites.... a bounding ball batted foul along the first/third baseline being called 'foul' by PU, U3, and URF/ULF.

If Andy is using the 'best' of the 16 he's receiving from the Reigonal Directors, does he not notice what caliber umps he's getting to choose from? If he can't recognize that, in general, these guys need better training, what does that say for the LL umpire program as a whole?

Don't forget those who can't move, those who think the outside corner extends to the opposite batter's box and those who don't know rules.

Eagle Eye, what does the length of the straps on the mask have to do with the quality of an umpire? That, in my opinion, is telling everyone that you are very anal.

ah

Professional-appearing = anal :rolleyes:


Contrary to what EE bleated, it is easy to look professional...even an incompetent can do that with a credit card and some forethought. It is palpable the amount of goodwill and respect you 'buy' with the customers (fans, coaches, teams, etc) with a neat, professional appearance....if you look like a schlub, you might as well have booted your first three calls.

..that these blues on a national-TV stage do not bother (in some cases) with this elementary step says much.