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Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
So now you are insulting the others posters? Good move.
If you insist on throwing around numbers, I started umpiring in 1964. I began playing softball in the summer of 1971, at the Phila Naval Base. As noted, I've played FP & SP. My umpiring includes a few high-level ASA nats and ISF World Cups, but that isn't what this discussion is about.
Actually, both FP and SP began simultaneously and were played at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933. Presently there are approximately 20% more SP teams registered with ASA nationwide. PA is the only state in the Central Atlantic Region which goes against the grain with more FP teams than SP. In the rest of the region, there are approx. 55% more SP teams than FP.
Actually, there are quite a few athletic young men which play SP in many states. If you don't believe me, take a trip to Salem, VA Labor Day weekend and see the physical condition of the players in the Men's D East NC. While there are some overweight players, it is usually just big men, not a group with beer bellies playing the game. Don't know what you see in SE Pa., but from your description, they must be really pathetic, though I don't believe it for a minute.
Do the bats make a difference? Only in league ball, not as much in Championship Play where the HR limits eliminate the threat of the the casual player emulating Bonds, Aaron or whomever. Even more so now that a ball over the fence in the D kills that team's half-inning.
Define athletic? Are you familiar with Crystl Bustos? Does she LOOK athletic? Hell, no, yet she's one of the best FP players in the country. Yeah, she hits the long ball, but she can run and field with some of the best.
I believe you have a predisposed belief that anyone who doesn't play your sport cannot meet your standards, and from my experiences at the high level of the game and local, I don't think you know what you're talking about. Now, that is an opinion.
And since you are not going to change the manner in which you view the SP game and the participants, there is no reason to continue the conversation.
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