Pitchers not pausing with hands seperated.

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Originally Posted by Rita C

Illegal pitches are often not called in Little League (unless I'm calling the game). All too often, the softball players get umpires who know very little about softball.

This year I warned a couple of high school coaches that their players were barely not violating that rule. Neither believed me, that it could possibly be a violation. But they did believe my 6'4" partner.

Rita

You should have grown more than 5'5"........d;-)

I hate that women officials don't get more respect........

My oldest daughter refereed kids soccer when she was about thirteen......had to get certified (I went through the classes too and they were not easy)........and I still officiate some of our charity events.......

Parents were harsh.......she did it for a year.......she would have made a good official.........but was not mature enough to handle some of the situations at that age......

Another area that parents ruin.......

Joel

[CecilOne]

OK, this is a hijack, sort of.
Did you see the play in the Illinois/Phillipines semi where a runner was out stealing 2nd; then all the umps conferenced.
The TH thought they were talking about "interference" (OBSTRUCTION ! ! ! !) by F4.
It looked like OBS on the replay, but not ruled as such.

Any opposite opinions, or LL rule knowledge?

[RKBUmp]

LL has their rule books locked and you have to be a subscriber to get to them, but there are some videos open you can look at dealing with obstruction. Based on the videos, it appears LL has essentially the same ruling on obstruction as ASA for both baseball and softball, which I find intersting because watching the baseball games I cant tell you how many times I have seen defensive players camped out on the bases with no play being made and the runners are having to go around them. Not once have I seen an obstruction signal.

I saw the same play you are talking about. 6 umpires on the field, 1 whos only job is to stand behind 2nd base, watch that runner and make the call and couldnt see the stealing runner have to make a looping arc around F4 who was standing directly in the basepath.

[Tex]

I also saw many illegal pitches and obstruction not called. The Texas pitcher was 100% illegal and not one illegal pitched called.

These games were on national TV. A bad message is being sent to the young ladies and coaches when illegal pitches are not called.