LLWS

Folks "in the know" can watch these games and yes, there are a few good teams here and there, but this isn't the best form of baseball for 11 and 12 year olds. First of all these are the normal modified rules for baseball, no leading off, no pitching from the stretch, etc. There are many 10-11-12 year old leagues who play on 50 ft. mound, 70-75 ft. bases, leadoffs ,etc. It's real baseball.

Thank goodness there are enough volulnteers to cover these games. But it's kind of funny though. We just had a huge to-do about college athlete ONLY getting a free 4 year degree and all the other perks when the college conferences are making millions. Isn't this the same? I mean the LLWS TV contract has to be gitantic, and you're begging for free umpires??

Also love the mound visits where the coach sugar coats everything and never rasises his voice to a kid. That's definitely not real life. ha!
 
I don't work for free. Coaches don't work for free, athletic directors don't work for free, so why should officials?

LLWS umpires must be better people than I am. (In all seriousness, they are good people for the most part.)
 
zebrastripes said:
I don't work for free. Coaches don't work for free, athletic directors don't work for free, so why should officials?

LLWS umpires must be better people than I am. (In all seriousness, they are good people for the most part.)
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Hence, my issue with LL.. They get $9million annually (thru 2030) from TV alone..... CEO has a compensation package north of $500k annually.... (top "brass" compensated >6 figures)

They don't pay their umpires and are merciless with these men and women when it comes to instant replay.....
 
AllSports12 said:
Hence, my issue with LL.. They get $9million annually (thru 2030) from TV alone..... CEO has a compensation package north of $500k annually.... (top "brass" compensated >6 figures)

They don't pay their umpires and are merciless with these men and women when it comes to instant replay.....
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Not surprising. In my day job I've come to realize that most nonprofits aren't as charitable as they purport to be.

As it relates to LL - as you and I both know very well, until umpires as a whole simply start refusing to work, the overlords have no reason to change. I'm sure there are plenty of umpires who drool over the "prestige" of working in Williamsport. I'm also sure there are plenty of good umpires who left LL altogether when they realized the BS-to-pay ratio wasn't worth it.
 
Just to be clear, the local Little Leagues pay their umpires. It is the rare umpire that wants to go to Williamsport that does not receive any money while umpiring games. That is their carrot as well as knowing they are helping a community non-profit succeed. In my 15 years being involved with Little League, Kelly Dine is the only umpire that I remember not taking any pay from Little League. She was a great volunteer and the leagues that she worked in were lucky to have her.

Coaches never get paid in Little League opposed to the Summer Ball coaches that are making a healthy sum of money while no guarantee of being any more qualified.

Just watched a "new" travel softball coach who has never coached before raid an excellent community team with ridiculous claims of improving the girls' skills. Get paid $5000 to coach with no experience. It happens waaayy more than people think in travel sports. And when the team fails to be as successful as the coach had claimed, guess who is to blame...the players. Time to get better players.

Little League is not perfect but I think their philosophy is better for the health of the sport versus the travel ball circuit.
 
One last complaint about Travel coaches:

I can't stand hearing a coach that went and watched a team ONCE saying that the coaches of the team are doing a bad job because their players make fundamental mistakes. They have no point of reference to see how far these players have been brought along by the current coaches. Making an uneducated comment about other coaches without enough information comes across as arrogant, rude, and downright unintelligent.

The greatest coach in the world could have players that struggle if they are new to the game and terrible coaches could have players shine if those players came to the team as finished players.
 
These are the best of the best kids, but regular little league umps quickly learn that a text book strike zone leads to some very long ugly games.
 
Yappi said:
Just to be clear, the local Little Leagues pay their umpires. It is the rare umpire that wants to go to Williamsport that does not receive any money while umpiring games. That is their carrot as well as knowing they are helping a community non-profit succeed. In my 15 years being involved with Little League, Kelly Dine is the only umpire that I remember not taking any pay from Little League. She was a great volunteer and the leagues that she worked in were lucky to have her.

Coaches never get paid in Little League opposed to the Summer Ball coaches that are making a healthy sum of money while no guarantee of being any more qualified.

Just watched a "new" travel softball coach who has never coached before raid an excellent community team with ridiculous claims of improving the girls' skills. Get paid $5000 to coach with no experience. It happens waaayy more than people think in travel sports. And when the team fails to be as successful as the coach had claimed, guess who is to blame...the players. Time to get better players.

Little League is not perfect but I think their philosophy is better for the health of the sport versus the travel ball circuit.
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I moderate a couple of other umpire message boards and the vast majority of the LL umpires on there are strictly volunteer. (including multiple LLWS umpires) No money for games.... In fact, some of the most vicious arguments that take place this time of year are in threads started about volunteer -vs- paid umpires.....

When those threads are started, we just shut them down....
 
AllSports12 said:
I moderate a couple of other umpire message boards and the vast majority of the LL umpires on there are strictly volunteer. (including multiple LLWS umpires) No money for games.... In fact, some of the most vicious arguments that take place this time of year are in threads started about volunteer -vs- paid umpires.....

When those threads are started, we just shut them down....
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I’ve learned in other sports that there aren’t many things that slow progress more than officials who stand in the way of other officials fighting for higher pay and better conditions. The former group plays the holier-than-thou “I do this for kids” card. My response is usually – “Then you should have no problem giving me your game checks.” That ends the conversation.

Then we act so surprised and like we can’t figure out why there’s a shortage.
 
AllSports12 said:
Hence, my issue with LL.. They get $9million annually (thru 2030) from TV alone..... CEO has a compensation package north of $500k annually.... (top "brass" compensated >6 figures)

They don't pay their umpires and are merciless with these men and women when it comes to instant replay.....
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They should pay them, at least comp them for costs.
 
No score, Ohio batting bottom three.
No score, Ohio batting bottom six.
No score, Ohio batting bottom eight.
Ohio wins 1-0.
 
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The HP umpire on this Pennsylvania/Louisiana game is barely bending his knees to call pitches.

I guess it really is true that you get what you pay for… ?
 
Unless there is a monumental comeback, Ohio is losing to Cali today. In watching the Hamilton team in regionals and the LLWS it seems they only have one great pitcher, Vogel. So they can win every other game. Unfortunately for them you need two great ones to advance in the LLWS. They have some nice young ball players on the Westside team, though. The team that beat them in the regionals, Michigan, looks like a team that can win it all. Those boys can hit with authority!
 
Chop Stix said:
Some impressive hitters on this Torrance team.
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Agreed, though I still think Michigan is the best hitting line up I’ve seen while watching the various regionals and LLWS. I took a break from watching MLB games and have really enjoyed watching the many regional and LLWS games that have been on TV. Didn’t miss MLB at all.
 
Huge win for Hamilton! Didn’t think they could take down a big dog without Vogel on the mound. Unfortunately, due to Little League rules, nobody will get to see Vogel…or South Dakota’s amazing Gavin Weir…pitch again unless the final gets delayed to Monday.
 

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That two run single just about does it. Going to be tough to makeup 4 runs in the last inning even if they hold the rest of the way.
 
Hamilton had their shots but just couldn't put a couple hits together at crucial times. What a great run and represented the state well!!
 
The Home Plate Umpire was an embarrassment. Consistently calling pitches 6 to 12 inches off the plate strikes. He totally took the game away from the players. No way a 5 ft. tall player can reach those pitches without a 50 inch bat. Since the game is on national TV there is no way a coach can complain. I know these umps are volunteers, but some serious re-training needs to be done. I am not from Hamilton and really didn't care who won. I just like watching LL baseball. The fielding and baseball IQ of these players was spectacular.
 
ShoelessJoe said:
The Home Plate Umpire was an embarrassment. Consistently calling pitches 6 to 12 inches off the plate strikes. He totally took the game away from the players. No way a 5 ft. tall player can reach those pitches without a 50 inch bat. Since the game is on national TV there is no way a coach can complain. I know these umps are volunteers, but some serious re-training needs to be done. I am not from Hamilton and really didn't care who won. I just like watching LL baseball. The fielding and baseball IQ of these players was spectacular.
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I agree with your comment about the fielding. it was incredibly fundamental. I was really impressed with all the teams' fielding.
 
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