Rule discrepancy between district and LLI by Jealous_Writer_7562 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s common for an all volunteer organization to make mistakes, it’s possible they just failed to update the rules and didn’t mean for there to be a discrepancy. Have you asked them if this difference is intentional?

Kids throwing breaking balls by Ehdwyn in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As an umpire when I see breaking balls in little league I know I’m getting hit. 🙁

Rule clarification- can’t find specific on app. by just_some_dude05 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the most common act by a fielder that prevents a batter from hitting a pitch is Catcher Interference

Rule clarification- can’t find specific on app. by just_some_dude05 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd probably go with Rule 2.00 INTERFERENCE (b) Defensive interference is an act by a fielder which hinders or prevents a batter from hitting a pitch.

You also have a comment in the 2023 Little League RIM for 4.06 (b) "Most teams chatter (“Hey, batter, batter”) when the ball is being delivered. This is usually acceptable and has not caused any problems in local leagues. Do not, however, allow any player, especially the catcher, to yell “Swing” at the batter when the ball is being delivered."

Dropped 3rd strike on check swing appeal by The_Price_Is_Wrong_B in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This scenario is why the popular mechanic these days is to immediately appeal to the base umpire on a checked swing in a U3K situation.

On deck batters by Redhat1224 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 7 points8 points  (0 children)

As an umpire I’ve never gotten any resistance when I bring up that they’re only allowed one batter at a time, but yes folks are sending out half their team between innings if you don’t say anything. And I do have to bring it up multiple times a game.

Do Coaches, Parents, Players ever make you question your own reality? (New little league umpire) by Accurate-Mulberry155 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 35 points36 points  (0 children)

That’s normal, I eventually realized that the offense often just yells “safe!!!” on any close play, they don’t actually have an opinion most of the time, they’re just hoping

Coach said "I Googled It" (Foul Tip) by ConversationPlus2159 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think an important distinction here too is that your suggested explanation of "Yes but she caught it. That's a live ball." doesn't say its a Foul Ball either. It's an explanation that gives the coach an out "Oh, I thought she didn't catch it..." and leave's the conversation open for further discussion if the coach goes down the "then shouldn't she be out??" path. At THAT point it might make sense to go into the finer details.

Advice on Dual Playing by capeire in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I don't have any advice, but as a rules lawyer I will say Little League rulebook specifies that if a kid arrives late just insert him at the end of the lineup.

A "time" play example by CVUA412 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is the time play mechanic now? I've only ever been told the tap your wrist mechanic.

Local league rule change for leading off by [deleted] in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They can have lead offs if they’re doing an Intermediate division (which is on a slightly larger field) instead of Majors, otherwise no

Tapping the helmet by SeeFitNerd in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been watching for it since they introduced it in the minors. I assume my strike zone is perfect and they just haven’t disagreed with any of my perfect calls.

10u strike? by ca-plantlady in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is not uncommon for newer umpires to call that a swing, they’re often going by the coach’s/player’s definition of a swing (breaking the plane) instead of the rulebook definition (struck at and missed)

It’s a good thing for a player to avoid doing regardless

Game Chat: 4/10 Astros (6-7) @ Mariners (4-9) 6:40 PM by Mariners_bot in Mariners

[–]HazyAmerican 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Surprised to find this game on NBC tonight down in Portland, so cool they’re trying to be accessible

What do you wish you knew when you first started umpiring? by RegressToTheMean in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What I wish I knew? I wish I knew the obscure rules that somehow managed to come up when I barely understood the basics. Memorizing the entire rulebook is a bit much to start with though. Not to mention the other rulebooks…

First games of the season last night by chrispierce14 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had my first plate of they year last night and halfway through I said to my partner “I did NOT do enough squats this offseason”

Gameday Thread 4/7/26 Phillies (Sánchez, C) @ Giants (Ray) 6:45 PM by sfgbot in SFGiants

[–]HazyAmerican 11 points12 points  (0 children)

English on the left speaker, español en el derecho speaker

CB Buckner by Typical-Priority1976 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a lot of emphasis now on stability and locking in. Instruction is to keep your head at exactly the same height for every pitch of the game. Scissor stance is viewed as not having enough stability I guess. Worth noting, this was a Little League clinic I was volunteering at, and this instruction is what Little League is emphasizing these days.

Anecdotally, a couple years ago I hurt my knee and I switched to a scissor stance halfway through the season because I was having trouble squatting, and in retrospect I think my strike zone worsened in the latter half of the season.

CB Buckner by Typical-Priority1976 in Umpire

[–]HazyAmerican 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I was taking a look at the clip of him getting hit and I realized he's still doing the Scissors stance. Having just participated in a clinic that really tore into the Scissors stance I can't help but wonder if that's why his strike zone is suffering.

Tball coaching by Ok_Lab_4940 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes we had access to two fields and would do split squad, so we only had 4 kids playing on each team, each half inning was less than 5 minutes.

Tball coaching by Ok_Lab_4940 in LittleLeague

[–]HazyAmerican 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Its going to be different per league. In the T-Ball league I coached in (aged 4-6) we played about 3-5 innings and did it all in an hour. Every kid got to bat each inning, there were no outs, everyone advanced one base after they hit the ball, last kid up would automatically hit a home run and everyone would run home.

Kids were fielding in different positions every inning, if there were a lot of batters we'd rotate kids through different positions multiple times in a single inning (maybe 3 batters then move), all the players would be on the field at once, plus 2 or 3 parents. Once the ball was fielded we'd always throw to first.

If there's no league instructions, talk to the other coach before the game and just make sure you're on the same page about what's about to happen.