[greymule]

Did a large tourney this weekend (2d-largest in the US, from what I understand), and the Miken Ultra bat was quite an issue. It is banned in "championship play," but since this was an invitational tournament, ASA said they had no jurisdiction over the bats. The tournament and many players wanted to ban the Ultra, but supposedly the company sent a representative to threaten a lawsuit if the tournament banned it. The five bats that ASA banned recently were also permitted. The only thing illegal was titanium.

Anyway, we had a line drive hit back to the pitcher so hard that it broke his foot, and several close calls in other plays. Some blasts appeared to be traveling almost 400 feet, this with a Trump Gold Stitch. One pitcher used a hockey-style face mask, and nobody blamed him.

The team that won the top level was sponsored by another bat company, so they didn't use the Ultra. They also hit the fewest home runs of any team at their level, only about 5 in 7 games. Some teams hit their limit of 6 by the second inning, then still hit another bunch out inadvertently.

I was umping at the same field I played on 20 years ago, with a 300-foot fence 10 feet high. Back then, the entire league might hit 25 or 30 balls out all year, with Bombats and Dudley Day-Nites.