I gotta agree with the gallery. We do this thing called baseball as a hobby (both us and the players and coaches). If the local league wants a rule that the pitcher has to wear a pink tu tu ok, this will make for some entertainment. I think where we draw the line is on safety. If we are gonna have ground rules, they should not interfere with or create the significant possibility of an unsafe situation (not that standing inside a box with some kid throwing 70-80 miles an hour is all that safe)
How would you handle this one? Babe Ruth 14-15 yo. 2nd inning, score 0-0 of a double header. Best team in league vs worst tm in league. Normally score would be 6-0 by now. Coach for the best team comes out and says "it's a local rule that the first game of the double header is reserved for the "B" team. And, the opposing coach can pick 2 players, that are 15, not to pitch in the first game." (He has a reputation for this kind of antics) The opposing coach is standing there and says "I thought that was only last year."
I am thinking this is bogus and the coach is scrambling to find a reason to tilt things in his favor. As I start to tell him too late, he should have covered it in pregame, my partner signals to me that we need to talk. My partner, being the league UIC, pulls me aside and says "I know what you are about to say. We did discuss this rule at the board meeting but I don't remember what the result was. This coach is also the President of the city youth baseball association, so tread lightly". Now, fuming and received the consent of the opposing coach, I politely tell the coach that for tonight we will play by this rule. However, if he wants anymore "local rules" he, as the president needs to provide a written copy of the local rules to the UIC or we will play by OBR and nothing else. We still have not seen any written local rules.
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jumpmaster al
[Edited by jumpmaster on Jun 5th, 2002 at 08:41 AM]