Carpet Ball Tournaments/Leagues

[greymule]

Yes, all other rules apply. Everybody had to cut down on his swing, of course, because any ball you got under went out of the park. The outfields would play well in front of the fence, too, since it was very hard to dump one over an outfielder and keep it in the park. Even on balls that skipped by to the fence, it was tough to get more than a single.

When my team first got into a singles tourney, I thought it wouldn't be much fun, but I was wrong. In fact, my team, which was maybe third or fourth best in the area, was the best singles team around. With our speed and defense, the "crusher" teams, with their big, slow mashers, had no chance against us on small fields.

Singles tournaments were also good because it was impossible to score a lot of runs. The nature of the games led to low scores, which made it fun even for weaker teams. Nobody crushed anybody.

Funny how things have changed since then. In the "C" level this past weekend, where the fence is 300 feet and 10 feet high, teams would get their 3 homers by the second inning and still hit 5 or 6 more balls over for outs. This on the same field where, in the old days, balls over the fence were rare.

[Edited by greymule on Aug 23rd, 2004 at 11:42 AM]