Quote:
Originally posted by greymule
I know a guy who scored 800 on the SAT math (40 years ago, when it was much harder), fell just short of 800 on the English SAT and the English achievement, and was graduated from a US News & World Report "Top 25" college.
He has a remarkable vocabulary and facility with words. University professors come to him for advice regarding articles they are submitting to peer-reviewed journals.
He was also a pretty good ballplayer.
Remarkably, however, though he has read ASA's DEFO rule over and over, he claims that he still does not understand it.
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There is some truth in this.
Let's face it, way too much time is spent on understanding the FLEX/DP rule. It has
always been difficult to digest.
It's much more complex than any rule having to do with a Designated Hitter or an Extra Player. Pages and pages could be written on this rule alone. All the possibilities ... the combinations and permutations, boggle the mind. Some say that this is the rules STRENGTH. I disagree - I think it's the rule's
weakness. Any rule that requires this much attention is flawed, in my opinion.
We have umpires in the softball community who are "experts" on this rule. Whenever anybody asks any difficult questions, we refer them to the experts. There are DP/FLEX experts? Where are all the obstruction experts? Where are the illegal pitch experts? There are none - because most everybody can speak intelligently on those topics. They're comfortable talking about obstruction and illegal pitches. Ask a tough question about DP/FLEX and what do you get? Links!
Sure, most of us all understand the rule quite well ... but that's what we do! We're umpires! And, even with that, we still spend an inordinate amount of time with it. We find loopholes. We ask for clarifications. We seek interpretations. We analyze various substitution scenarios. Sometimes we agree. Sometimes we disagree. And then we start all over again.
It begs the question: Should it really be this complicated?
And, let's face it - it IS complicated!
It's not about whether YOU understand it. It's about why so many OTHERS don't.
Is EVERYBODY stupid -or- perhaps, is the rule a little more complicated than it needs to be?
The Extra Hitter Rule, which is popular in so many other system of rules, would accomplish many of the same objectives that are achieved with the DP/FLEX. The only main difference is that there would acutally be TEN hitters. Any 9 can take the field at any time.
Simple. Straight forward. Easy to understand. No complicated substitution scenarios. No going from 9 to 10, then 10 to 9, then back to 10.
The DP/FLEX can be a powerful tool *if* you understand all the in's and out's. The problem is, how many coaches know these in's and out's? And, should a rule be so complicated that there are a "few" that can gain an advantage over the "many" who simply don't get it? And is that because the "many" are all stupid people?
I don't mean to be bashing the DP/FLEX rule. I think I understand it well enough. I don't have a problem with it. But, I'm not blinded by the fact that so many people simply DON'T get it. It's hard to ignore that. The question that should be asked is: Why?
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Jan 28th, 2005 at 10:19 AM]