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Had a double header tonight (Men's SP D) which included an out for stepping out of the box and hit the ball (the batter's feet were more than 5' away from the plate when he started his swing), a runner hit by a batted ball, a three-run, four-base award on what should have been a routine fly ball caught for the final out of the half-inning.
But the best was F3 diving to tag first on a batted ball as the BR approched. The BR stutter-stepped and then went right over the base before F3 reached the bag. I ruled the runner safe just as R2 was strolling into the plate behind R1. As the BR was just turning around to return to the bag.
F3 tags 1B again and says "what?" as F4 says, "come on, Blue, he stepped right over the bag" as F3 is beginning to say the same thing. Close enough! I rule the BR out on the appeal for #3 of the inning and disallow the two runs that scored on the play.
That's when I got the old, "you already called him safe, you can't change your call" and "you have to let the runs score before you allow the appeal". Hell, my smile must have been wider than my partner's strike zone.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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