Should youth league umpires know the rules of baseball?
Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 11:21 am
So tonight we had our Leagues championship game and it had to be the worst officiated game I have ever seen, made Oregon v Oklahoma last fall look like it was called cleanly.
In the top of the first our team jumped all over last years champs for 8 runs. We hit 2 HRs in the inning and after each, the next batter was beaned yet their pitcher was allowed to continue pitching even though the rules state that 2 hit batters in one game means the pitcher needs to be removed. In the top of the second inning we scored 6 more runs and again he hit 2 more batters. Also in the second inning the umpires strike zone became very liberal, one parent from our team had a camera set up in Center Field and he stated that some pitches were a foot off the plate and were still called strikes.
In the bottom of the second my pitchers strike zone had shrank to the size of a pea and the other teams batters had to swing for most pitches to be called strikes. There was also a call on a hit down the first base line that the pitcher fielded and then tagged the runner a good 15 feet before he reached the base, the Umpire called fielder interferance even though the ball and base runner were both on the infield side of the baseline.
In the top of the third the umpire was calling strikes on pitches that were hitting the dirt before they reached the plate, a parent who was video taping the game from the other side of the dugout showed me the video between innings and then I showed the Umpire, he said "if youre going to argue strikes and balls Im going to throw you out of the game" I replied "just call them the same for both teams"
In the bottom of the third inning the Umpire actually nudged the cathcer in the back when the catcher was trying to make a throw to second to catch an opponent stealing, the ball sailed and the second baseman had to catch it 5 or 6 feet behind the bag. When the catchers parent asked the ump "what was that?" the parent was asked to leave the bleacher area. The same runner was then caught in a pickle a pitch later and was tagged out by the second baseman as he was trying to get back to second. The umpire called him safe because the tag was above the waist. Where in the rule book does it say a runner had to be tagged below the waist and if you tag the runner in the front, which was the case in this incident, are you supoposed to tag him in the cup. On top of allowing the runner to be safe he was also awarded third base. On the next pitch the runner is drilled in the left thigh by the ball off the bat of his team mate. Now the runner was on the grass infield when the ball hit him, he should have been called out, we showed the umpire and the parents of the other team that said he was in foul territory that he was on the infield grass when the ball hit him with the parents video camera, the umpire called the ball a foul and then asked the parent to stop video taping the game he even said that they could not video the game form the cement area around the dug out or bleachers even though there were at least 5 parents from the other team video taping the game on the other baseline.
In the top of the fourth inning my son was ejected when he drew a line in the dirt 8 inches off the plate with the barrell of his bat showing the ump where the ball was at on a pitch the ump called just called a strike. The umpire also confiscated his bat, which we still haven't gotten back, my son looked up at him and said "are you kidding me? which one of those kids on that team is yours?" On top of him being ejected they counted his as out even though that was only the first strike.
The next 2 batters for our team hit HRs and the third batter actually hit the foul pole and the umpire called foul, now this is a kid that had broken his wrist and sat out almost the whole year, that was his first HR ever and he was upset that it was called a foul when it hit the foul pole, he knows enough about baseball tp know that that is a HR. The next pitch was in the dirt and called strike 3
We went to the bottom of the fourth and were up 19-1, through a pea sized strike zone and more shady calls they managed to score 4 runs on us that inning but not the 9 it would have taken to stop the game from being mercied.
The other team never came out of the dug out when the game was over and the league officials left with all the trophies still on a table behind the back stop instead of having the award ceremony that was on the pre game agenda. When my team was trying to have team pictures taken with them on the outfied infront of the score board, someone turned the scoreboard off, when they lined up for other pictures on the infield with the trophies, they turned th lights off. All of this was also video taped and a copy of the tape is going to be sent to Pony League HQ with written complaints.
After the game a few of the areas HS coaches came over and congradulated my team, then told me privately that that was the biggest example of poor sportsmanship and league corruption they had ever seen
This team is supposed to now go represent this league in tournament play yet the kids all feel the league hates them. A couple of the kids came to me after the game and said they think they should just throw the game away when they play another leagues team because they dont want to give their league which has treated them so poorly anything back. If thats what the team still wants to do next weekend when Tournament of Champions begins, Ill back them up on it.
In the top of the first our team jumped all over last years champs for 8 runs. We hit 2 HRs in the inning and after each, the next batter was beaned yet their pitcher was allowed to continue pitching even though the rules state that 2 hit batters in one game means the pitcher needs to be removed. In the top of the second inning we scored 6 more runs and again he hit 2 more batters. Also in the second inning the umpires strike zone became very liberal, one parent from our team had a camera set up in Center Field and he stated that some pitches were a foot off the plate and were still called strikes.
In the bottom of the second my pitchers strike zone had shrank to the size of a pea and the other teams batters had to swing for most pitches to be called strikes. There was also a call on a hit down the first base line that the pitcher fielded and then tagged the runner a good 15 feet before he reached the base, the Umpire called fielder interferance even though the ball and base runner were both on the infield side of the baseline.
In the top of the third the umpire was calling strikes on pitches that were hitting the dirt before they reached the plate, a parent who was video taping the game from the other side of the dugout showed me the video between innings and then I showed the Umpire, he said "if youre going to argue strikes and balls Im going to throw you out of the game" I replied "just call them the same for both teams"
In the bottom of the third inning the Umpire actually nudged the cathcer in the back when the catcher was trying to make a throw to second to catch an opponent stealing, the ball sailed and the second baseman had to catch it 5 or 6 feet behind the bag. When the catchers parent asked the ump "what was that?" the parent was asked to leave the bleacher area. The same runner was then caught in a pickle a pitch later and was tagged out by the second baseman as he was trying to get back to second. The umpire called him safe because the tag was above the waist. Where in the rule book does it say a runner had to be tagged below the waist and if you tag the runner in the front, which was the case in this incident, are you supoposed to tag him in the cup. On top of allowing the runner to be safe he was also awarded third base. On the next pitch the runner is drilled in the left thigh by the ball off the bat of his team mate. Now the runner was on the grass infield when the ball hit him, he should have been called out, we showed the umpire and the parents of the other team that said he was in foul territory that he was on the infield grass when the ball hit him with the parents video camera, the umpire called the ball a foul and then asked the parent to stop video taping the game he even said that they could not video the game form the cement area around the dug out or bleachers even though there were at least 5 parents from the other team video taping the game on the other baseline.
In the top of the fourth inning my son was ejected when he drew a line in the dirt 8 inches off the plate with the barrell of his bat showing the ump where the ball was at on a pitch the ump called just called a strike. The umpire also confiscated his bat, which we still haven't gotten back, my son looked up at him and said "are you kidding me? which one of those kids on that team is yours?" On top of him being ejected they counted his as out even though that was only the first strike.
The next 2 batters for our team hit HRs and the third batter actually hit the foul pole and the umpire called foul, now this is a kid that had broken his wrist and sat out almost the whole year, that was his first HR ever and he was upset that it was called a foul when it hit the foul pole, he knows enough about baseball tp know that that is a HR. The next pitch was in the dirt and called strike 3
We went to the bottom of the fourth and were up 19-1, through a pea sized strike zone and more shady calls they managed to score 4 runs on us that inning but not the 9 it would have taken to stop the game from being mercied.
The other team never came out of the dug out when the game was over and the league officials left with all the trophies still on a table behind the back stop instead of having the award ceremony that was on the pre game agenda. When my team was trying to have team pictures taken with them on the outfied infront of the score board, someone turned the scoreboard off, when they lined up for other pictures on the infield with the trophies, they turned th lights off. All of this was also video taped and a copy of the tape is going to be sent to Pony League HQ with written complaints.
After the game a few of the areas HS coaches came over and congradulated my team, then told me privately that that was the biggest example of poor sportsmanship and league corruption they had ever seen
This team is supposed to now go represent this league in tournament play yet the kids all feel the league hates them. A couple of the kids came to me after the game and said they think they should just throw the game away when they play another leagues team because they dont want to give their league which has treated them so poorly anything back. If thats what the team still wants to do next weekend when Tournament of Champions begins, Ill back them up on it.
