why in the hell are they running 6-man crews, that's what I want to know

Six-man crews allow more overweight people to get "the nod."

OTOH (with a nod to Rita), I thought San Berdoo had the best crews, BY FAR. I saw more than one guy with his shoes shined and one with a ... gasp ... FLEX BELT!

Plus, most of them have NEVER done HS, Legion, etc. They are "dedicated volunteers," who are pillars of their community and make the same mistakes they have been doing for years. And no one can tell them differently. Ergo, they get worse.

This is why you see routine plays dressed up, balls that are skatey-eight feet foul bellowed out, umps standing at attention to make base calls.

As I have said, there is virtually no vetting process to do a regional. It's a lot of heinie-kissing at the local level--or years of service.

I knew a guy who was a classic example. Umped for over 30 years. And he was horrible. When I became UIC for my district, I worked hard to get rid of him. The solution: banning "the raft" for plate umps. He refused to buck up, so we stopped giving him post-season games.

Of course, almost yearly, there would be an article in the paper singing his praises, such as: "Harry Smitty has dedicated years of his life, blah, blah, woof, woof..."

I particularly think it sad when the level of play FAR outshines the level of officiating.

Harrumph.

Ace

I have been told by various people in LL that assignments to Regional's and LLWS are awards for service to LL, and not based on competence as an official. Don't assume you are seeing the best of the best. There are also cases of individual districts being given slots as a reward for the DA, for his/her service to LL.

To say that most have not worked high school or higher levels is wrong. Many of the umpires choosen from Michigan have worked high school finals, myself included. In 2010 I believe, the plate umpires for the semi-finals in Williamsport were a former MiLB umpire and the man who had the plate for the Class A (highest class) in Michigan.
Some of the mechanics might not be the best, but I can remember when MLB umpires had different mechanics depending on who was in the crew. The Central Region umpire clinic has a drill done before every break "doing the bog six". Yes I get upset when I see guys yelling foul when the ball is in the parking lot, wearing a long sleeve T shirt with short sleeve shirt over it ect, but I saw a picture from A ripken tournament of a guy with the balloon and shorts.
I don't think we want robots as umpres, which is what we would have if all mechanics were the same.

Dst8ada, it has been my experience that most of the umpires chosen for higher level LL assignments have not had any HS or above experience. There is only one umpire that I know of that has done high level HS games as well as LL games, and that is out of about 20 or so umpires that I am acquainted with that have done Regional and WS games for LL.

You might say 'we don't want robots' but that is what is being represented on the field. It's hard to argue with evidence.

Having done LL at all levels for 33 years before hanging it up, I am with Bob.

IMO~Six guys on such a little field is overkill. RF & LF line umps at least need to go. All the umpires look jumbled up out there on occasion. Watching U2 come in on a hit to the outfield leaves little room for the players.

Why is doing HS/Fed ball some sort of benchmark? I'm watching more HS ball, as my son is now a Varsity coach, and at least around here, the quality is hit and miss.

Most guys that I know that get a shot at LL TV games, at least out here in the West, are also doing Adult wood bat, older travel, college summer league, etc. Weekend stuff, but not HS as they have real, 9-5 jobs that preclude them from working those 3pm games.

Six-man crews for the LL post-season is nothing more than giving umpires the opportunity to work more games when they reach those levels. Unfortunately, they get so bored out there on the lines, that they feel compelled to make those exaggerated foul calls on balls that are in the next county.

I recall doing a LL State tournament years ago, and the tournament UIC from the host league received permission to use his local umpires as LFUs and RFUs, as a form of gratitude for their volunteerism during the regular season. I don't particularly believe those umpires are necessary on the small diamond in general, but if the tournament director sees the need, then, candidly, I think those positions should be filled by the umpires selected to work the tournaments, not local yokels who may not be worthy of working these games.

Our HS games start at 5PM around here.

There's no reason a U2 needs to come inside. It's easy to get a 90-degree angle to the throw on the outside and make a call at second. It's how I umpire when I work U2 in any game, including LL games.

And yet you still see 3 umpires pivoting inside unnecessarily on balls hit to the outfield, when the ideal number doing so would be ZERO.

I may be wrong since I haven't been to a SE Region LL clinic recently. But I believe they're teaching for four-man on the small field for U1 and U3 to NOT pivot inside; rather, they should just drift in through foul territory, and then take a step inside to make a call at their bases.

If I'm not the one, make that two, Bob

Rita

Ripken League suggests to us to always stay outside on an undersize field. I do it just like FED Ladies softball.

I'm talking about making all calls at second from the outside, even on base hits to the outfield. Go opposite the batted ball, get a 90-degree angle to the throw, take the play from there.

At the regional last year I was amazed at how many people pivoted in as U1 just like they would in a 2-umpire crew.