altered bat?

[lglusco]

There are two questions, TWO!, about sanded down baseball bats on this year's ASA test. Both questions are baffling me.

21) Which is not an altered bat?
a. painted over original paint
b. loaded with sand
c. baseball bat sanded down to softball specs
d. softball bat with cone shaped handle

I said d. ... I can't really picture a cone-shaped handle, not sure exactly what is meant by that. Could a bat have cone-shaped handle and still have a knob? But a sanded-down bat clearly has been altered in size and weight from its originally-manufactured state. ... Of course, I don't know how I would know that. So maybe the sanded-down bat is simply illegal because it would not have an ASA stamp, and not considered altered??? so maybe the answer is C???

25. The plate umpire notices that a batter enters the box with a baseball bat honed down to softball size.
a. do nothing, no violation until one pitch
b. call batter out
c. disqualify batter
d. eject batter

Again, the question pre-supposes that I somehow know it was a baseball bat honed down. ... Based on that, IT WAS ALTERED and I should have an out and an ejection. If I use my logic from above that all I can actually know is that the bat is illegal (no ASA stamp), then answer would be B???

DOES ANYONE ELSE think two questions about sanded-down bats is pretty lame? I have never seen a wood bat in a softball game. Has anyone?

I'm thinking my line of thinking that the bat must be illegal but not considered altered must be correct, otherwise question #25 would have more than one answer.

I could not find anything specific in the rulebook about "sanded-down" bats. Am I missing it?

[Ed Maeder]

You need to read the definition of an altered bat. Speaking ASA rule 1-Altered Bat NFHS 2-4-1. If it is not a legal bat to begin with it can't be altered.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by lglusco

There are two questions, TWO!, about sanded down baseball bats on this year's ASA test. Both questions are baffling me.

21) Which is not an altered bat?
a. painted over original paint
b. loaded with sand
c. baseball bat sanded down to softball specs
d. softball bat with cone shaped handle

I said d. ... I can't really picture a cone-shaped handle, not sure exactly what is meant by that. Could a bat have cone-shaped handle and still have a knob? But a sanded-down bat clearly has been altered in size and weight from its originally-manufactured state. ... Of course, I don't know how I would know that. So maybe the sanded-down bat is simply illegal because it would not have an ASA stamp, and not considered altered??? so maybe the answer is C???

25. The plate umpire notices that a batter enters the box with a baseball bat honed down to softball size.
a. do nothing, no violation until one pitch
b. call batter out
c. disqualify batter
d. eject batter

Again, the question pre-supposes that I somehow know it was a baseball bat honed down. ... Based on that, IT WAS ALTERED and I should have an out and an ejection. If I use my logic from above that all I can actually know is that the bat is illegal (no ASA stamp), then answer would be B???

DOES ANYONE ELSE think two questions about sanded-down bats is pretty lame? I have never seen a wood bat in a softball game. Has anyone?

I'm thinking my line of thinking that the bat must be illegal but not considered altered must be correct, otherwise question #25 would have more than one answer.

I could not find anything specific in the rulebook about "sanded-down" bats. Am I missing it?

Yes, many, MANY of us have seen wooden bats in a softball game. Many of us have USED wooden bats in a softball game. And, yes, there have been people who would try to get a baseball bat into a softball game.

The questions are valid for anyone who has studied the rules. As Ed noted, an altered bat is a softball bat which has been changed. Since a baseball bat was never a legal softball bat, it cannot be an altered softball bat.

[JEL]

Iglusco,

A "lame question"? yeah, it may seem so. I have never seen a wooden bat in a fastpitch game, and has been quite awile since I've seen one in a slowpitch game. In fact, I haven't seen any in the baseball I work, (except a college wood bat tourney, they are fun, lots more defense).

It is my understanding however, and that from several ASA staff that most of the questions on the ASA test are taken from "live game scenarios" usually at National tournaments. Wood bats, legal, illegal, and altered have then surfaced at games.

That said, even if you never saw, or never will see a wood bat in a game, those questions on the test did exactly what they were designed to do, they made you "hunt in the book". You probably now have a better understanding of bats, legal or not, and what to do when you find one!

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by lglusco

DOES ANYONE ELSE think two questions about sanded-down bats is pretty lame?

No. What I am wondering is, if the questions are so lame, why are you having such a difficult time answering them? As has already been pointed out, the object of the test is to make you think, and apparently these "lame" questions have suceeded in that.