LL world series

[SWFLguy]

Six umpires on that field is overkill if not simply nutty. I thought it looked really lame when they all congregated to discuss a foul/fair call.

[nopachunts]

Originally Posted by SWFLguy

Six umpires on that field is overkill if not simply nutty. I thought it looked really lame when they all congregated to discuss a foul/fair call.

If you're talking about the foul/fair ball that was off of F5's glove, the 1BL field umpire walked up late and the look on his face seemed to say "do I really need to be here"? ESPN kept trying to show shots that could help determine the call but they were all at the wrong angle. I don't know why the 3B umpire was so far off of the line.

[HugoTafurst]

Originally Posted by nopachunts

If you're talking about the foul/fair ball that was off of F5's glove, the 1BL field umpire walked up late and the look on his face seemed to say "do I really need to be here"? ESPN kept trying to show shots that could help determine the call but they were all at the wrong angle. I don't know why the 3B umpire was so far off of the line.

I'm thinking 6 man crews are used to let more deserving volunteers get on the field.

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by HugoTafurst

I'm thinking 6 man crews are used to let more deserving volunteers get on the field.

My thoughts exactly.

[nopachunts]

Originally Posted by HugoTafurst

I'm thinking 6 man crews are used to let more deserving volunteers get on the field.

I know that's the way it's done on the baseball side. I also think that's why they instituted the replay appeal on the baseball side because some the officials had know idea of what they were supposed to be doing. JMO

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by HugoTafurst

I'm thinking 6 man crews are used to let more deserving volunteers get on the field.

Perhaps.

But what's more important, having the right number of umpires on the field that can cover every contingency while not clogging up the field? Or turning these crucial games into a reward system for those deserving volunteers that could very easily and negatively impact the game?

I'm not convinced that a base umpire can't chase fly balls in their areas of responsibility when the fence is 200' to 225' away on the small diamond. All three base umpires start at least 70' away from home plate. It's not like they have to make judgment calls on fair/foul, catch/no catch, etc., that are 250' or more away from them.

The fact that these dedicated volunteers are even at the regional tournaments and world series is a tribute to their work. If the standard was four-man for all games, they would all get equal opportunities, for the most part. Let the best four do the championship. Putting six of them on the field for every game does more harm than good.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by SWFLguy

Six umpires on that field is overkill if not simply nutty.

No disagreement there. For some reason, W-port and its regions feel that they have to emulate the big boys in MLB. Fine; do that for the 90' games. But no way is it necessary for the 60' and 70' fields.

At the 18U Gold, we went with three-man, even for the final. The same was true in our state high school championships, where I was U1 in a three-man crew for the AAA state semifinal. We did use four-man in past high school tournaments, but I guess the powers-that-be felt that three umpires could adequately handle it. I cannot recall the last time I saw a four-man crew for softball games.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Manny A

...I cannot recall the last time I saw a four-man crew for softball games.

I work a HS SB tournament every year that uses four umpires for the final game.

Four umpires is overkill in FP SB....

[shagpal]

The PGF/Premier should all be 4-man games except for 12u is 3-man.

Originally Posted by Manny A

No disagreement there. For some reason, W-port and its regions feel that they have to emulate the big boys in MLB. Fine; do that for the 90' games. But no way is it necessary for the 60' and 70' fields.

At the 18U Gold, we went with three-man, even for the final. The same was true in our state high school championships, where I was U1 in a three-man crew for the AAA state semifinal. We did use four-man in past high school tournaments, but I guess the powers-that-be felt that three umpires could adequately handle it. I cannot recall the last time I saw a four-man crew for softball games.

[Big Slick]

Originally Posted by Manny A

I cannot recall the last time I saw a four-man crew for softball games.

PA high school uses four umpires for the games leading up to and including the state championship.

I take it you didn't watch the World Cup of Softball

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Big Slick

PA high school uses four umpires for the games leading up to and including the state championship.

I take it you didn't watch the World Cup of Softball

Naah, I didn't. Was it worth watching?

Do they ever use four-man for the NCAAs? I thought there were only three-man crews for the WCWS.

[Big Slick]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Naah, I didn't. Was it worth watching?

Do they ever use four-man for the NCAAs? I thought there were only three-man crews for the WCWS.

You are correct about the NCAA, except some crews were not 3 men; some even had women (and no, I'm not being politically correct, I'm being correct).

However, the World Cup of softball, which featured teams representing countries, used a four umpire crew for each game. To my knowledge, the ISF is the only governing body that publishes a four umpire manual. It is these guide lines that I used to create the materials for the PIAA's four umpire mechanics.

[BuggBob]

I’ll admit that I am not a LL rules expert, but I found it extremely frustrating that the PU called an illegal pitch for some unknown violation against the AZ team while nearly every pitch from PR had multiple ball/glove touches, one time the girl stepped onto the plate with the hands together, separated with the ball in the hand, brought her hands together, separated, together, start pitch at the top of her windup touched again. That has got to be illegal.

Also what about a step backwards? It that allowed, like in NFHS; or not, like in ASA?

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by BuggBob

I’ll admit that I am not a LL rules expert, but I found it extremely frustrating that the PU called an illegal pitch for some unknown violation against the AZ team while nearly every pitch from PR had multiple ball/glove touches, one time the girl stepped onto the plate with the hands together, separated with the ball in the hand, brought her hands together, separated, together, start pitch at the top of her windup touched again. That has got to be illegal.

Also what about a step backwards? It that allowed, like in NFHS; or not, like in ASA?

Didn't watch the game so I can't address your IP comments. But LL does allow the backward step like NFHS.

[RKBUmp]

Originally Posted by BuggBob

I’ll admit that I am not a LL rules expert, but I found it extremely frustrating that the PU called an illegal pitch for some unknown violation against the AZ team while nearly every pitch from PR had multiple ball/glove touches, one time the girl stepped onto the plate with the hands together, separated with the ball in the hand, brought her hands together, separated, together, start pitch at the top of her windup touched again. That has got to be illegal.

Also what about a step backwards? It that allowed, like in NFHS; or not, like in ASA?

The one pitcher for Virginia was illegal on virtually every pitch, constantly bringing hands together multiple times. There were a few instances where I actually saw her pitching the ball into her glove while standing on the pitching plate. But, the girl that pitched for AZ in the championship game was also illegal on virtually every pitch. She was stepping on and had her hands coming together while stepping on, sometimes they were even together before she was on.

I have no idea what the one IP he called on the AZ girl was for. Looked fine to me except she lost her balance a little and kind of shuffled her feet on the pitching plate.