Dead Ball?

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Why rookies are allowed to do ANY sort of HS ball is beyond me. Start in LL, and work your way up. Some of the worst umpires I've ever seen are working at the HS level, and there's no reason for it. You should, IMO, have at least two years on the diamond before you work a HS game. The kids deserve it.

Actually, it seems to me that (assuming the umpire knows the rules and has proven it via test!) it's actually easier to umpire a high school game than an 8U game. You can know 80% of the rules and have nothing happen in a high school season that you can't handle. Yeah, you may miss one here and there, but for the most part, you'll be ok. (At the same time, generally you want your rookies working with a veteran for a while).

However, at 8U or 10U - those 20% of the rules that you don't know will ALL pop up, all in your very first game.