Quote:
Originally posted by ozzy6900
Jim, I've been doing FED games just south of you in CT for years. Once you get over the differences, it's not so bad. The tobacco rule is important to enforce because of the times. During the HS season, I've only had to speak to one coach but if you do youth games by FED rules, that's another story. The coaches can get downright nasty when you tell them they can't have their "chew".
It's real simple, when the game is to be played by FED rules, allof the FED rules have to be enforced. Coaches and umpires can't pick and choose the rules to enforce and ignore. If the MA High Schools decide to go FED then you are stuck with it. As I was once told years ago by our FED rules interperter, "You may not agree with a rule, but you damn better enforce it!".
Don't sweat the FED, when the time comes, don't try to compare it to OBR for a while. That's where I made my mistake years ago. Also remember that the FED deals with youth and HS. Saftey and sportsmanship are the main concern when it comes to FED. Finally, the BRD is a great help once you get the FED book and its layout under your belt
|
First off, we do not allow tobacco products anywhere near the field here in Rhode Island High School Baseball. No coaches are allowed to chew or smoke, and no kids can chew or smoke. But we do allow Big League Chew
and candy cigarettes, not that I've ever seen either.
Next, after taking part in message boards for the last four years, I know much more about FED rules now than anyone else in Rhode Island - no exaggeration. I find their balk rules to be unnecessarily obtrusive to the game, I have a very low opinion of the recent appeal rule follies, and I even find their rules tests with their word games and trickeries to be some of the most unproductive rules tests I've ever read. Throw in this silliness about, "tobacco-like prodicts," and they've scored a hat trick for an undesirable code of baseball rules. There's more, but I'll spare my Pro-FED counterparts.
Yes, we have some age-appropriate differences to make the game safer. I find it impossible to believe that our baseball is somehow unsafer because we do not use FED rules.
I'm confident we will not playing our HS ball under FED any time soon. I'm even more confident that I will never work a FED game for the rest of my life.