LLWS and replay

[THoy]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Apology accepted. I did not say each individual umpire was bad ... I said the overall quality of the umpiring was bad. And if you feel the umpiring was better than average, I suggest strongly that you get out more. The umpiring on TV was an embarassment to those of us who do the job, and on the whole brought the perception of umpires across the board down. Go work a district tournament in ANY other organization (not to mention a regional or state) and you'll see better umpiring than you saw on TV. Given that you work LL, you are probably completely unaware of the HUGE number of poor positioning, poor (or unnecessary) rotations, etc that we saw. I'm not talking wrong calls... I'm talking wrong calls because the umpire was not where he should have been, or was making a call that belonged to someone else better placed to make the call.

I was at the LLWS. I worked with all the gentlemen, and one lady (who was awesome). It was a good group of veteran LL umpires I would be proud to work with anytime. So, I would have to disagree with you. And honestly, I would love to come and work with you sometime. Further, when we were done I would not rake you over the coals. I would buy you a cold one and a plate wings!

As far as positioning goes you have a point to a certain degree. The small diamond often limits the amount of angle you can get on a given play. I was blocked out on a play at first by the F4 (2ndbaseman), but I made an adjustment and got the play right. However, there we those that were out of position at times. As a whole, the umpiring was no where near the level that has been described in this forum. A few mistakes and some controversy, but nothing that cost any team a chance at the title.

It would certainly be nice if people could understand that umpiring, like anything else, requires constant self analysis and adjustments. You cannot position yourself in the same place for every play. You must react to each individual play. If you can see a play clearly from one position that may not be textbook, then what is the difference? If you are nailing the plays from that position then why change? If you are kicking plays from the proper position, what good is proper position?

I did witness plays that were called incorrectly. One of those plays was mine. I owned during the game, after the game, and right now. There was not as many blown calls as people many want to believe. Maybe people should be offering possible solutions instead of ripping people apart?

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by THoy

I was at the LLWS. I worked with all the gentlemen, and one lady (who was awesome). It was a good group of veteran LL umpires I would be proud to work with anytime. So, I would have to disagree with you. And honestly, I would love to come and work with you sometime. Further, when we were done I would not rake you over the coals. I would buy you a cold one and a plate wings!

Maybe people should be offering possible solutions instead of ripping people apart?

I've been milling over whether to say this or not, and I hope it's not taken the wrong way, but I don't think John Hosler was up to the task. He looked out of his element.

Tim.

[THoy]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

I've been milling over whether to say this or not, and I hope it's not taken the wrong way, but I don't think John Hosler was up to the task. He looked out of his element.

Tim.

Whether that is true or not doesnt take away from who John is as a person or a LL volunteer. Further, be advised that I am not inferring ANYTHING! That aside Jon made some greats calls that others might have missed under the circumstances. You cannot begin to imagine what it is like to know that the calls you make could be reversed. LL did a great job preparing the umpires for replay and frontloaded the recommended approach to it. That being said, I think Mr. Hosler gave his best to the task. I came to know him as a person so I know this to be true. John answered the call and gave his best effort. Until you are standing on the field at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in front of 15,000 fans and on National televison you cannot assess Johns performance...that has been my point all along. Some will never have the opportunity to experience this because of their deploration of the LL program. I, myself, learned more about my own game in Williamsport...

[THoy]

Originally Posted by THoy

Whether that is true or not doesnt take away from who John is as a person or a LL volunteer. Further, be advised that I am not inferring ANYTHING! That aside Jon made some greats calls that others might have missed under the circumstances. You cannot begin to imagine what it is like to know that the calls you make could be reversed. LL did a great job preparing the umpires for replay and frontloaded the recommended approach to it. That being said, I think Mr. Hosler gave his best to the task. I came to know him as a person so I know this to be true. John answered the call and gave his best effort. Until you are standing on the field at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in front of 15,000 fans and on National televison you cannot assess Johns performance...that has been my point all along. Some will never have the opportunity to experience this because of their deploration of the LL program. I, myself, learned more about my own game in Williamsport...

I would work with John Hosler anytime!

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by THoy

I would work with John Hosler anytime!

As would I, but that doesn't mean he belonged on the stage LL placed him.

Tim.

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by THoy

Whether that is true or not doesnt take away from who John is as a person or a LL volunteer. Further, be advised that I am not inferring ANYTHING! That aside Jon made some greats calls that others might have missed under the circumstances. You cannot begin to imagine what it is like to know that the calls you make could be reversed. LL did a great job preparing the umpires for replay and frontloaded the recommended approach to it. That being said, I think Mr. Hosler gave his best to the task. I came to know him as a person so I know this to be true. John answered the call and gave his best effort. Until you are standing on the field at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in front of 15,000 fans and on National televison you cannot assess Johns performance...that has been my point all along. Some will never have the opportunity to experience this because of their deploration of the LL program. I, myself, learned more about my own game in Williamsport...

This is why I was hesitant to make the comment about John Hosler. Your defense of the man's umpiring abilities is you speaking with your heart and not your head. The man wasn't good.............period. This isn't a jab at the man's person, or a knock on the effort he put forth. He was there based on his volunteerism alone. Not based on his officiating prowess *combined* with his volunteerism. And as long as LL continues to overlook better, more qualified umpires who have also put in their time to the program, and instead chose to place umpires of John's caliber on national television, they're going to be continually criticized for it.

Tim.

[THoy]

Originally Posted by BigUmp56

This is why I was hesitant to make the comment about John Hosler. Your defense of the man's umpiring abilities is you speaking with your heart and not your head. The man wasn't good.............period. This isn't a jab at the man's person, or a knock on the effort he put forth. He was there based on his volunteerism alone. Not based on his officiating prowess *combined* with his volunteerism. And as long as LL continues to overlook better, more qualified umpires who have also put in their time to the program, and instead chose to place umpires of John's caliber on national television, they're going to be continually criticized for it.

Tim.

So Mr. Hosler cannot be rewarded for his decades of volunteering for LL baseball because in the eyes of some he is not qualified? Or John can never work a Series if he cannot improve his skills? First, the LLWS has a ten year waiting list of volunteers ready to do the job. With that being said, LL does not need to change anything in regards to umpire recruitment. There are plenty of training opportunities out there and John has attended. That is the beauty of LL today. The players that cannot make travel teams can play, and those umpires that cannot get assignments can work.

Bottom line, LL is a organization that praises and honors its volunteers. Our payment is those special assignments like the LLWS's. There will always be those who will criticize others abilities or compare their abilities to those who are honored enough to be selected. However, I prefer to compare my abilities to my potential and how close I am to being the umpire I would like to eventually become, rather than criticizing others for giving themselves and their time to a program that honors them.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by THoy

So Mr. Hosler cannot be rewarded for his decades of volunteering for LL baseball because in the eyes of some he is not qualified? Or John can never work a Series if he cannot improve his skills? First, the LLWS has a ten year waiting list of volunteers ready to do the job. With that being said, LL does not need to change anything in regards to umpire recruitment. There are plenty of training opportunities out there and John has attended. That is the beauty of LL today. The players that cannot make travel teams can play, and those umpires that cannot get assignments can work.

Bottom line, LL is a organization that praises and honors its volunteers. Our payment is those special assignments like the LLWS's. There will always be those who will criticize others abilities or compare their abilities to those who are honored enough to be selected. However, I prefer to compare my abilities to my potential and how close I am to being the umpire I would like to eventually become, rather than criticizing others for giving themselves and their time to a program that honors them.

Honestly, that kind of says it all. Thank you sir.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Honestly, that kind of says it all. Thank you sir.

While I understand Mr. Hoy's post, I'm afraid I disagree with it. Some umpires simply do not have the necessary talent and ability and should not ever be assigned a WS event. An umpire under the current system must get a recommendation at a regional to move on to the next level. In my experience, that recommendation is little more than a rubber stamp.

For some, a state tournament should be a crowning achievement. For others, a Regional. For a few, the LLWS. There are a ton of umpires who work LL in this country. Only a couple get to go each year from a particular region. I'd prefer to see demonstrated umpiring ability be considered at least as much as volunteerism at the WS level.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by THoy

So Mr. Hosler cannot be rewarded for his decades of volunteering for LL baseball because in the eyes of some he is not qualified?

You want to reward him for volunteering? Buy him a watch. Give him a dinner. Name the umpire room in his honor.

Assignment to the WS should be based on quality of umpiring performance, not years of volunteer service.

Do they simply name the longest chartered teams to the series, or do they have to earn their way there by performing better than others on the field?

[Rita C]

It's getting old.

Rita

[nopachunts]

Originally Posted by THoy

LL did a great job preparing the umpires for replay and frontloaded the recommended approach to it.

On another umpire board, one of the members gave some insight to the LL Softball WS. Give us some insight as to how LL frontloaded the recommended approach and prepared umpires for replay. That may answer several questions that I and some other have.

[Mrumpiresir]

Volunteering to officiate youth sports is admirable. My hat is off to those who do. And I agree we don't need to bash fellow umpires but I see that some of the LLWS umpires did exhibit a lack of training.

It is correct that anyone can miss a call now and then, but when it consistently happens because the umpire is out of position or has poor timing, well I just have to cringe.

And THoy, learn the difference between infer and imply. (Just had to say that)

[MD Longhorn]

A little confused (and trying very hard not to "bash")... in one statement you applaud LL's efforts to prepare umpires for replay, and in another you mention how much harder it is to officiate when you know replay is there...

To me, the existence of replay in these games is part of the problem. The fact that they need it as a solution both points out the problem (ineffective umpiring) and exacerbates it (making already unprepared umpires even more skittish).

[THoy]

Originally Posted by Mrumpiresir

Volunteering to officiate youth sports is admirable. My hat is off to those who do. And I agree we don't need to bash fellow umpires but I see that some of the LLWS umpires did exhibit a lack of training.

It is correct that anyone can miss a call now and then, but when it consistently happens because the umpire is out of position or has poor timing, well I just have to cringe.

And THoy, learn the difference between infer and imply. (Just had to say that)

Thank Mr. Umpire Sir for the grammar lesson. Learn The Difference Between "Imply" and "Infer"