Talking Mechanics

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by Manny A

As he mentioned in the article, Jay's talking about getting a new ball fresh out of a box or plastic wrapper. It happens sometimes when the three or four balls we get from the home team end up not being available. He recommends not grabbing a handful of dirt and rubbing it directly onto the ball, since we don't allow players to do that. His suggestion is to transfer dirt onto the ball by rolling it on the ground or sprinkling dirt onto it while it's laying there, then rubbing the dirt off of it, which should help get the shine off the ball.

Grab a handful of dirt and... rub it on the ball (illegal), put the ball on the ground and sprinkle it on the ball and then rub (legal)... That's just silly, IMO.

Originally Posted by Manny A

Whoever edits the softball articles in Referee really needs to look at things from a softball perspective. In Jay's article, her refers to the "rubber" instead of the pitcher's plate, and talks of holding up the pitcher by raising the right hand with palm facing her. Those are dead giveaways that he's not a polished softball umpire instructor.

You expect this level of effort from the magazine that officially stopped any coverage of softball officiating because it was not a "major" sport? (Yeah, I carry a grudge a LONG time!)