Top 10 Reasons I Love Little League
10. Board Meetings.
9. Smile on a kid’s face when he gets a hit.
8. Smile on a mom’s face when her kid gets a hit.
7. Smile on the coach’s face when a kid gets a hit.
6. Smiles in the stands of parents of the losing kids.
5. Smiles on the face of parents of the winning kids.
4. The fact that most kids don’t know or care who won the game.
3. Seeing kids from competing teams playing together 5 minutes after the game is over w/o a care in the world.
2. Seeing opposing managers at the local hangout after a game w/o a care in the world.
1. Board Meetings.
Why do you love Little League?
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Little League Umpires and the Circle Violation
One of the most frustrating and contentious points in Little League Softball is the calling of the circle violation. This is not an issue in travel ball where they have paid softball umpires, but in Little League most umpires are volunteer dads and don’t really understand the rule, much less call it. This causes much dismay from coaches, parents, and confuses the kids. Most coaches are baseball transplants as well, I was one of them myself, so I understand the problem, we just need a mass education program for all umpires that are moving over to softball.
The basis of the rule is that softball doesn’t want a bunch of jockeying around like you see in the minor leagues of baseball. In our league, we have actually implemented the softball rule in the minor leagues to eliminate this. While we don’t penalize w/ an out as they do in softball, we do require that the batter either return immediately to the base they occupied or proceed to the next base once the ball is on the dirt part of the pitching mound and in possession of the pitcher. If they don’t, the umpire simply sends them back to the bases they occupied when the pitcher entered the dirt area.
The rule in softball is pretty simple. Once the ball enters the circle the runner must proceed immediately to the next base or return to the base they last occupied. They cannot flinch, they cannot stop, they cannot trip, they cannot stutter, they can’t fake one way and go the next, they can’t do anything at all but proceed to the next base or go back to the one they came from.
Here are the scenarios I see most often:
1. A player walks to first. The defense correctly and immediately gets the ball in the circle. The girl runs to first base, rounds it towards second after the ball is in the circle and goes back to first. This is an out.
2. A player walks with a runner on third. Stops on first or just off of it, then a coach yells for her to go to second and she takes off for second. She is out. She can proceed to 2nd no problem if she does not break stride, but any buckle in her motion is an out.
3. A player leaves early when stealing. She is out. In majors and minors she can’t leave until the ball reaches the plate, in juniors up she can leave when the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
4. A girl drills a double, the throw comes in to the pitcher. The batter-runner rounds second after the pitcher has the ball in the circle, stops, and goes back to 2nd. She is out.
If the pitcher is making a play on any runner, the circle violation is nullified. The pitcher holding the arm in the air is considered making a play.
It really is that simple, why people have so much trouble with it in my opinion is the severity of the violation. It is an out! When you only have 18 of them, 1 out is more than 5%, unsure umpires don’t really want to inject themselves into the game so much. I understand this, but failing to teach the girls the violation only hurts them in the future. You only have to call this on a girl once for it to be effective. She will never violate it again.
This is why I say it should be called in the minor leagues. If they could learn the rule there, it would eliminate a lot of the problems that occur in the majors because they wouldn’t violate the rule. Either way, we need to start enforcing the rule across the board and around the world. This would eliminate a lot of problems that arise during a softball game. First we must teach our umpires the rule, then enforce it.
Do you know of any other common situations where the circle violation comes into play?
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Make Them Better
Tonight I had dilemma. We have a travel pitcher that can dominate a game but we were playing against the other team in our division and it is fall ball. I don’t want to be accused of wanting to win at all costs, but I want to get her work and the team as well. Do I pitch her the whole game? Do I pitch her a few innings and bring someone else in? What to do, what to do.
Then I had an epiphany (Like that word E. Peevie?). What is the objective of the fall season for Little League? To make every player better of course! Would I be doing the other team any justice if I pitched a slower pitcher and let them hit the ball all over the place? Of course not! Why not challenge them, let them face the best, and succeed! A few of them got hits, they had huge smiles and provided inspiration for the others.
This division goes straight to the state tournament in the spring all-star season. They will face this level of pitching the entire tournament. Why not get as many players accustomed to it as soon as possible? That was my thinking. I think it was right looking back on it.
By the end of the game all the girls, (whom I love as much as I do my own team I might add) had sped up their bats up and were making contact. Additionally, my catcher was able to gain valuable experience with a pitcher that can “bring it”. The score of the game? Who cares! It’s fall ball! Everyone on the field improved, that’s all that matters! The girls on the other team probably improved more than we did as well. And isn’t that the point?
What do you do when you have a stud pitcher in a game that does not matter? Do you pitch her to get the work or do you give your other pitchers some work?
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Paid vs Volunteer Umpires
Sorry about not posting last night. I had a minor’s practice at 5PM, a major’s practice at 6:30PM, and a senior’s practice at 8PM. All is good w/ that except I started watching the debate w/ my wife and next thing I knew it was 1AM. Sorry about that, how about that Sarah Palin? Won’t be too tough to listen to her talk for 4 years will it?
I should preface this post with the fact that I umpire in Little League as an unpaid volunteer and for travel programs as a paid umpire.
I was sent an article as part of an umpire’s newsletter today written by Jim Smith of Pennsylvania District 22. I assume he is the umpire in chief for that district, though it never really says. The article, titled Volunteer vs. Paid can be found here:
http://www.littleleague.org/Page57168.aspx
Great read wasn’t it?
I have to agree there is little more gratifying then volunteering time for Little League. It is fun and extremely rewarding. My personal opinion is you never pay money for anything for Little League unless it turns you a profit. For instance, we once paid a guy to come in and show us how to run our bat-a-thon and make it profitable. When I left that league of 1,400 kids we were bringing in $140,000/year in batathon money. We paid him 5%. A good investment I think.
Another opportunity to pay a company and actually bring more revenue into the organization that you would have otherwise, is a snack bar company. My personal favorite is a sponsorship company. They can sell advertising all over your park for a small fee and bring in tons of money for the league.
The bottom line is, you shouldn’t pay people directly for work they do for the league and the volunteer organization, but paying a company to increase revenues to the league is smart. Umpire are an expense, not a profit center, profit centers should be exploited, expenses reduced. With this corporate philosophy throughout the league, the kids will reap all the rewards.
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Major’s Schedule Today
Major’s schedule was tonight. 14 teams, 13 games, all with individual requirements! The fun continues! Tomorrow night, Pitcher/Catcher practice and then an all-nighter to complete the minor’s, rookies, and t-ball schedules!
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Not Every League is “Little League”
I am getting very tired of every time someone refers to youth sports they call it “Little League”. I have heard about “Little League Football”, that doesn’t exist. Every youth rec. baseball league is referred to as “Little League”. This, of course, usually when used in a bad context!
There is ONLY one Little League, and it is Little League Baseball. If you are not talking about a chartered Little League Baseball program, please stop calling it Little League! It is not.
You hear me fellow journalists? Live it, stick to it.
What is the worst use of the term Little League you have ever heard?
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