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, 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.