2 little league rule questions
 

Using little league rules for 9-10 year old baseball all star tourney play:

1. Can a fielder use a first baseman's glove in the field (excluding pitcher/catcher) provided it meets the measurments given in rule 1.13? They use the word "mitt" and "glove" in rule 1.12-1.15.


2. Is it legal for a batter to show bunt then pull back and hit the ball? Rule book, at least what I can find, does not specify if this is allowed or not, at any age level.

thanks!

A glove and a mitt are the same thing - interchangeable terms depending on where you live. The size must meet the specs, that's all.

2 - sure. I've worked local leagues that outlaw this for very little players (7 or 7-8), but I don't believe this one's in the LL book itself.

1. Mitts and gloves are differnet. So no, you can't use a first basemans mitt at any other position (other than in softball, then you can catch with it).

2. Yes, it's legel. Some locals ban it, though.

Please give rule/insite on this please.

Rule 1.13 says the first baseman must wear a glove or mitt of any weight .........{it givs the specifications}

Rule 1.14 says, each defensive player (other than first baseman and catcher) must wear a glove of any weight with the same maximum specifications as stated in rule 1.13.

SO, if a first baseman's glove is with in the specification given, and he is moved to an outfield position, why can't he use that same glove?????

Thanks

Got a rule citation for that? (PS - generalizing that you can do ANYthing in softball is problematical, given at least 5 different very prominent rulesets which vary greatly in some areas).

In HS a glove and a mitt for the field are the same. OBR, its different. Don't remember NCAA and guessing that LL is based upon OBR with twists. Glove and mitt are probably different. No books with me.

Book sitting in front of me. No definition other than the specs mentioned above. No "official" difference that I can find other than both words are used in 1 rule, and just 1 word in the other... but no verbiage defining what makes one thing a glove and another a mitt.

OBR has always been understood that there is a difference between a mitt and a glove. The main difference between gloves and mitts is that gloves have fingers and mitts don't. Mitts tend to do a better job of controlling balls that don't hit in the pocket and can aid scooping ground balls and short hops. 1st base and catcher are the only positions which use mitts.

OBR does not allow mitts at any positions other than F2 & F3 - FED allows players to pretty much wear what they want (F6 with a catcher's mitt?).

So, Then do I take this to LL or umpire in chief of the tourney? I could not find anything either.

Thanks

Winner, winner, etc.

You might try posting this on eteamz -- if it still exists. Lots of umpires well versed in LL rules there.

Straight from the LL UIM
 

This is what the Little League Umpires Manual says. Hope that it helps.

1.13 -- The first baseman may wear a glove or mitt not more than 12 inches long from top to bottom and
not more than eight inches wide across the palm, measured from the base of the thumb crotch to the outer edge
of the mitt. The glove may be of any weight.

1.14 -- Each fielder, other than the first baseman and the catcher, may wear a glove not more than 12 inches
long nor more than 7-3/4 inches wide , measured from the base of the thumb crotch to the
outer edge of the glove. The glove may be of any weight.

INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS:
⇒ In Baseball, only the first baseman may wear a first baseman’s mitt.
⇒ In Softball, the first baseman and the catcher may wear a first baseman’s mitt.

Been awhile since I did LL but, this is what I remember about it also. Of course trying to find LL rules online is next to impossible because of LL Inc.'s sacred cash cow mentality. That for sure, has never changed

Or the Little League Facebook page. Apparently, you can get answers straight from the sources there.

Mittt and glove are not the same thing.

Think mitten and glove and the light bulb should light.

You can buy one from the LL on line.

Theyt can't be much of a cash cow - they get provided as part of the "per team" charter fee of $16 or so.

The "glove" our first baseman uses meets the specified measurments for a fielder. How is that viewed?

It is viewed as a legal glove. F3 can wear any glove or mitt as long as it doesn't exceed the specificed measurements.

Fielders other than F2 or F3 can wear any glove as long as it doesn't exceed the specificed measurements. F1's glove is also restricted to no white or gray.

BOB there is no more eteamz. It is now called Active.com

Most of the LL regulars that were at eteamz have gone elsewhere. I believe the LL facebook page.

Pete Booth

Is there really any advantage to be gained in Little League by having a first baseman play with a mitt as opposed to a glove? Most kids don't (or shouldn't) just play one position at that level and a well-broken in glove that you know better than your best friend seems to be the most important thing about catching a ball.

Dude, didn't you play Little League? Every first baseman has a mitt. I had a fielder's glove for the rare times I played other positions (like the pitching fiasco :eek:), but I had a first baseman's mitt from LL MInors all the way up. And this was back in the 60's! My dad oiled it up, I put a ball in it, tied it up with a shoelace, put it in a pillow case, and had my mom run it over with the car a few times to break it in! Little League was, and still is, serious business. Nowadays, kids have designer everything....batting gloves, primo bats, gloves and mitts, and all sorts of gear.

Aside from it just being cool to have a first baseman's mitt, the big advantage it gives you is that you can scoop errant throws in the dirt much easier than with a fielder's glove, and it also gives a really great big target for the infielders. The first baseman can save his infield many errors by being skilled at the position.

I played LL from 1960 to 1969. My first glove was a Christmas present from Grandma - a Del Crandel model catcher's mitt that looked like a pillow. The problem was I was a lefty. The next week Dad took me to a sporting goods
store and I got a Rawlings Mickey Mantle youth model with fat fingers and a brass button for the wrist strap. Dad caught every throw we ever tossed together with that mitt. One of my proudest moments: at the end if the year the LL coaches would play a game so the kids could razz them for some payback. Dad played second with that pillow mitt. He fielded 5 or 6 grounders flawlessly. The others dads were awed. I was beaming. A couple generations later I took my son to a Dick Birmingham camp. He had the middle fielders use a "paddle glove" to learn better fielding mechanics. Seeing that brought back warm memories from that day about 30 years earlier when Dad pulled off his Maz performance.

Nah, I played first, second, CF and pitched with a Trapeze model glove. I only recall a couple of guys who had a first baseman's mitt. They didn't seem to do any better than I did.

I was always envious of my best friend John's Trap-Eze. You're right, that was an awesome glove, with the laced trap!

Indeed it was! Memories so thick you have to sweep them away from your face. Remember the red batting "helmets" that were just ear flaps that you fit over your cap? How did we ever survive?

We had blue ones like that in practice, but they broke down and got us real helmets for games.

Same story here. Do you remember a lousy wooden bat that had a flesh colored dimpled rubber sleeve that almost came up to the trademark? It seemed to have a sweet spot about the size of a quarter and it always stung your hands if you made contact. Baseball shoes were all black and had molded hard rubber cleats. They were pretty good at the beginning of the season, but toward the end the cleats had worn down to knubs that made them look more like bowling shoes. We thought we were hotshots when we moved up to PONY League and they let you wear metal cleats. I remember a lot of umps used a ballon protector.

I think mine were molded plastic cleats, but otherwise identical results. I had a Louisville Slugger 29 and an Adirondack 30 in LL minors and majors. We made those things last, taping them up, etc. Yup, the metal cleats did make us feel like real ballplayers. That, and getting to take "lead-offs."

What was the length/weight differential of bats back then. I could swear it was an ounce per inch. The bats always seemed too short to get to the outside pitch, and the longer they got, the heavier they got and you lost bat speed. They seemed to be distinctly engineered to impart the least amount of energy from a swing possible on contact with a ball. Or maybe I was just a lousy hitter.