Bats

[oppool]

Ok, lets talk about bats. From what I understood at the National ASA umpire school I attended last month and if I miss understood maybe Gary will clarify but ASA mandatory approved stamp for tournament play that was to go in effect this year is not. They basically said that all softball bats that are not altered or illegal will be acceptable for all play whether or not they are stamped. It sounds like High School ball though will stick with the ASA ruling that they the bats are going to need the sticker to be legal. They mention in the school that alot of the bats with the stickers have worn off and it would not be fair to make the bat illegal just because it no longer showed the stamp.

I did a tournament last year which we had to check the bats bpf rating which had to be 130 or lower for the bat to be legal and it had to have the rating on the bat or it was removed for the rest of the tournament

I guess I was lucky but when I played SP and pitched I never took a shot directly but had many that buzzed by before could react. Did see this year 3 or 4 incidents where the pitcher did take direct shots to the head and a couple of them were carted off to the hospital.

As in everything it comes down to the almighty $$$'s but do think ASA and the other organzations should be able to get together on at least this very important point and come up with a uniform bat regulation and some restriction on the bat manufactors to try to put some safeguarding in for these pitchers. I havent done any FP but in SP when you have these 250+lb big boys swing for all their might it can get pretty ugly.

Also would like to say I dont think softer core ball are the answer, the players will never go for it and it turns into really ugly ball


Wonder what some of you experienced blues think should be done if anything?


Don

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Don......

I know for my area (ASA only).....if it fits the definition of a bat......it is legal for all play (Except play that involves advancment to Nationals).

I have not heard that we will be using the "List" again this year.....however, we have not started our meetings yet.

For league play, essentially any bat is legal as long as it is not dented or cracked.

I had to buy my oldest a new bat because FED ball IS requiring the sticker.

I will also be anxious to hear ASA's official position for championship play this year. I would hope they would stick to their previous ruling.....less confusion that way.

Joel

[ntxblue]

Don,

At the national school, Henry & Walt said "don't go looking for trouble." The main emphasis would be placed on championship play. League and regular tournament play would be governed by the "if it looks like a bat...it is a bat." ASA is unofficially encouraging good umpire judgement for bat guidelines. The grandfathered bat list was to become history.

In our local UIL/FED meeting last month, we were instructed to follow the same guidelines.

If you buy a new bat via the internet, you can still get bats without the approval sticker or manufacturer's stamp. Individuals were buying the stickers and applying them to their own bats. The sticker issue just created more problems than it was designed to cure.

[Edited by ntxblue on Jan 4th, 2002 at 08:33 AM]

[Elaine "Lady Blue"]

I just wish there was no list and no stickers. As long as the bats have no cracks, dents, burrs, loose grip or are in anyway altered, and it can pass through my bat ring, I say let 'em play. How many safety rules can ASA or NFHS build in to curtail liability? I really don't think any manufacturer makes an illegal bat on purpose.
What about a list of those that don't meet requirements? It's got to be a lot shorter than the list of the legal bats. I also think that NFHS should follow ASA. How many
folks are going to keep a sticker in tact for the life of the bat? A totally insipid rule.

[Steve M]

Elaine,
Yup, if it looks like a bat, it's a bat - at least that's what I'm expecting to do with all local ASA play. For high school, we've still got to inspect the bats, but THEY did away with the list and the stickers this year - no permanent seal, then not usable. I'd like to see ASA follow the Fed in this case - hmmmmmmm, I think that's the first time I've ever said that.....

[Dakota]

Originally posted by Steve M
no permanent seal, then not usable. I'd like to see ASA follow the Fed in this case

Too many perfectly good $150 & up bats out there for this to be done without a huge ruckus among coaches and parents.

HS teams just sock the taxpayers and buy new.

[ntxblue]

Dakota wrote:

"HS teams just sock the taxpayers and buy new."


I don't know any HS player that uses the school's bats. Club players will use their own bats for HS games. I wish that the HS would buy bats of the quality that club players use!!

I agree, just too many expensive unstamped bats out there to make the complete change.

[Roger Greene]

HS teams just sock the taxpayers and buy new. [/B][/QUOTE]

You must live in a city. Out in the county (at least in my county in N.C.) school booster clubs pay for uniforms, equipment, medical supplies, and training equipment, dugouts and most other needs for sports.

I've served lots of chicken dinners, bought wheelbarrow loads of raffel tickets, served as a booster club president, and donated a batting cage to the high school that I, and my daughters, graduated from. The booster club there recently completed building a $300,000 field house without any tax money.

The only thing the school board pays for is purchasing the land for the schools, a basic gym and grading for athletic fields, fees of officials, the electric bill, activity buses, and a small supplement for head coaches. In a good budget year they might help with a partial payment for field lights.

All that being said, I agree with Steve. Everyone has known this was comming for at least 2 years. Practice with the old bats that are still good, but have legal bats ready at game time.

Roger

[Elaine "Lady Blue"]

Dakota,

Not around here would the high schools buy any bats; it's
we parents. I don't think any umpire is so strict to check the labels until the high school play offs.

[Steve M]

Elaine,
Here in Pa we check them every game. I am so glad not to have to carry that list this year. Funny though, I've only tossed 2 bats for not being on the list and that was a couple of years ago - but within a month, those bats were n the list. Especially after seeing a bat snap and the barrel windmill out beyond 3B last year, I'm making sure that all bats in my games are approved and are in good shape.

Originally posted by Elaine "Lady Blue"
Dakota,

I don't think any umpire is so strict to check the labels until the high school play offs.

[oppool]

Glad to see ya over here in this forum! Ok guys tell me have you seen any manufactored bats that you do considered unsafe or illegal or is it usally just the altered, crack & dented bats that cause the problems??

Don

[Dakota]

Up here, they never saw a tax they didn't like - and I'm talking about the voters, not the politicians. Although some of the cost is paid by parents, booster clubs, and the like, the school districts provide more $$$ for athletics than the Southern school districts I am familiar with (SC and TX).

Anyway, if all the travel players have to buy new bats to play HS ball, maybe the ASA can get what they want without being the bad guys

The part of the rule I like is where the umpire's judgment will determine whether the bat will pass the ASA qualification tests. I'm an engineer, and even so, I have no clue how to determine that beyond "looks like a bat."

[Steve M]

Other than when Titanium bats were in use, I have never seen a bat that really made a difference. Those Titaniums, though, I saw scrawny gys that normally couldn't hit further than 150 ft, crushing the ball on line shots over the fence.

I like that "judgement" part on whether the old bat would have passed the standards test, too.

I've got enough bangers and judgement decisions to make, give me a black and white rule on bats - no added variables.

[Gulf Coast Blue]

Steve.......funny you should mention Titanium Bats......

There is one of my daughters friends whose dad played men's FP.....4-5 years ago......we went up to Houston to watch a few games of a tournament he was playing in.......(The only men's FP here at that time was a Senior league.....and they have since moved up to Houston......anyway.....I digress...)

One of his teammates had a titanium bat that had been painted to look like a regular bat...........my daughter's friends Dad hit a rocket with it during a game......he is very athletic........but NOT very big guy.......his teammate hid the bat in his bag for the rest of the tournament.......

I have another friend who is the Slowpitch UIC for our District who claims that there are companies that will repaint bats to make them look legal.......He played SP for a number of years and swears that the sound off of a Titanium bat is different......

Joel

[Steve M]

Joel,
Once you've heard a Titanium bat hit the ball, you'll recognize it forever - it's a very unique sound. They make every single hit a potentially lethal shot. In a men's B state championship, I saw a runner unable to avoid getting hit and it darn near killed him. A line shot that hit the left side of his face and knocked him right out. I used to hit the ball pretty hard when I played - a couple of homeruns at Three Rivers Stadium (baseball, but with a wooden bat) - anyway, I'd be afraid to use one of those bats. I was really glad when ASA outlawed them mid-season.