Little League manager ruled out

Irvine Ranch Little League Manager Doug Euper (front) had to watch from outside the field.

Irvine Ranch Little League Manager Doug Euper who helped lead his squad to the District 55 title, was banned from the Section 10 Tournament in Aliso Viejo for violating a Little League rule having to do with mandatory play, a District 55 official said Saturday.

The ruling has prevented Euper from leading his squad and left him upset with Little League’s decision and heartbroken over not being allowed to be in the dugout with his team, which includes his son Casey.

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The violation involved the requirement of giving, “the batters one at bat,” said District Adminstrator Tamara Alexander.

“An at bat constitutes a full at bat,” Alexander said. “The sub he put into the game inherited an 0-1 count.

“He’s (Euper) permanently banned for the rest of this season from the tournament team. He cannot participate in any manner, whether it’s practices, pre-game, game or post-game.”

The decision, which was slightly adjusted later to allow Euper to attend games as a fan, was made by the Little League tournament committee in Williamsport, she added.

• RELATED STORY: Euper’s son gets a base hit in Monday’s victory.

Euper, a long-time volunteer with the league, said Sunday “I didn’t know the rule,” but he indicated it was an honest mistake and he was only trying to satisfy the mandatory play rule with his team leading 5-0 and on its way to a victory over Aliso Viejo in the championship game of the district tournament.

Euper said he realized in the fourth inning that he needed to get one more player, his son Casey, into the game, he explained on Saturday.

“I had one player who hadn’t gotten minimum play yet, so I wanted to get him in,” Euper said. “We had first and third, a runner went to steal second. He was called safe at second and the runner at third scored and that was on the first pitch to the batter.

“Then their coach called timeout to go dispute the call and during that timeout, it donned on me, ‘oh, get Casey in the game and take care of minimum play over with so you don’t have to worry about it.’ It was 5-0 at the time.

“And so I went up to the scorer table and said I would like to finish off minimum play by getting my last sub in and I said I would like to put in number six for number five in the four-hole. Then at that time, the tournament director said, ‘I have to tell you that if you make that substitution, you’re not going to achieve minimum play. The at bat won’t count for your sub.

“I said, ‘because a pitch has been thrown?’ and he nodded his head, yes. And I said, ‘are you sure about the rule and he said yes.’ So I said , ‘I don’t want to make the substitution then, I don’t want to do that.’

“I started to walk away and got half way to the third base coaching box and the district administrator Tamara Alexander said ‘I need you stop right there and wait to the side. We need to talk.’ She talked to the tournament director and they called me back over and said, ‘you have to put the sub in right now.'”

Euper was told that he could not take out the substitute batter.

“My heart sank because I knew that that spot might not come back up again,” he said.

Euper claims there are different interpretations about when the batter is officially in the game. The umpire never made the announcement, and his son, the substitute, never got into the batter’s box, he claims.

He said officials believed that, “by me coming up and them writing it into their card, that was him being in.”

“The minute the substitution was made, that is an announced substitute,” Alexander said.

Euper’s son continued in the game but never got a chance for an an official at bat, so Irvine Ranch did not fulfill the mandatory play rule, district officials said.

“My son finished the at bat and that didn’t count for him,” Doug Euper said. “He then stayed in the game and played left field for three innings. I was doing everything I could to rectify the situation, knowing what had happened. He ended the game on the on deck circle. He was the next batter up. He never got up.”

“Looking back, I kick myself,” he said Sunday about the substitution. “We had two innings to go and plenty of spots coming up.”

After the game, Euper said Alexander,  the district administrator, came up to him and said, “you have been removed and you can’t have anything to do with the team at practice and you can’t be at the games.”

Later Little League officials adjusted the ruling slightly saying Euper could attend games, but still ruled that Euper could not attend practices or manage.

“The tournament committee is allowing him to attend the games and cheer for the team, rather than removing him entirely,” Alexander said. “Across the board, violation of minimum play is removal from the tournament team, period. That’s the tournament committee’s ruling.”

Euper has pleaded his case with Little League officials. He has called Little League headquarters and written several letters appealing the decision and protesting the stiffness of the suspension.

“I worked so hard for this for three years,” said Euper, fighting back tears. “This is my third straight year with the Major all-stars with my older son trying to do something special for Irvine Ranch because we’re a small league that has been dwindling. I said years ago that we need to do something special in the all-star tourney to gain the trust of all the great players in our area that they will want to play Little League and we finally got the team and I’m out here (outside the playing field).

In one letter, Euper said to Little League officials: “I am begging for you for mercy, this is my life and they haven’t responded. They’re not saying anything.”

Euper also believes that it’s unfair that he be banned for the rest of the season, noting the previous penalty for such violations was two games.

“Everybody I’ve told they’re absolutely stunned,” he said.

Alexander said it is not likely an appeal will be considered.

“There is not because that is the tournament committee’s decision,” she said. “Mr. Euper has been trying to appeal it and has sent numerous versions to the tournament committee over the course of the last 10 days and every time they come back and they cite the rule that says, all infractions will be treated equally whether it’s intentional or unintentional.

“He can feel however he wants; I have no authority on it.”

Euper’s son started on Saturday and Doug Euper cheered for his squad down the left field line, on the opposite side where his team was as it held on for a 7-5 victory over Rancho Santa Margarita. The Irvine team fell to Huntington Valley 2-0 on Sunday.

“Our team is one of the best teams I’ve seen,” he said. “That’s been such a thrill and the kids love each other. We’re doing a lot less this year because they really are good baseball players. My own son threw a complete game, a two-hit shutout in the first game. That was a thrill. I cried in that game for different reasons.

“I can’t say enough good things about how wonderful our young men are.”