Little League World Series on TV

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Did anyone see the LL World Series on TV.

Connecticut team vs. Phillipines team. A pop-up drops in the infield between the pitcher and the foul line. No one touches it and it eventually rolls foul. 4 umpires all called it a fair ball. Is this rule different in Little League?

 

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I saw the replay, and also wondered why the call was fair. Looked pretty clear that no one had touched the ball while it was in fair territory.

 

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I will bet that every softball umpire cringed when they saw that play....

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OK, Most softball umpires then.

 

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Also what was the girl suspended for? They kept talking about it, but didn't here the reasoning.

 

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I only caught part of why she was suspended. They said it was for unsportsmanlike conduct in the wearing of her uniform? The announcers then went on to say something about rolling up of the waistband of the shorts?

They also mentioned that three of the Phillipine players had missed their previous game because of unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

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The description of that play makes me cringe just hearing about it!

I was switching back-and-forth between softball and the Indians game and missed that play. That is such a basic call that you almost have to believe something else happened that we couldn't easily see on TV or that the umpire must have thought the pitcher touched the ball over fair ground, before it went foul.

But it sure sounds ugly!

By the way, you say that "four umpires all called it fair". Did they huddle after the play? I wonder because only one umpire should have resonsibility for that call- the plate umpire. No other umpire can overrule another and it is solely his call to make. Even if they did huddle after the play, it is still his call to make, change or live with.

Speaking of odd plays, did anyone see that "catch" against the wall made against Martinez in the Indians game? Had to feel sorry for the blues on that one, as I'm sure no one could make a good call on that from 200+ feet away and with the fielder blocking the view of the ball.

 

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...
Speaking of odd plays, did anyone see that "catch" against the wall made against Martinez in the Indians game? Had to feel sorry for the blues on that one, as I'm sure no one could make a good call on that from 200+ feet away and with the fielder blocking the view of the ball.

Saw the replay on that one also, only way you could have called that would have been off the video.

 

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I was at the Tribe game last night when it happened. They had the replay up within seconds. It seemed that the base runners and the first base coach saw it pretty clearly. I was in a loge 300+ feet away and I saw that it hit the wall first.

Blue took some grief over that one. Would have been much worse if they were ever trailing in the game.

Gary Mathews from the Rangers did a great job acting like he caught it clean. That is what probably sold the Blue on the call.

 

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I saw the play as well and they did conference. The only logical explaination was that one of them must have thought they either saw the player touch it, or that it hit the player. Of course it did not it was clearly a simple foul ball.

What made me shake my head was that the announcer was trying to make excuses for the home plate umpire by saying that he may have mistook the line on the runners lane as the foul line. Wow, I am sure this was not that umpires first rodeo if you know what I mean. Oh well, we are all human and we had the replay to look at.

My question is how does that ball get popped up to the edge of the pitchers circle and nobody catches it? Ouch.


On another note, did you guys notice that the 11 year old pitcher from the Philipines was throwing 63 and 64 mph? Wow, that was hard to believe.

 

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I was watching the LL WS (girls) and see that the dropped 3rd strike rule was not in effect either. Different rules I guess.

Also, no offense to these girls, but I have seen many many teams in Ohio who would run wild over these girls. The LLWS must be a total different division and qualification, perhaps in the midwest to west? And with the Phillipines, Asia, etc, playing, it must be in some parts of the world?

I believe there was a thread last year about this series.

The one Asian girl threw 64 mph (radar gun a tad off?). She looked tough, until the girl hit her up the middle in the 7th inning and went under the centerfielders glove for the winning run. Not the greatest ball being played here.

And their helmets are not up to that NOFSCZSFDSGDAZZ stamp either. Oops, another topic all together.

 

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The Phillipines pitcher was throwing pretty hard but with an 11 inch ball. It shocked me that the infield was grass!! ??? : A totally different level of ball.

 

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I think it's retarded that they show this, and act like it's the best softball played in the world. I watched some of this last night and had to turn the channel before my daughter watched any longer and picked up any bad habits. It was more comical listening to the play by play.

 

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Don't know if anyone saw this, but the Phillipines pitcher was called several times for an illegal pitch. Her back foot kept coming off the rubber, you could here the umpire call it , but never showed the umpire talking to the coach and pitcher. They just changed the count.

 

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the reason the LL girls softball is on a major cable network is that it was ``paired'' with the boys in the Little League Baseball World Series' contract with ABC, parent of ESPN.
Little League knew the best way to promote growth of its product (obviously inferior to ASA) was to put it on TV and have people assume this is as good as it gets. Of course, ESPN with eons of hours to fill didn't mind getting CHEAP filler. I saw one girl's swing and had to switch the channel.
The ASA 12U (well, really 131/2 U) would blow their doors off in short order!!!

 

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Aren't these Little League teams made from rec ball All-Star teams who continue to play after the rec season, then play in some placing tournaments for state representative, then region, etc.? One of the announcers said "these girls have been playing practicing together since mid-June."

I would think any girls playing travel ball couldn't play both, due to the comittment during the same tme period. I also thought they had a different age cut-off then we're used to seeing [just checked - the age breaks seem to be the same. All those in the 12-year-old division were born in 1992 or earlier]. And no face masks on those little girls!

OK ... I just looked it up. Here's the Little League division info for girls:

The Girls Little League Softball Division (sometimes known as the Major Division) is for girls ages 9-12. A local league may choose to limit its Major Division to 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds, or 11-12-year-olds. The diamond used is a 60-foot diamond and the pitching distance is 40 feet. The local league has an option to choose a Tournament Team (or "All Stars&quot of 11-12-year-olds from within this division, and the team may enter the International Tournament. The culmination of the International Tournament is the Girls Little League Softball World Series, featuring teams from around the globe. All expenses for the teams advancing to the World Series (travel, meals and housing) are paid by Little League Softball.

 

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The level of play is not that good. Poor representation of the level of play that takes place.

 

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ASM - one big problem with playing both is that LL rules say that LL players can not play on any other teams once their season starts and until their state tourney is completed (may be when their team is eliminated?).

LL is pretty big down here - but it is a bad brand of softball. Everything is pretty territorial.

 

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In doing some searching today I ran across this

"Little League rules now allow players to simultaneously play in other programs during the "regular" season,.."

at

http://www.softballworldseries.com/steps.htm

I am interested in where others found some of the rules information. I couldn't find it.

Thanks

 

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ngill - it does get specific and say during the "regular season". The tourneys start in June I think and LL does not allow players to play for other teams when tourneys are in play. I will try to get the exact rule from our LL President. He is th eone that told me about that. Remember last year - or 2 years ago an Oregon team had to drop out of the LLWS because their players were playing in travel tourneys at the same time?

 

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Or maybe they had to drop out because they liked to roll up their shorts?

Thanks for the information. For the other person asking, I found the previous information at http://www.littleleague.org/