Putting The Ball In Play
Youth League Style

For the Rookie in All of Us!

by Richard B. Siegel

There are many things you can do to make the youth game flow smoother, and prevent penalties, while teaching the children to become better players. This essay discusses the many rituals youth baseball umpires must learn to follow, and mistakes a new umpire should avoid while putting the ball in play.

A typical youth league game situation: The bases are loaded. The batter bounces a foul ball down the right side. As the runners are walking back to their bases, the first baseman hustles over to the ball (on foul territory) picks it up, turns and throws it back to the pitcher at the mound. However, the throw is wild and it sails over the pitcher's head beyond third base and again into foul territory down the left side. Suddenly, an "alert" dad in the offense's bleachers hollers, "Run!" Then the coaches get confused and get into the act. They start waving the runners around and everybody is yelling, "Go, Go!" Now I love to see runners run, but when the ball is dead it's really a waste of energy. After ruining the great moment, and explaining to every one why the ball is still dead, I send the runners back to their bases once more.

I've never done a study of this, but I'm willing to bet that during the time that elapses from the first pitch of a youth league baseball game until the last out, the ball is dead more than it is live. As you know, when the ball is dead, no offensive player can be retired, no runners can advance bases, unless by an award, and no bases can be retouched once a following base has been touched. Rule 5.02. Despite this, most youth leaguers don't make the distinction between the times when the ball is dead or live. Actually, few players and coaches realize how the ball is properly made live. By the way, it is accurate and acceptable to refer to a live ball by referring to the ball as alive. Somehow, for me, the word alive makes me think of a living, breathing organism that can feel pain. I can't get the gruesome image of the bat smashing a living thing out of my mind! So I generally use the term live ball, like live wire, or live from New York. Without that little "a" affixed to the word, it seems properly inanimate.

Confirm the dead ball by calling "time." You will make your job as youth baseball umpire easier if you take on the role of educator in addition to your umpiring duties. For at least the first two innings of each game keep the players informed of the status of the ball. Whenever the ball becomes dead, holler "time!" Because it is used so commonly in every childrens' game, even the most novice youth league players understand the word "time" is a suspension of play. Umpires who attend professional umpire schools quickly learn that an umpire may only kill a play using either of two words, foul and time.

When the ball must be "killed," a pro ump will holler "time" then state the reason for the "killing," and any award or penalty that may be required. For example: "Time! Hit by the pitch! Batter go to first!" or "Time! Out of play! You, second base!" However, working youth league is unlike any other kind of officating. It calls for a more forthcoming type of umpiring, geared to keeping the players and their coaches better imformed. Therefore, as long as you're working at the youth league level you are not guilty of violating any umpire's code of conduct if you use the term "dead ball." (If you say that at a professional umpires' school the instructors will stop the lesson and have a funeral for the ball!) So, whenever I suggest you call out "dead ball," if you want to be consistent with professional umpire standards, use "time" instead.

Therefore, call "dead ball" along with any reason why the ball has become dead. For example: "Foul ball! Dead Ball!" On any overthrown ball that goes out of play, "Out of play! Dead Ball!" Even when you are asked for time, yell "Time is called! Dead Ball!" Get the idea? The other side of this dead/live ball status announcement is how you properly make the ball live once again.

The only way a dead ball can become live is the umpire's pronouncement of the word "Play!" You can only say this one simple word when the pitcher is holding the ball and standing on the pitching plate (rubber). Rule 5.11. In some leagues require the catcher to be in position as well. This is a very important concept you must convey to every new pitcher as he takes the mound for the first time in the game. At the beginning of the top and bottom of the first inning, once the pitcher has completed his warm-up pitches, I walk out to the mound and get close enough to have a quiet chat with him.

A little trick I employ is that I walk around to the side of the mound so when the pitcher faces me his back is to his own dugout. This little maneuver will help me get his complete attention. If an umpire stands between home plate and the pitching rubber, the pitcher will be looking at his catcher or trying to exchange glances with his manager or parents in the stands behind the backstop, while they are trying to figure out what you're telling him.

• Ask the pitcher for the ball. Begin to look over the baseball. This "ball check ruse" will settle down Coach Doug and Mom while they wonder why you're speaking to Pauly, the pitcher, out of their earshot. When the ball is in your hands it will focus his attention on what you are about to tell him. Pitchers really want that ball! While you briefly seem to inspect the ball have a conversation with the pitcher that sounds like this:
• "What's your name, Pitcher?" you ask.
• "Pauly, sir." (Don't count on the "sir" part.)
• "Pauly, I want you to understand the signals I'll be giving you during the game. Whenever the ball becomes dead, if you pitch, or throw the ball to any other fielder before I tell you the ball is live, it will be a meaningless play. After a dead ball, when you get the ball back, and when you are ready to pitch, go to the rubber and stand on it and watch me. Until I point at you and shout Play,' you may not throw a pitch or attempt to pick-off a runner." you explain.
• Then you should ask, "Do you understand?"
• "Yes," hopefully he'll respond.
• "If you forget and pitch before I make the ball live, I will shout 'No pitch!' and the pitch will not count. If the batter hits it, no play will be allowed.
• Also, sometimes batters will ask me for a little pause as they settle into the batter's box. If I am holding up my hand like a traffic-cop's stop signal (demonstrate it) the ball is now dead and you may not pitch. I will point and say "play" when the ball becomes live again.

Proclaim "Play" to make the ball live. The requirement of the umpire to order Play is specified differently for three particular situations. One situation is the first pitch of the game, or an inning. Before the first pitch, the umpire must wait for all defensive players to get to their positions and the first batter must be allowed to settle into his stance in the batter's box, with both feet completely within the lines. Now the umpire can order "Play!" Rule 5.01. The next situation is after any foul ball.

Since runners on base will probably be off and running, you may not put the ball in play until all runners have returned to and retouched their bases. Rule 5.09 (e). The final situation is after any other dead ball at any other time in the game. Now, the rules only require you to say "Play" as soon as the pitcher has the ball and toes the rubber. Rule 5.11. Here is an important place where a youth league umpire must get far more in control of the action than his upper league colleagues needs to.

In a youth league game, most of the time the pitcher has so little game experience, he has no idea of the dozens of rules that govern just a pitcher's actions. Most coaches don't know these rules that much more. I've seen pitchers totally ignore my gestures and the approaching batter. They're so eager to pitch, they just haul off and throw the ball! I've even seen pitchers so anxious to pitch, they have even thrown the ball before their own catcher is even ready. Sometimes it's at the coach's direction that the pitcher be "quick," to keep the batters off guard. But usually, it's just their own novice enthusiasm. In any case, the problem is that few youth league players and coaches completely understand the nameless unwritten tradition a pitcher and batter follow prior to every pitch. I call it the dance.

The batter and pitcher do the dance and the umpire is the chaperone. It's such a familiar ritual, it seems as natural as shaking hands when you see it on TV in a professional game. The pros have done it for so many years so it becomes a virtual reflex to them. However, ignorance of the dance can create a disaster to the rhythm of the game and cause a lot of penalties. The process of the dance kind of resembles the unspoken process you follow when you drive up to a 4-way stop sign. Each driver, in a clockwise progression, takes his turn and safely crosses the intersection. It is an unwritten, but mutually agreed coordination of movements that insures everyone's safety. As long as everyone follows the expected "code," nobody gets hurt. Once in a while, though, some city slicker, unfamiliar with the 4-way stop-sign "code," jumps out there out of turn and fouls everybody up. As an umpire at the youth league level, it is crucial that you teach and enforce the "code" of the dance to help these younger players safely traverse their "intersection" in baseball.

The first move in the dance belongs to the batter. The batter is in control of the pitcher's motion until he settles into his stance in the batter's box. This means that the pitcher may stand on the rubber in the stretch (Set Position) or he may have both feet on the rubber in a full Wind-Up position. However, he may not make any motion associated with a delivery until the batter is ready to accept the pitch. Sometimes, an umpire will let a pitcher blunder on his own and call a quick return pitch, if he pitches while the batter is still settling in. But a "quick pitch" call gets in a youth league game everybody very upset. I find it's best to teach your way out the call, rather than resort to immediately enforcing the penalty.

Be proactive. Hold up the pitcher, if you can. In a youth league game, as the batter is entering the batter's box, if the pitcher seems a bit anxious, hold up a hand in the stop gesture and try to keep him from delivering. Many youth league batters (acting like a pro) arrive in the batter's box, with their arm raised and showing you their outstretched backhand palm, in that very "professional" way of asking for you to hold off the pitcher. Help them and comply by holding up the "stop sign." Do this because the batter is obviously not ready. If you see the pitcher actually starting a delivery when the batter is still not ready, throw both hands up in a waving stop gesture and step out to the side of the catcher. This action will hopefully catch the pitcher's eye and he will halt his delivery. However, if he does not immediately halt himself, call "time," and kill the pitch. Strictly speaking, you cannot legally call time at this point. Rule 5.10 (h). However, your are trying to prevent the pitcher from committing a potentially dangerous infraction of the rules. A possible wild pitch, thrown before he is ready, could blind-side the batter. Additionally, for your own protection, as you step to the side, keep your body square to the pitcher. A wild pitch or a tipped foul could whack you, too.

Since you are trying to help the pitcher avoid a rule violation, the "quick pitch," you don't have to go all out to save him. After several times, if your gestures and your movement out from behind the catcher don't break him of the habit of pitching too soon, let him pitch! Call the quick pitch and enforce the penalty. However, if the manager complains, explain to the pitcher and his coach how you tried to help him. (You don't get that opportunity very often.) Remind them how to avoid the quick pitch in the future and advise them to look out for your warnings.

When a youth level pitcher heeds your gesture and discontinues his premature delivery, it is not a balk. This is because you, the umpire, stopped him. Furthermore, if the pitcher stops before you actually call "time," the ball is still live. If a runner breaks for the next base and is picked off after you have stopped the pitcher, allow the out to stand. In most youth leagues, the runner must stay in contact with the base until the pitch reaches the batter. A runner picked off in this case must have blatantly left the base too early. He deserves the penalty. In an upper league where the "stay on the base rule" (Rule 7.13) does not apply, and balks are readily enforced, you cannot intervene this way and keep the ball live. You have to let the "big-boy" pitcher quick pitch.

When a pitcher heeds your gesture and discontinues his delivery, you should return behind the catcher. Keep your hands up, holding off the pitcher until the batter is ready. As you drop your hands, point to the plate or pitcher reaffirming the ball is live and give a little wave to the pitcher communicating your permission to deliver.

Now here is the next part of the pitcher-batter dance. Assuming the pitcher is waiting in either the Set or Wind-Up position, once the batter has become settled into the box, now the pitcher is in control. When a batter has assumed his legal position in the batter's box, he may no longer step out unless given time by the umpire. Rule 6.02(b). The pitcher is free to make his delivery. However, the dancing can get complicated. If the batter is settled, but the pitcher does not promptly get on the rubber in one of the two legal pitching positions, the batter may back out of the box. If the pitcher is in contact with the rubber, he may decide to disengage and back off the rubber. Since the pitcher is in control, if he suddenly becomes disturbed or wishes to start over, he may disengage, even if the batter is ready and waiting. Of course, now the control swings back to the batter, who now may also back out of the box!

Finally, the dance can become unnerving. When a pitcher and batter are at that moment of focused concentration where Pauly is ready to pitch and Billy is ready to hit, sometimes a strange prolonged pause emerges. It might seem like the pitcher is thinking and re-thinking his pitch ad nauseum. Nobody is breathing and the intensity of the moment becomes too much. You, as umpire, can easily wait as long as it takes for one of them to do something. However, the batter may become bothered by the unusual delay and ask for time. If the pitcher still has not begun his motion, you may call "time" and let them start the dance all over again. Or, as I already mentioned, the pitcher may just step back from the rubber. Everyone will simultaneously exhale.

Notice, in that last case, the batter still had to ask for time. Occasionally, an irate batter, believing he has waited long enough, might back out of the box without asking for time. If he does this, the pitcher, who is still in control of the dance, may legally pitch. You must call the pitch a ball or strike as the case may be. Rule 6.02 (b) Penalty. Somehow, though, when a batter does this, the pitcher becomes surprisingly precise and always throws a perfect strike!

Technically, in upper leagues, playing by "big-boy" rules, when runners are on base, a pitcher can come set and hold his "complete stop" pose for what may seem like an unreasonable amount of time. However, this is often just a tactic to keep the runners off guard or allow him a moment to consider an attempt at a pick-off. However, since the runners at the youth league level should always be on the base, you don't have to tolerate long delays. Warn pitchers who make the game last an hour longer, to speed it up or you will enforce the following penalties. If runners are on base, that's a balk. Rule 8.05 (h). And if no runners are on, it's a ball. Rule 8.04. Even though this rule says the delay must be twenty seconds, I would enforce it after a silent count to myself of 13 to 15 seconds. About five or six seconds will go by before you realize the pitcher is procrastinating.

If the ball is dead, look for the position of any runners. Although the rule allows the umpire to order "Play," when the pitcher steps on the rubber with the ball, good proactive youth level umpiring requires another matter you must control. The runners may need to be instructed to return to a previous base, or you may have to award them bases. In either case, give them the time to get all the way to the base you have sent them to. All the while the pitcher is itching to throw! If you were to make the ball live while a poor runner was still halfway back, returning to second base, the pitcher could easily pick him off! If a new batter is entering the batter's box when the ball is dead, wait until the batter is ready to order "Play."

Whenever you must make the ball live, stay consistent with the rules and always say the actual word "Play!" Some creative umpires create problems for themselves by resorting to alternative words like "Pitch," "OK," or "Go!" I have accidentally said "pitch" a few times myself. For, obvious reasons, when you say "pitch" most youth level pitchers, after being used to hearing you say "Play," interpret "pitch" as if you're saying "pitch, right now!" The startled pitcher departs from his rhythm and awkwardly whips the baseball in without hesitation or regard for the batter, the catcher, or the dance. You may actually cause a quick pitch! I have seen other umpires say "OK" or "go" which often sounds like the word "No!" Some pitchers interpret "no" as a call of time. So instead of the pitcher pitching, he backs off to give you your time! The confusion is not hard to imagine.

There is, nevertheless, an appropriate time when you should order "Pitch!" It is the final element of the dance I haven't yet discussed. Remember, the batter is initially in control of the pitcher. However, some batters perform a protracted ritual of warm-up swings, leg stretches, glove resetting, shoe tying, helmet repositioning and foot placement. Additionally, some third base coaches (Don Zimmer wanna-bees) repeat a lengthy pattern of sophisticated signs. All this clutter slows the game down. Be a little tolerant on the batter's initial arrival, but don't let him back out and waste your time readjusting his equipment after every other pitch. If the batter is caught up in these antics, say "Come on batter, Step into the box, now!" If he refuses to promptly assume his stance in the box, order the pitcher to "Pitch!" This time you do mean "Pitch Now!" Rule 6.02 (c). As the pitcher complies and pitches, by rule, you may call each pitch a strike while the batter is refusing to stand in. However, during this time the batter may jump in at any time and resume a normal at bat.

Other times, the base coach is the source of the problem. Some of these guys get into such long and complicated sequences, they appear to touch every part of their body three times! (Or they look like they're doing the Macarena!) You have to be more diplomatic here. Sending the signs may be the only thing this poor coach may get to do in the game! He's too old to play, and the manager makes up the line-up and the fielding assignments. So, sending signs is his big moment. When batters are spending unacceptably long stretches looking down to the coach for his next sign, quietly, just loud enough for the batter to hear but not the coach, urge the batter to, "Hurry it up son. Step into the box!" After the inning has ended, approach the coach and ask him to abbreviate the long sequences of signs. Tell him it's throwing off the "rhythm of the game."

Youth league is different. As you can see, many of the strategies I've suggested would be quite inappropriate in any kind of game above the youth league level. However, players at ages 9 through 12 are still children, still learning the game. As umpires we have to enforce the rules, but we must also factor in a duty to teach the rules, culture, and traditions of baseball at the same time.

An afterthought. Although the dead/live ball confusion is most prevalent in the youth leagues, it happens everywhere. I had the pleasure of umpiring in a Senior League Divisional Playoff game last year . The players where mostly 15 year-old all-stars, the best their towns had to offer. A batter hit a nice shot into right field that took one bounce and hopped over the fence for a ground rule double. The right fielder jumped over the fence and retrieved the ball. He threw it back to the center fielder who relayed it to the infield. Meanwhile the batter-runner was just pulling into third base when the third base umpire got his attention and sent him back to second base. (We had four umpires in that game!) I was the second base umpire.

The pitcher took the relay from the outfield while standing well away from the mound. Suddenly, the second baseman comes in to have a little "conference." I saw it coming! The pitcher surreptitiously dropped the ball into the second sacker's glove. They were setting up the batter runner at second base for the hidden ball trick. With a dead ball. The pitcher was careful not to got to the rubber so as not to balk. But when time is out, he can't balk! And the second baseman took up a close position to the bag. I know I could have killed the whole thing right away, since the ball was dead. But, I wanted to see how far it was going to go. Sure enough, the runner at second, stepped off to a short lead. Like a cat, the second baseman pounced on him and applied the tag. His bench, aware of the ploy, erupted in cheers. I walked over to the second baseman and said, "Nice play, too bad the ball is still dead." Go figure. These were 15 year-old all-stars, the best their towns had to offer.

The manager's complaint was his belief that the pitcher had to simply, "receive" the baseball after a dead ball, to make the ball live. When I told him the umpire has to holler "play" when the pitcher toes the rubber, his response was, "They never do that!" So his misunderstanding of the proper way a ball becomes live may, in part, be the result of sloppy umpiring techniques in his past. This is why we must always say "play," when making the ball live.