[Stevetheump]

Originally Posted by greymule

Obviously, the word attempt as applied to the BR overrunning 1B would probably mean one thing to a person involved in softball and something different to a general observer.

In a lower-level SP game a few years ago, a batter lined a hit to right field and trotted rather casually toward 1B. F10 fielded the ball on one hop and, seeing that the BR was not yet at 1B and not running hard, made a lazy toss to F6 at 2B. The BR, seeing the throw lobbed in, made an unenergetic turn at 1B and, with his head down, took three steps toward 2B. F6 fired the ball to F3, who tagged the BR out as he was walking back to the bag.

Remember the level that I mentioned. The incredulous OC came out to inform me that "[the BR] has to make an attempt," to which I responded, "Three steps toward 2B is an attempt."

If one uninformed spectator had asked another, "Did he attempt to go to 2B?" the answer would have been "no" in the generic sense. But we all know that in softball (or baseball), he did make an attempt.

I've had girls' FP coaches claim what many of you have probably heard: "she never stepped into fair territory," "she was just trying to find the ball," "she was just trying to see if she had a chance to make it," etc., all with the claim of "not an attempt."

One of the guys I work with defines it, and explains it to coaches as, "an aggressive move," and that has worked for me, too.

grey - One thing you have to remember is the word "fan" is short for "fanatic." Fans (and some coaches) go bonkers because they do not understand the rules (most times, they don't READ the rules, let alone understand them). Also remember, no matter what we call, we are going to *iss off 50 percent of the people 100 percent of the time." So....just go out there and give it your best.