Slowpitch Stealing

[CecilOne]

Originally posted by IRISHMAFIA
That was the idea four years ago when it was added to the upper levels, to keep the catcher in the game. This, in turn, would help speed up the game.

Also, with a single umpire, it will be difficult to hustle out to make a call as getting to that position will often place the umpire in the middle of the play.

BTW, no such thing as "E" ball in ASA.

[/B]

Yes, I know there is technically no "E" in ASA, just in actual play. Besides covering the play at 2nd, watching for early leaves would be a worse problem with one umpire. And there would be a lot more catcher obstruction, again at the low levels. Making rules to keep a catcher (or pitcher or whoever) in the game is not a big justification to me; especially in a game designed to keep the hitters active.

Besides, the catcher's have important roles:
- keeping the umpire from throwing the ball back to the pitcher
- standing on the plate so the runner can claim obstruction while the umpire is avoiding the offline throw
- yelling "good pitch" as it sails over his head or hits the batter
- holding up "warmups" while talking to a female spectator
- in corec, getting in the way of the pitcher covering home
- obstructing a runner while moving a bat
- throwing the ball into center field after the fourth "warmup" pitch
- etc.