[IRISHMAFIA]

2. Finally some common sense about foul tips as the phrase “not higher that the batter’s head” is removed. The rule says “sharply and directly to the catcher’s glove or hand which takes away a need for a head measurement. (ASA should follow this one.)

Even if ASA, AFA, Pony, Dixie, LL, etc., etc. adopt this, this will never die - it will just move onto the myth list. Bet anyone a beverage of your choice that a coach will bring up "higher than the batter's head" in a game in 2010.

Actually, the "not higher than the batter's head" has rarely been the issue on the foul tip. The problem was that it was always assumed to also be the yardstick on what establishes a batted ball as a fly, and catchable for an out, ball.

3. Changed Dead Ball Appeal to allow for either a coach or players to make an appeal. (The ball is dead anyway, why not allow a coach to make an appeal and eliminate some of the confusion when the bench sees a violation and they are trying to communicate it to the players on the field.)

Didn't NFHS actually allow coaches to make a live ball appeal a couple of years ago? (Maybe that was baseball). Anyway, I don't like this one. The players should make the out, not the coaches. Limiting coach's appeals to things like BOO, illegal subs, etc., is where it should stay, IMO.

This seems to be a step backward toward the "they are not smart enough to make the proper appeal" theory that previously placed the onus on the umpire to make the automatic call.

4. Face mask/guards required for helmets starting 2006. (ASA requirement goes into effect in 2005; schools get a year to budget for equipment changes.)

ASA teams had a year, too. The ASA rule changed last year, effective next year.

Personal editorial: This rule change makes more sense for NFHS than ASA. If the face guard is not prohibited (which it has never been) any minor child playing ASA ball has an adult guardian somewhere who is responsible for that player's safety. There was nothing preventing concerned parents from buying the face guard. These kinds of rules are because of lazy parents (don't want to make their kid do something no one else is doing) and busybodies (want to impose their life-choices on everyone else). JMO.

Cannot argue with that because that is exactly how this rule came about.