Knew it was coming
 

Just read on ESPN about Little League having a replay system for World Series. Not what we needed to hear ...:rolleyes:

Thanks
David

Little League expands replay for World Series - ESPN

Might as well just umpire with the camera. Why should you have any umpires out there, if judgement calls can be questioned? This will only hurt all umpires.

I'm sure the kids are going to be so much happier now. After all, it's all about the kids... :-) Hopefully they'll show replays of the after game pizza party that is on every kids mind for after the game.

Hope they expand there list of qualified umpires to include more qualified umpires, otherwise there are going to be some long games, with the replay.

In my opinion, Little League has lost its way and has become a corporate profit seeking entity that serves its slavemaster known as ESPN. Let me say that I have had four sons go through Little League baseball, coached it for five years and served three years on my leagues board of directors. The evolution that has taken place since my first son started playing 18 years ago is troubling to me.

Too much focus is placed on All Stars and the World Series, 12 kids from each league. The focus should be on all of the kids and developing their playing skills, learning sportsmanship and cooperation, and enjoying being part of a team. Two of my sons played on All Star teams and one of them won a state championship; I still tried to get my league to give up all stars and have a slightly longer season so all of the kids could play more games. I was shouted down every time I brought it up.

The seasons eventually had to start and end earlier to accomodate ESPN's schedule for the World Series. They relaxed the age requirements so that essentially 13 year olds can now play little league. Hey, more big kids hitting big homeruns and throwing 75 mph which is what viewers want. I have always found it a bit hypocritical that Little League is supposed to be all volunteer and umpires are supposed to work for free, but it signed an 8 year, $30.1 million contract with ESPN. But it's all about the kids right?

Instant replay is just another step down the slippery slope of making little league more like professional baseball, which isn't what it is supposed to be. Dollars determine the course of little league, not the needs of the kids. The blame lies primarily at the national level; local leagues have little to no say about the direction little league takes. Little league used to be very strong in my area, but has lost a lot of kids over the past several years. One of our local leagues switched over to Cal Ripken affiliation this season. I think little league will eventually reach too far and destroy itself.

6 umpires on a 60' field, and they STILL want replay?

Is there such a thing as overkilling overkill?

Maybe they're just really tired of having their umpires ripped to shreds on the internet.

The fact that they use volunteers as umpires is one of the things at the core of their problems.

I figured it was coming as well. Sad to see it since the umpires are volunteer.

-Josh

Maybe they could use other criteria in picking umpires other than "how many years have you volunteered for Little League" or "how can we recognize a retired District Adminstrator who's umpired about 20 games in his life -- how about umpiring the LLWS?"

It's a lot more complicated than that. I am a Little League volunteer who also happens to work games at other levels (HS, college, etc.). I teach at a LL junior umpire clinic every season and do what I can to make our umpiring better during the tournament season.

I do have the feeling that there are a significant number of umpires and others within Little League that think that anyone who takes money for umpiring should fall lower on the ladder than those selfless volunteers who do nothing but umpire LL baseball. And that, IMO, is a complete crock of crap.

I agree. I think 90% of us love the sport we officiate (probably more). However, many if not most of us who bother to put in the time to learn, grow, and improve would not participate in this hobby without some monetary compensation. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But what it does mean, is that the leagues that DON'T pay are really left with a good number of umpires that do not work hard to improve. I'm not saying there aren't great LL umpires out there... but I believe they are the vast minority as many of the really good ones stick to leagues that pay.

I agree with you that it is more complicated. But you get what you pay for. When you pay people nothing and want them to go across the country or world to work, you eliminate a lot of good people that do not see the value in working games. I worked LL for the first few years and we were paid. The reason they were paid is that the local park district was the body that assigned all umpires for all games at the park district. So they paid umpires to work those games. Actually I thought that was the case all over the country until a few years after that. You do not have to pay them $1000 a game, just enough to cover expenses and reasonable fees. I cannot think that is good for the overall quality and it shows when we watch these games.

Peace

I think that the whole concept is a complete joke. Some in depth clinic work would do better than doing replays. Yeah, "for the kids" my butt.... it's for the complaining parents and coaches and don't tell me any different!

LL does pay for expenses for those who work regionals and WS games. I worked a Senior Regional (in Peru/LaSalle) and we were put in a hotel room and given meals, etc. We also received shirts and hats to wear during the games.

As far as game fees, well, I don't really care about that. I don't do LL for the money -- I consider that part of my year community service and it's completely voluntary for me to work those games. I contend that there are enough *good* LL umpires out there that they could staff the LLWS with good umpire volunteers from now until the end of time and there wouldn't be a problem with the umpiring. But the criteria reward something other than umpiring skill as the top item on the list, and that's why we get to see what we see as often as we do.

You might also add to that - that the people deciding who should umpire these games have nearly no knowledge of umpiring either - thus the reason for their horribly faulty decisions on who should go. I used to watch the LLWS every time it was on - but as I got better at umpiring, I grew to the point where I could not watch these travesties of umpiring on the field.

I've have travelled the exact same road in LLBB as Rich (my last year was '06) including teaching at a yearly junior umpire clinic; and I work HS baseball and college softball. He is 100% on target with his comments. I've seen it from the inside having attended one of LL's week long regional umpiring schools, and having umpired one of their LLBB regionals...complete with the whole televised by ESPN deal.

The LL regional umpire staff on site micro manages the umpires (including, as an example, having a staff member handle the HP meeting and ground rules), replay will just allow them to exert more control over the game and provide them with something else to wave over the umpire's heads to make a good many of them more nervous than they already will be when they step on the field.

Let me add to what mybyron said, yes they're "overkilling the overkill." Add reply to the 200 ft. fences, 6 umpires, and 60 ft. base paths...heaven help the umpire's who'll be working the various regionals.

Well that is deep in the playoff, but if you never pay someone at the local level you might not ever get that opportunity to make that choice.

And that is your right Rich. And I have no problem with your position on this. But the problem is that there are people that would not do that and might give more to community service in other ways. I think working a game as an official in many ways is not least I could do for community service as I might find baseball game a very small contribution to a community. It does not mean you have to share that opinion, it just means I know people that give back to kids in other ways and would find this as minimal in a larger scale. And in my opinion, to guarantee you will get a wider pool is to pay guys. Now if I was in your shoes and I worked a tournament and they paid those expenses like you referenced I would consider doing those games, but not the entire season I would not. But this is why I say officiating is very personal. What gets us on the road to work a game varies so much.

Peace

There is a LLWS for another division in my hometown and I don't go anymore because every year I would see something from an umpire or umpires that would drive me nuts.

I enjoy the game, and enjoy umpiring most of the time. And, I have done a fair share of what I call "charity" games for low pay. But I would close up shop, and work on improving my golf game if not paid reasonably most of the time. No pay at all is a no decision in my book.

And, I have done a fair share of what I call "charity" games for low pay.

I'm all for that. I've done plenty of those games too, sometimes for no pay if I like the charity. So I'm glad you said it. But charity is one thing; giving away your business is another.

Not that it's going to happen, but if I were approached by somebody making private money on a kids' tournament (like LL/ESPN), and he asked me to umpire for nothing "for the kids," I'd decline, and impolitely.

I'm reminded of the people who used to come into my audio store and want something cheap because it would be used by some worthy organization or for some wonderful cause.

A lot of the time the bad umpires you'll see in Williamsport are foreigners. They just don't have the training that we do have out here, but get represented none the less. Also, notice who's on the final plates. It's usually a WR guy, or a Texan. They get better training, and work more games. The games on the final weekend will have the better guys on the dish and bases. The other folks with rotate in and out of the outfield, just to get in the game.

As for the insane replay nonsense, I let the CEO have an earful this afternoon. His short reply was that he did not agree.

With the quality strike zone I've seen in the past few years, this statement doesn't add to LL's ability to find good umpires.

"just another tool to help him do his job." LOL

..as in instead of second-guessing you from the stands and the broadcast booth, we will do it officially on the field.

It will be interesting to see, though. Can't wait to see how this plays out...could be a 1-year experiment :D

6 umpires on a LL field w/ 60 foot bases...the kids will be so happy that all of the calls will now be correct :-) LOL

Two things.

Don't like it, then do something about it. I've been trading emails with Keener, letting him know exactly what I think about this. cc's have gone to the Regionals. If we, as a group, roll over on this, who knows what's next. I didn't like what they did to my Junior umpires last year, and made myself a thorn in their side. You may not do LL, or aspire to do the dog and pony show on TV, but there's a trickle down effect in this decision.

WS umpires are taken from all over. The difference in skill level is quite apparent. I know that WR sends only top guys. It's a pretty tough group of umpires that make the selections on who goes, not just some DAs. Same with getting a Regional nod. Not too many slackers there. Other parts of the country, and the world, aren't so blessed with the training you get at WR.

Eastern Region both regional & LLWS umpire selections are the province of the DA's.

kyle...what did the LL mucky mucks do to your Junior umpires last year? Just curious as I ran a sizable (and successful) JR Umpire program for my local league during the 10 years I was involved in LLBB.

Do you mean the DAs approve the Regional/World Series applications that are sent from their respective districts? It's true, you must have the DA's permission to send in an application, but in the districts around here the DAs trust the recommendations of their umpire staffs before signing off. Once the application goes to (in my case) San Bernardino or Williamsport the staff there select the umpires who actually work.

Kyle is talking about the rule change that now prevents junior umpires from working without an adult partner.

No.
Back when I was umpiring LLBB ('93-'04) if you were interested in working a regional you sent an application form to your DA. DA's then made their selection for each regional and sent the application onto the Regional office.
LLWS was handled in the same manner.

The umpire applying had to have met certain LLBB criteria to be considered. In addition to the umpire's involvement in his local league, he had to have experience umpiring in LL district, sectional, and state tournament play, have attended a LL regional umpire school, have had recent attendance at a LL regional rules clinic, be a current member of the LL Umpire Registry.
For a LLWS application, it was all of the above, plus having had previously umpired in the regional for the LLWS that you were applying.

The point I was trying to make, is that the path of each application start on the DA's desk. They only move forward with his recommendation and approval. If the DA has 10 applications in front of him that all meet the criteria, it's his call as to which umpire(s) get the assignment.

Those are the DA's requirements, though. Where I am, you do not need to have gone to a regional school or belong to the registry. What is true, though, is that the DA can only submit one application for each tournament, so if he gets 2 for the Junior Regional (for example), only one will be submitted to the region. In theory, he could choose not to submit an application for any reason, but as far as I know, our DA submits one for each tournament where there's an application. We've had 5 umpires from our district work the Central Region LL (major) tournament in the last 10 years.

This was the most cogent comment I have seen about the problems with Little League Baseball.

Let us remember that this is an organization that turned its back on its founder many years ago. Little League Baseball exists not for the kids, but for the greater glorification of Little League BVaseball.

I do official, Williamsport-connected "Little League," Ripken leagues and town "youth leagues" with no affiliation with some parent organization.

I find the Ripken leagues combine the "baseball for the fun of it" attitude of the unaffiliated leagues with standards and organized structure. I think I can judge the "fun level" of a baseball game and the Ripken leagues have it all over official Little League. Unaffiliated leagues are also generally good leagues. Official Little Leagues are political sewers.

Little League playoffs are not about the players, and it hasn't been that way for 30 years.

I agree, 20+ years ago I can remember sitting at District meeting in Long Island as an Assistant DA and listening to a LL representative. We had invited him down to discuss problems within our district and LL sent him down to talk about how beautiful a facility they were building in Conn was going to be.

Didn't have a clue about rules and organizational structure but could talk for hours about how LL was going to make these great facilities for the kids. I can remember asking what that had to do with teaching baseball and a lot of other core values that LL supposedly promoted. All he said was, "it was a start". Typical Corporate Airhead programmed with his robotic speeches of "let all get together in a circle and be one happy family because the Board voted, thats the way it should be." What he meant was, it was a start of LL selling out to corporate america and building this kingdom of structures around the country for monetary reasons. They could care less what really took place in the halls of those parks as long as it didn't interfer with generating revenue. Sounds like the same principle that many of our universities have perscribed to, but thats a different forum.

JMO.

Only if you allow it.

It's true that WP will come down with some pretty stupid proclamations at times. I was able work around the last one that tried to hamstring my Junior umpires. Aside from those, a local league is only as good as the people running it. LL, PONY, Ripkin, Dixie, or independent, it really doesn't matter whose flag you fly.

At our little park, WP has little effect on things during the regular season. It does get a bit heavy handed during the tournament, but that's only for a small percentage of the kids, for even a smaller percentage of the total games. No big deal.

Good leagues work WITH the good things that LL has to offer, and work AROUND the others. That's the trick.