TRANSKRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:13.149 --> 00:00:15.929
Welcome to Blue Crew Diaries and Umpire Podcast.
00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:19.030
My name is Daryl and I will be your host as we
00:00:19.030 --> 00:00:21.809
take a look behind the mask, so to speak, sharing
00:00:21.809 --> 00:00:24.870
stories, insights, and experiences from the unique
00:00:24.870 --> 00:00:28.269
perspective of the baseball umpire. In this episode,
00:00:28.410 --> 00:00:31.809
we'll discuss a few of the 2025 Little League
00:00:31.809 --> 00:00:34.969
rules changes in a bit more detail. If you have
00:00:34.969 --> 00:00:37.210
any questions, comments, or ideas for future
00:00:37.210 --> 00:00:40.509
episodes, drop me a line at bluecrewdiaries at
00:00:40.509 --> 00:00:44.429
gmail .com. So if you're ready, grab your indicator
00:00:44.429 --> 00:00:58.049
and plate brush, and let's hit the field. Well,
00:00:58.130 --> 00:01:00.990
what's going on, everybody? Welcome back to episode
00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:04.920
11 of the Blue Crew Diaries. an umpire podcast.
00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.280
If I sound a little off in this episode, I am
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.019
getting over a cold, so a little stuffed up,
00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:18.680
but we're going to do this anyway. So, first
00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:22.599
on the agenda, there are still Little League
00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:26.640
Umpire Outreach Clinics going on. all across
00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.620
the country, go to LittleLeagueUmpire .org, the
00:01:30.620 --> 00:01:33.299
Little League Umpire Registry. If you have not
00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:37.859
signed up for the Umpire Registry, why not? It
00:01:37.859 --> 00:01:40.319
doesn't cost you anything, and there is some
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:44.000
great stuff on there. It also allows you to sign
00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:49.659
up for these outreach clinics. Other than that,
00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:53.480
I'm sure you guys by now know that I'm a big...
00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:58.620
a big advocate for the youtube rules clinic videos
00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:03.060
from california district four it looks like they
00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:06.340
have their their yearly series pretty much complete
00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:12.639
including a softball rules clinic video so if
00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.460
you're uh if you're not a softball umpire or
00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:17.240
you're not a baseball umpire and you want to
00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:19.819
do softball that's probably the video for you
00:02:19.819 --> 00:02:25.889
or do both why not Other than that, let's get
00:02:25.889 --> 00:02:30.310
on to the main topic. If you want to go back
00:02:30.310 --> 00:02:34.550
to Episode 7 of the Blue Crew Diaries, we talked
00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:37.650
a little bit about the significant updates to
00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:43.469
the 2025 Little League Rulebook. And there were
00:02:43.469 --> 00:02:47.310
some things in there that I wanted a little bit
00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:51.479
more clarification on. Some stuff that... Really
00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:54.060
kind of didn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:58.879
But thankfully, my prayers have been answered.
00:03:00.099 --> 00:03:05.139
I received an email the other day from a gentleman
00:03:05.139 --> 00:03:07.960
by the name of Dave. Dave, thank you for reaching
00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:14.960
out. And in that email, aside from telling me
00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:19.289
that he enjoys the podcast. He also sent me the
00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:23.530
link to the updated Little League Make the Right
00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:28.930
Call casebook. So, for those of you who do not
00:03:28.930 --> 00:03:33.229
know the Make the Right Call casebook, it is
00:03:33.229 --> 00:03:40.050
basically a miniaturized rulebook, but it's one
00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:44.639
of these, if you're, here's a situation. If you're
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.439
presented with this situation, here's the rule
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.280
that that situation would fall under, and here's
00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.419
how you should handle that situation. Yeah, so
00:03:55.419 --> 00:04:00.939
it really gives a little more clarity on some
00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:04.139
of the stuff that I wanted some more clarity
00:04:04.139 --> 00:04:11.400
on. So let's just start at the top and go down.
00:04:12.189 --> 00:04:15.710
I'm not going to read the entire Make the Right
00:04:15.710 --> 00:04:18.329
Call casebook. I'm just going to go with the
00:04:18.329 --> 00:04:26.069
new updated type stuff. As far as the biggest
00:04:26.069 --> 00:04:31.170
thing here is illegal equipment versus improper
00:04:31.170 --> 00:04:38.930
equipment or damaged equipment. Really, the only
00:04:38.930 --> 00:04:45.800
illegal equipment that is grounds for ejection
00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:53.339
immediately is an improper or an illegal bat
00:04:53.339 --> 00:04:59.639
so if you are umpiring a majors game and you
00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.519
have a batter step into the box that has a bat
00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:10.939
that says bb core or usssa or Something like
00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:15.819
that. It does not have that USA Baseball logo.
00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:21.100
That is grounds for immediate ejection for using
00:05:21.100 --> 00:05:29.060
an illegal bat. Improper equipment isn't immediately
00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:33.660
grounds for ejection. Improper equipment is to
00:05:33.660 --> 00:05:39.889
be removed or disallowed you know, have its use
00:05:39.889 --> 00:05:46.550
disallowed by the umpire. And if it is discovered
00:05:46.550 --> 00:05:51.529
that it is being used after the umpire has disallowed
00:05:51.529 --> 00:05:55.810
its use, then it could be subject to ejection.
00:05:56.269 --> 00:06:00.129
Because the umpire has already said, you can't
00:06:00.129 --> 00:06:05.290
use this. Go get rid of it. And we're talking
00:06:05.290 --> 00:06:10.300
like choke -up knobs or like batting donuts,
Load full transcript
00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:17.300
stuff like that. Obviously, batting donuts are
00:06:17.300 --> 00:06:21.019
allowed in junior and senior, but we're mainly
00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:26.399
talking majors and minors right now. So if it
00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.759
is discovered that, say, a choke -up knob is
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.839
being used on the bat, the umpire will advise
00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:38.339
the player or the manager, if it was me, I would
00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:44.079
go to the manager myself and simply just call
00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.740
time, go to the manager, hey, he can't have that
00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:53.000
on his bat. Simple, right? So if that happens,
00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:56.680
the player will remove the choke -up knob or
00:06:56.680 --> 00:06:58.759
should remove the choke -up knob from the bat.
00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:04.819
Now, if they come up to bat the next time and
00:07:04.819 --> 00:07:11.610
have that choke -up knob, on the bat again, now
00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:16.009
we're kind of flirting with ejection. Because
00:07:16.009 --> 00:07:19.730
I've already told you once, you cannot have this.
00:07:20.329 --> 00:07:24.250
You can't use it per the rulebook. And now you're
00:07:24.250 --> 00:07:29.149
trying to use it again. Yeah, I'd be flirting
00:07:29.149 --> 00:07:35.800
with ejection on that one. Let's see. Same idea
00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:39.740
with damaged equipment. If there's a helmet that's
00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:43.279
damaged, it has a crack in it, or something like
00:07:43.279 --> 00:07:48.819
that, you can't just toss the plier for using
00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:53.860
damaged or improper equipment. Now, if you tell
00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:55.959
them to get rid of it, and they continue trying
00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.699
to use it, now we're getting into ejection land.
00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:09.779
Let's see here. Oh, this is a biggie. Situation.
00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:18.819
A player comes to bat wearing a wristwatch. Is
00:08:18.819 --> 00:08:27.160
this allowed? I have been known. I shouldn't
00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.250
say known on occasion, but known. quite a bit
00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:34.009
to wear my watch when I'm umpiring out on the
00:08:34.009 --> 00:08:40.389
field. I mainly use it to time in between innings.
00:08:43.370 --> 00:08:46.570
Just to kind of get off track a little bit here,
00:08:46.610 --> 00:08:49.750
I'm not thrilled with Little League's whole one
00:08:49.750 --> 00:08:54.730
minute from the last out of the last inning to
00:08:54.730 --> 00:09:00.740
the first pitch of the next inning. I get it.
00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:03.139
They're trying to speed the game up. But that
00:09:03.139 --> 00:09:05.940
does not give you a lot of time. I mean, one
00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:10.379
minute for all the defensive players to come
00:09:10.379 --> 00:09:15.320
off, the new defensive players to go out, the
00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:19.679
pitcher to warm up. You know, maybe
the catcher's
00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:24.220
not ready. So now the one minute has expired.
00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:27.120
The catcher is just now coming out. Well, according
00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.000
to Little League, that pitcher doesn't get to
00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.799
have any warm -up pitches because the one minute
00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:39.940
is over. I don't agree with that. Now, the league
00:09:39.940 --> 00:09:45.840
that I umpire for, that I'm going to be honest,
00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:51.539
I may not umpire for this year, there's a lot
00:09:51.539 --> 00:09:56.700
of drama in people trying to serve themselves.
00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:00.840
behind the scenes that has absolutely nothing
00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:06.519
to do with the kids who are playing. It's all
00:10:06.519 --> 00:10:10.519
adults trying to get things to go their way.
00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:14.539
And I don't agree with some of the stuff that's
00:10:14.539 --> 00:10:17.139
going on, so I may not umpire for that league
00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:20.919
this year. But one of the things that they could
00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:24.340
do a lot better at is trying to speed up those
00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:29.610
inning changes. Um, cause I mean, I've, I've
00:10:29.610 --> 00:10:32.529
sat there and sometimes they're like five, six,
00:10:32.690 --> 00:10:37.470
seven minutes between innings. So, and, and I
00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:41.149
know, you know, it's, it's more my call. I could,
00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:44.330
you know, kind of stand up for myself and say,
00:10:44.389 --> 00:10:50.129
okay guys, let's go. Um, but I don't, I don't
00:10:50.129 --> 00:10:55.139
know why. Anyway, getting back on topic. So a
00:10:55.139 --> 00:10:57.940
player comes, steps in the box, has a wristwatch
00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:03.000
on. Is this legal? According to the 2025 rules,
00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:12.139
yes. Players may wear jewelry provided it does
00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:21.000
not pose harm or injury. I could see a wristwatch
00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:26.570
being a problem. especially if a pitch is just
00:11:26.570 --> 00:11:33.029
a little bit inside and glances off the player's
00:11:33.029 --> 00:11:36.309
wrist or something like that. That could hurt.
00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:44.649
However, they can wear a watch. It just cannot
00:11:44.649 --> 00:11:51.029
have two -way communication capability. So if
00:11:51.029 --> 00:11:55.590
you have an Apple smartwatch, you can't use it.
00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:58.889
Okay. The watch that I wear out on the field
00:11:58.889 --> 00:12:03.429
is just a regular old Casio. I mean, it's got
00:12:03.429 --> 00:12:05.450
the digital display, but it still has the old
00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:11.549
school hands that a lot of players this day and
00:12:11.549 --> 00:12:16.289
age have no idea how to read because they don't
00:12:16.289 --> 00:12:18.929
teach that in school anymore, apparently. Just
00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:22.149
like... A lot of schools aren't teaching cursive
00:12:22.149 --> 00:12:30.950
writing. Why? I have no idea. So, yes, a watch
00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:43.809
is allowed. Let's see. I'm just going down through
00:12:43.809 --> 00:12:50.639
here, picking some stuff out. Okay. Rule 1 .16.
00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:55.639
Situation A. The Newtown Little League Tigers
00:12:55.639 --> 00:13:01.039
come to the game with seven highly polished chrome
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:10.019
-colored batting helmets. Is this allowed? Pardon
00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:16.590
me. That is not allowed. It is illegal. Batting
00:13:16.590 --> 00:13:19.950
helmets must have a non -glare surface and not
00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:26.590
be mirror -like in appearance. However, this
00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:32.710
is not grounds for ejection under Rule 3 .01a.
00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:40.250
It is not grounds for ejection. They just can't
00:13:40.250 --> 00:13:44.820
use the helmets. Same thing with Situation B.
00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.919
During pregame equipment inspection, the NOXE
00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:51.799
stamp on several of the home team's helmets cannot
00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:56.100
be located. Again, remove the helmets from play.
00:13:56.940 --> 00:14:00.840
That's it. This is not grounds for ejection.
00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:10.039
Oh, what else do we have here? Let's continue
00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:17.860
batting order. A lot of this is stuff that, you
00:14:17.860 --> 00:14:23.139
know, administrative stuff that, yes, the, you
00:14:23.139 --> 00:14:28.659
know, the Empire should know, but it's not, you
00:14:28.659 --> 00:14:37.919
know, not a huge deal. Let's see here. All right.
00:14:37.960 --> 00:14:41.759
So, rule 3 .01. Damaged or improper equipment
00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:46.820
is used during the game. The use of damaged or
00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:52.600
improper equipment, now that's damaged or improper
00:14:52.600 --> 00:15:00.980
equipment, is not grounds for ejection. The only
00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:03.639
one, like I said, that is grounds for immediate
00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:09.720
ejection is an illegal bat. The use of an illegal
00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.620
bat... that being one that does not meet the
00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:18.179
specifications of Rule 1 .10, or has pine tar,
00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:23.200
is the only example of illegal equipment and
00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:30.940
will always, always result in an ejection as
00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:38.539
provided by Rule 6 .06d. Damaged, improper, and
00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:43.529
illegal equipment including an illegal bat, must
00:15:43.529 --> 00:15:47.490
be removed from the game at the point of discovery
00:15:47.490 --> 00:15:53.990
and subject to ejection from any point thereafter
00:15:53.990 --> 00:16:07.570
under Rules 3 .01a, 6 .06d, and or 9 .01b. So...
00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:13.639
If you have an illegal bat, it is an immediate
00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:20.139
ejection. Immediate. If you have a player that
00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:25.320
steps into the box with a, let's just say a helmet,
00:16:25.379 --> 00:16:30.360
that you notice has a large crack in it, that
00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:35.039
is not grounds for ejection. Because it's damaged
00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:39.539
equipment. It is not illegal equipment. Very
00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:43.320
simple. You tell them, hey, time, you got to
00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:47.120
go get another helmet. Can't use that one. Simple.
00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:55.019
All right. So, really, that's the big one that
00:16:55.019 --> 00:17:01.340
I was kind of hung up on. I think I've kind of
00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:09.099
talked enough about that. Yeah. So that is where
00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:13.720
we are at for that one. Dave, again, thank you
00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:17.519
very much for reaching out and sending me the
00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:25.460
link to this Make the Right Call casebook. And
00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:32.599
the link to it will be in the description here
00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:36.730
on the podcast. And also in the description down
00:17:36.730 --> 00:17:41.150
below on YouTube for those of you who are listening
00:17:41.150 --> 00:17:50.029
to this episode there. So with that comes this
00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:55.049
week's trivia question. So last week, the question
00:17:55.049 --> 00:18:00.970
was, does Little League have a must slide rule?
00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:11.160
And the answer to that is technically no. There
00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:16.079
is no must slide rule. However, per the rulebook,
00:18:16.140 --> 00:18:23.160
the runner under Rule 7 .08, Subsection 3, the
00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:30.500
runner must either slide or attempt to get around
00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:35.160
a fielder. Who has the ball and is waiting to
00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:41.380
make a tag. So if the runner does not slide.
00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:47.079
Or attempt to avoid contact. The runner is out.
00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:54.099
Also if you're working majors and below. The
00:18:54.099 --> 00:18:57.740
runner is out if they slide head first. While
00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:04.039
advancing. To the next. base. If they leave the
00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:06.819
base they're at to advance and then they turn
00:19:06.819 --> 00:19:10.759
around and retreat back to that base and go in
00:19:10.759 --> 00:19:15.599
head first, that is perfectly fine. But if they
00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:19.619
go into the base head first while trying to retreat,
00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:27.339
that is illegal and cannot be done. And I have
00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:31.700
seen that. I saw that the very, very first game
00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:34.160
I went over and watched. I wasn't even officially
00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.039
an umpire yet. I just went over and watched one
00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:39.759
of the games. It was one of the first games of
00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.779
the season. And runner coming home, came in,
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.460
slid headfirst. Now, the problem was the runner
00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:56.339
was safe at home. And I'm standing kind of behind
00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:58.890
the fence, kind of behind home plate. And the
00:19:58.890 --> 00:20:02.809
umpire, he's already got his mask off. He's in
00:20:02.809 --> 00:20:05.970
a good position. He sees that the runner slides
00:20:05.970 --> 00:20:10.210
in and the runner is safe. But he went in headfirst.
00:20:10.809 --> 00:20:16.829
And I literally heard the umpire say, oh, man.
00:20:18.329 --> 00:20:24.910
Like, headfirst slide, runner's out. Yeah. And
00:20:24.910 --> 00:20:28.440
even the umpire wasn't. wasn't thrilled about
00:20:28.440 --> 00:20:32.480
having to call this runner out because they made
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:37.200
a simple mistake and simply forgot. Oh well,
00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:40.819
it is what it is. So no, Little League does not
00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:45.319
have a must slide rule. The runner simply has
00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:50.319
to slide or attempt to avoid contact. Which brings
00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:56.119
us to this week's question. Or this month's question,
00:20:56.259 --> 00:20:59.980
I should say. This is, again, going back to Episode
00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:07.960
7. What is the penalty if an illegal bat is discovered
00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:15.440
being used during a game? This has changed this
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:20.980
year. What is the penalty if an illegal bat is
00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:25.630
discovered being used during a game? Think you
00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:28.529
know the answer? You can always go back to Episode
00:21:28.529 --> 00:21:33.670
7. The answer's right in there. So that is going
00:21:33.670 --> 00:21:39.809
to do it for this month's episode. I love doing
00:21:39.809 --> 00:21:45.029
these. They're so much fun. Yeah, so again, Dave,
00:21:45.250 --> 00:21:48.329
thank you very much for reaching out. I greatly
00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:52.390
appreciate it. I hope everybody is enjoying these
00:21:52.390 --> 00:21:58.079
podcasts. I know they're not the greatest thing
00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:02.319
in the world. Just kind of a talking head. But
00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:07.279
I do try to make them as good as I can. So if
00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:12.940
you're enjoying them, let me know. If there are
00:22:12.940 --> 00:22:15.960
things that I can do to improve, let me know.
00:22:17.299 --> 00:22:19.779
And if you send me an email saying, well, the
00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:21.920
biggest thing you can improve on is stop talking.
00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:26.170
Because you talk way too much. Yeah, that's not
00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:32.569
going to change. Sorry, guys. So having said
00:22:32.569 --> 00:22:36.369
that, as always, thank you all for listening.
00:22:36.470 --> 00:22:39.029
And I will see you on the diamond.