[KentuckyBlue]

Have called ASA 10 years, now in 1st year of my city association going NSA. Comparison:

ASA has the best-written rule book I've encountered (haven't yet seen them all). NSA's rules are awful by comparison -- ungrammatical, sometimes oblique because of bad word choice and embarrassing lapses into player-speak at crucial times. (Plus, the typography is embarrassingly primitive -- straight out of Word or maybe even WordPerfect. NSA, get off the bucks for a professional editor and layout designer to rework your books. They look cheap and dumb, and that hurts.)

But some NSA rules are an improvement over ASA -- I'd guess because NSA is younger, lighter in administration, and probably a faster organization in which to implement change. In SP I like the 3-foot-longer pitching distance and lower arc, and the less confrontational style of calling illegal pitches. (You don't have to say "illegal" and stick out your arm, so there's nothing that sets up a confrontation with the pitcher. You just call a ball and tell him/her it was high if asked.)

Other NSA/ASA rules differences are pretty much a wash -- though I'm waiting to toss some defensive player (other than pitcher or catcher) who leaves their defensive position to argue balls and strikes. (Earns immediate ejection, in the NSA book. "Hey, I'd sure like keep you around," I'll say, "but it's right there in the rules, I don't have any leeway. Gotta be fair." Followed by one of those evil giggles you used to hear from that dog cartoon character Muttley on the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons.)

Also I don't know who could have first decided that black and white would be good colors for outdoor work on a 98-degree day.

In short, I'd say ASA is probably overall the superior organization because they've had more time to work out the kinks, but NSA does some things right and they'll learn to do more. Both have their advantages and differences.
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