From that video: "...I understand the [shaved] bats I purchase should not be used in any type of play that does not allow this type of modification...I understand the bats should only be used in 70 degree or above weather..."

I've played with and against several players that get their bats shaved by a machinest/mechanic at Southwest Airlines.

I played in a little umpromptu tournament this past weekend. It was a tourney where flexible fences where brought in at 250 ft. inside a 300 ft. fence. They had two divisions, D and E. In the E, if you hit the ball over the 300 ft. fence, the umpire would take the bat to somewhere to get it checked, and they would bring it back. When a ball was hit over the 300 ft. fence, the inning was over, even if it was the lead off hitter with no runs scoring on the HR, and everytime his spot came up in the order they were an automatic out. They checked the same one of our bats three times!

Now if you were in the D division, a team could hit a total of four over the 300 ft. fence before the provisions in the E division kicked in..............However, they didn't take the bat away to check any of theirs.

I don't understand why they just didn't take two of the four fields, and put a 250 ft. temporary fence in them, and let D teams play on the two 300 ft fields.

I did get ONE over the 250 fence...............WHOO HOO!

I hope I never have to umpire a game with such rules

Can a head coach request an equipment check by the umpires? And if so would the umpire do an equipment check of both teams or only the other team of the coach who originally made the request.

I promise you that if one coach asks for an equipment check it will only be a matter of time before the other coach requests the same thing. Almost a guarantee.

In soccer, the first incident of illegal equipment results in the coach being cautioned. Additional incidents result in the player with the illegal equipment being cautioned.

I suppose he could request anything. Nothing in the rules supports granting his request if he's asking me to check the OTHER team's equipment. I don't know why he'd ask me to check his own team's, but I would certainly render an opinion if he wanted to know whether a particular bat was legal.

If he suspects that an opponent's bat is illegal, that's another matter, and one that is covered by rule.

Read page 2 of the NFHS Baseball pre season guide. column 3 top of the page.