Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Slick
My opinion about this rule is the product of a by-gone era, and the rules do not reflect the current technology of the game. I suppose at one time this rule was needed because the pitchers wanted to throw the "mush" ball or the one they ripped up with their belt buckle.
The balls that are available in today hold up a lot better. It even takes a lot of swings for the SB12 to become mush. And speaking for the Dudley slow pitch, I can't recall the last time I removed one from the game for being mush.
Now that is not to say that all balls shouldn't come through the umpire. I had a high school game in which a SB12 replaced a poly-core ball when the visiting team was at bat. The visiting coach discovered it when it picked up the ball for his pitcher at the end of the inning. So I though about the last foul ball (I was BU), which was innings previous. It was switched during warm ups, as the catcher would start off by rolling a grounder to the pitcher, which she would field and throw the F3.
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I can tell you as a fact of life, coaches/managers/teams DO abuse this rule when they can. Most umpires are not going to stand there and measure different aspects of the ball. If the appropriate stamp is on it and it is not damaged, it goes into the game.
However, I have first-hand knowledge of coaches throwing in a semi-water logged ball if that would benefit their team at that time. This would be more prominent in SP than FP, but I can see a FP coach wanting a certain ball in against another team.
Is it ridiculous? Hell, yeah, but it happens. Which, like a fair amount of other rules, there is something in place to circumvent a possible problem when a sneaky little sh....er, coach thinks s/he can get even the slightest of advantages.