| SOFTBALL TIPS |
|
|
|
| SITE STUFF |
|
|
|
|
ARCHIVES
|
| • |
June 26, 2005 |
| • |
July 03, 2005 |
| • |
July 10, 2005 |
| • |
July 17, 2005 |
| • |
July 24, 2005 |
| • |
July 31, 2005 |
| • |
August 07, 2005 |
| • |
August 14, 2005 |
| • |
August 21, 2005 |
| • |
August 28, 2005 |
| • |
September 11, 2005 |
| • |
October 02, 2005 |
| • |
October 09, 2005 |
| • |
October 23, 2005 |
| • |
October 30, 2005 |
| • |
November 06, 2005 |
| • |
November 13, 2005 |
| • |
December 04, 2005 |
| • |
December 18, 2005 |
| • |
December 25, 2005 |
| • |
January 08, 2006 |
| • |
January 15, 2006 |
| • |
January 29, 2006 |
| • |
February 05, 2006 |
| • |
February 12, 2006 |
| • |
February 19, 2006 |
| • |
February 26, 2006 |
| • |
March 05, 2006 |
| • |
March 12, 2006 |
| • |
March 19, 2006 |
| • |
March 26, 2006 |
| • |
April 02, 2006 |
| • |
April 09, 2006 |
| • |
April 16, 2006 |
| • |
April 23, 2006 |
| • |
April 30, 2006 |
| • |
May 07, 2006 |
| • |
May 14, 2006 |
| • |
May 21, 2006 |
| • |
May 28, 2006 |
| • |
June 04, 2006 |
| • |
June 11, 2006 |
| • |
June 18, 2006 |
| • |
June 25, 2006 |
| • |
July 09, 2006 |
| • |
July 16, 2006 |
| • |
July 23, 2006 |
| • |
July 30, 2006 |
| • |
August 13, 2006 |
| • |
August 20, 2006 |
| • |
September 03, 2006 |
| • |
September 10, 2006 |
| • |
September 17, 2006 |
| • |
September 24, 2006 |
| • |
October 01, 2006 |
| • |
October 08, 2006 |
| • |
October 15, 2006 |
| • |
October 22, 2006 |
| • |
November 12, 2006 |
| • |
November 26, 2006 |
| • |
December 31, 2006 |
| • |
January 14, 2007 |
| • |
January 21, 2007 |
| • |
January 28, 2007 |
| • |
February 04, 2007 |
| • |
February 11, 2007 |
| • |
February 18, 2007 |
| • |
February 25, 2007 |
| • |
March 04, 2007 |
| • |
March 11, 2007 |
| • |
March 18, 2007 |
| • |
April 01, 2007 |
| • |
April 08, 2007 |
| • |
April 15, 2007 |
| • |
April 22, 2007 |
| • |
April 29, 2007 |
| • |
May 06, 2007 |
| • |
May 13, 2007 |
| • |
May 20, 2007 |
| • |
May 27, 2007 |
| • |
June 03, 2007 |
| • |
June 10, 2007 |
| • |
June 17, 2007 |
| • |
June 24, 2007 |
| • |
July 01, 2007 |
| • |
July 22, 2007 |
| • |
July 29, 2007 |
| • |
August 12, 2007 |
| • |
August 19, 2007 |
| • |
September 02, 2007 |
| • |
September 16, 2007 |
| • |
September 30, 2007 |
| • |
October 07, 2007 |
| • |
October 14, 2007 |
| • |
October 21, 2007 |
| • |
November 04, 2007 |
| • |
November 18, 2007 |
| • |
November 25, 2007 |
| • |
December 02, 2007 |
| • |
December 09, 2007 |
| • |
December 16, 2007 |
| • |
January 13, 2008 |
| • |
February 17, 2008 |
| • |
February 24, 2008 |
| • |
March 02, 2008 |
| • |
March 09, 2008 |
| • |
March 30, 2008 |
| • |
April 06, 2008 |
| • |
April 13, 2008 |
| • |
April 20, 2008 |
| • |
April 27, 2008 |
| • |
May 04, 2008 |
| • |
May 11, 2008 |
| • |
May 18, 2008 |
| • |
May 25, 2008 |
| • |
June 01, 2008 |
| • |
June 15, 2008 |
| • |
June 22, 2008 |
| • |
June 29, 2008 |
| • |
July 06, 2008 |
| • |
July 13, 2008 |
| • |
July 20, 2008 |
| • |
August 03, 2008 |
| • |
August 10, 2008 |
| • |
August 17, 2008 |
| • |
August 24, 2008 |
| • |
August 31, 2008 |
| • |
September 07, 2008 |
| • |
September 14, 2008 |
| • |
September 21, 2008 |
| • |
September 28, 2008 |
| • |
October 05, 2008 |
| • |
October 12, 2008 |
| • |
October 19, 2008 |
| • |
October 26, 2008 |
| • |
November 02, 2008 |
| • |
November 09, 2008 |
| • |
November 16, 2008 |
| • |
November 30, 2008 |
| • |
December 07, 2008 |
| • |
December 21, 2008 |
| • |
December 28, 2008 |
| • |
February 15, 2009 |
| • |
February 22, 2009 |
| • |
April 12, 2009 |
| • |
April 19, 2009 |
| • |
April 26, 2009 |
| • |
May 03, 2009 |
| • |
May 10, 2009 |
| • |
May 17, 2009 |
| • |
May 24, 2009 |
| • |
May 31, 2009 |
| • |
June 07, 2009 |
| • |
June 14, 2009 |
| • |
June 21, 2009 |
| • |
July 05, 2009 |
| • |
July 12, 2009 |
| • |
July 19, 2009 |
| • |
August 02, 2009 |
| • |
August 30, 2009 |
| • |
September 06, 2009 |
| • |
September 20, 2009 |
| • |
October 04, 2009 |
| • |
October 11, 2009 |
| • |
October 18, 2009 |
| • |
November 08, 2009 |
| • |
November 15, 2009 |
| • |
November 22, 2009 |
| • |
November 29, 2009 |
| • |
December 27, 2009 |
| • |
January 03, 2010 |
| • |
January 10, 2010 |
| • |
January 17, 2010 |
| • |
January 24, 2010 |
| • |
January 31, 2010 |
| • |
March 14, 2010 |
| • |
March 21, 2010 |
| • |
March 28, 2010 |
| • |
April 04, 2010 |
| • |
April 18, 2010 |
| • |
April 25, 2010 |
|
|
| SOFTBALL LINKS |
|
|
|
The Crack Of The Bat
by Dave
Thursday, October 12, 2006
I received the following notice from a concerned Little League mom and will follow this up with some commentary I have on the subject right after the letter:
October 12, 2006
Dear New Jersey Little League Volunteers and Supporters,
Proposed legislation in the State of New Jersey would prohibit the use of non-wood bats for all levels of baseball AND softball involving players 18 years of age and younger.
Hearings on this subject are scheduled for Thursday, October 19, 2006 at the state capital in Trenton. For that reason, we are asking that you reply to the survey linked below no later than 10 a.m. (Eastern U.S. time) on Monday morning, October 16.
Please take a moment to thoroughly read the fact sheet at the link below, before you make your choice.
Click here to access the fact sheet and survey: http://www.littleleague.org/surveys/bat/index.asp
As always, thank you for your service to the families of New Jersey .
Sincerely,
Stephen D. Keener
Little League International
P.O. Box 3485
539 US Route 15 Hwy
Williamsport , PA 17701-0485
Phone: 570-326-1921
Fax: 570-326-1074
I have been a baseball fan for well over 4 decades. I became accustomed to the crack of the bat and shunned "aluminum bats" when those began showing their face. A childhood friend of mine had a father who was employed by a sporting goods distributor so he always had the latest available bat. I couldn't stand the pling which came from those darn things. It made my skin crawl.
Years later after many years watching MLB play, I became aware that metal bats were not just all the rage, they were used exclusively throughout youth, high school and even college. I attended numerous college games and though I generally liked the level of play, not to mention the ticket price, I just could not get used to "PLING" every time somebody made contact. I wished everybody just used wood bats.
In recent years I have become aware of a couple developments. First off the level of technology which goes into making some of the better metal bats is astounding. I figured they had become the rage because they were hitting the ball harder and harder turning singles hitters into homerun trotters. That's not actually the case as just about every level of play which permits metal bats has some sort of mechanism to limit the speed of the ball off the bat. Metal bats which, when tested, hit the ball in excess of 98 mph are banned for competitive play by the ASA in softball. There is, in fact, a limit to how hard bats hit the ball.
Secondly, I watched in some astonishment as a major leaguer struck out and then broke his bat over his knee. How could he have done that? Steroids provided one possible answer. The man just had to be very strong. Then I saw a smallish player who one would have to describe as "wiry" do exactly the same thing. I was shocked. Then I noticed the tendency of MLB pitchers to routinely "saw off" hitters breaking their bats several times each game. I know I had one wooden bat for several years. And I had never before noticed such a high frequency of broken bats. My confusion about these developments was solved when I listened to an announcer describe the state of modern wood bat technology. He noted that many players in the big leagues used very light bats. One 6 foot 4 heavy homerun hitter used a bat which weighed a mere 31 ounces! I used a 34 ouncer when I was 14! The announcer went on to describe a kilning process which removes almost all mosture from the bats which makes them several ounces lighter .... and .... makes them fairly brittle.
Recently I was watching the Yankees play a game. A moderate fastball was thrown to a hitter who made contact not quite in the sweet spot but not that far from the middle of the bat. He followed through on his swing like all good hitters should. The end of the bat came off with a break and shot like a procjectile right into the temple of the Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. Posada grabbed at his head and ran staggering into the dugout and down the runway to the locker room. Jorge is a great playter with whom I have become acquainted for several years. I was frightened I might be watching his death. Things turned out OK and Jorge never missed a play. Replays showed the bat had actually not made direct contact with his temple. I wondered what would have happened if it had.
Another thing I noticed on another occassion was a bat which splintered into so many pieces that the players nearly got splinters trying to pick up the wreckage. that left me wondering what if just one of those splinters found its final resting place in someone's eye?
So what I'm saying to you is there needs to be some more rational thought put into any decision to ban metal bats. At least with metal bats, there is an established production process wherein tensil strength and other features of the metal can be tested. In wooden bats, there can be no such quality control because the product is made of organic materials. And metal bats can be manufactured with almost complete control over the speed of the ball as it is hit. If we wanted to limit bats to 50 mph. technology exists which can do that. The same is not true of wood. And metal bats, for the most part do not hold the ancillary dangers wooden ones do. They don't splinter. They don't fall apart in one's hands. They can't disintegrate and cause the catcher to be smacked in the head with a broken barrel.
If you disagree with my summary of the inherent risks of mandating wooden bats, I respect your opinion. But you do not need to write to me to voice it. If you agree with me, I urge you to complete the online survey and make your voice heard in New Jersey.
Follow-up:
Here an update on the story: "The ping of the bat, the roar of worried parents"
Included in this article is the following: "According to the latest figures available from the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission, 17 players were killed by batted balls between 1991 and 2001. Of those, nine involved wood bats. (There were more deaths -- 18 -- from thrown balls.)"
I could say, gee whiz, only 17 players out of how many millions? But I won't because the bell tolls for all of us. Any child's death is a loss too great to contemplate. But either we do or we do not allow our children to play sports. And it should be clear that the thing that is worrisome is that "nine involved wooden bats." There are not very many wooden bats in use today. Why were there so many deaths? We should be asking ourselves why the speed of the ball really matters when there were more deaths from thrown balls with a maximum speed well below the top speed of a hit off a wooden or composite bat.
We run the risk of proceeding well beyond rationality when we react to the media's reports of both an "epidemic of obesity" and the "dangers of sport." There is no universe in which both issues can be simultaneously resolved favorably.
I would very much like to see appropriate equipment developed to prevent sudden cardiac death. But I do not think the NJ state legislature has identified a solution.
Permanent Link: The Crack Of The Bat
 
Field Measurements
by Dave
Sunday, October 08, 2006
I had an interesting encounter with an ASA umpire this morning. This fellow was rather arrogant though not a "bad" ump. I've seen plenty better and many of his calls were strange. He required baserunners to slide which is certainly not the rule under ASA or any other sanctioning bodies' rules but be that as it may, I understand where he was coming from and we can live with that rule. Also, many of his hoky calls benefitted us so I won't complain. On balance I'd have to say we got more stupid calls than we lost and none of them affected the outcome of the game. And my interesting encounter occurred before the games even got going.
Right before we started, there was some concern that the pitching plate was short of the 40 feet regulation distance our level plays. We asked around and found somebody who had brought a tape measure. I held the plate end of the tape and was instructed by the umpire to measure from "the front of homeplate." I replied "the front?!?" The ump said confidently, "yes the front. Trust me on that one." I said, "I'll measure it from there for you because you asked but I certainly will not 'trust you on it.' I've read the rules and you are quite wrong." Then I let the issue drop and hours later I'm wondering how the heck the plate was left where it was. There's no way this plate was 40 feet from the front. It is cemented in and I've measured it numerous times. It isn't our home field but we used to play rec ball here. And we're playing a fall ball league where the object is to reinforce our girls love of the game - not to win or take care of our pitchers' egoes. But the measurement couldn't have gone on as planned.
You see, it matters not whether you are playing ASA, NSA, FAST, Pony, or Little League. Actually, it doesn't matter if we're talking about slow or fastpitch softball, baseball or any derivation of these sports. It doesn't matter if you're talking MLB rules or any other organization on the face of the Earth. The measurement of pitching distance is ALWAYS TAKEN FROM THE BACK OF HOMEPLATE. There's actually no question about it.
Another interesting exchange he and I had involved a play at first. A batter beat out an infield hit. After passing first base, she turned in towards the field rather than out towards foul territory. Then she took one step towards second base. Our fielder alertly tagged her out. The arrogant umpire said, "No, no, no. You don't need to turn toward foul territory. She's safe. This isn't baseball. This is softball. You need to turn that way for baseball not softball." There is no question that merely turning toward the field in a softball game does not convert the runner who has safely past first into a runner who must return to base with liability of being put out. That's as true for baseball as it is for softball. But once a runner who has past first makes a full step towards second, she is liable to be put out. The umpire should have called this runner out. And he was wrong about the baseball rules to boot.
So, the lesson I learned today is you really can never trust an umpire with the rules. You really need to have a rulebook with you at all competitions and to the extent you question a rule, you ought to voice your concerns if it has potential to alter the outcome of a game. Those in youth softball often speak of leaving the game to the kids - don't let parents take the game out of the kids' hands. The same is true of umpires. Don't let an umpire slip by using fictitious rules just because he is arrogant. Be prepared to call the bluff of umpires who make rules up based on their own set of myths. The fellow today seemed to have his act together but obviously, he spends very little time actually understanding the rules of the game he officiates. I should have been prepared for that.Labels: pitching, rules
Permanent Link: Field Measurements
|
|
|
