During my elliptical machine workout this afternoon, I watched part of the âBig League World Seriesâ championship game on ESPN2. This is LLâs 18U division. The field was bad (grass infield), the softball was bad (mid 16U level, IMHO), and the umpiring was bad. We bashed some of the guys on the baseball LL World Series crew, but they were pros compared to what I saw today.
For example, U2 made a solid out call on an attempted force at second (as the ball rolled across the grass infield). OK, maybe he was blocked. But after he changed his out to safe, he gave a sweeping âoff the bagâ gesture. U3 made a beautiful sell-safe call on a girl sliding into third â as the ball went four feet over F3âs glove and into left field.
And what is this âdouble-pumpâ sell safe mechanic? (A âbookâ sell-safe is followed by bringing the hands back together, then back to the safe position â sometimes repeated a third time.) More than one LL umpire used it. Is this a baseball mechanic? Do you use it in your part of the country? (I kinda like it, but I donât think it would fly with our Florida UICs.)
On the other hand, youâve got to hand it to Little League for getting their sports televised. Nobody even comes close in baseball or softball.