Odds and ends
 

#1 SP with stealing. Nobody can say why the ball is dead when the pitch hits the plate even though it passes the front plane. Some say, it is because the plate is in fair territory. Well the ball can still pass the plane and land in fair ground. Some say you can get a funny bounce off the plate. Well, I think that's a pitching problem. I feel ASA should eliminate this rule.

#2 Bases loaded, 1 out, winning run on 3B. B4 walks, R1 touches home, R2 touches 3B, B4 touches 1B. R3 fails to touch 2B as he joins the handshakes. Defense appeals. R3 is called out for the second out. The ball 4 award is to the batter and all runners advance if forced. Since R3 failed to reach 2B to force R2 to 3B and R1 to home, wouldn't you put R1 and R2 back on 3B and 2B as they were not forced to advance as R3 was called out prior to reaching 2B.

#3 When will ASA change the co-ed rules to allow the players to play anywhere and not restict it to 2-2 infield, outfield and opposite genders in the battery.

This was in place long before there was stealing in SP. Don't know why it was enacted to begin, but I can tell you that the majority, if not most, of the pitches that hit the plate do not pass through the strike zone.
No.

They will not and I see no reason to make such a move.

As explained by the former Deputy Director of Umpires, the greatest inconsistency in calling the strike zone in slow pitch in early years before the plate was defined as an automatic ball was when pitches hit the plate. They decided that it would be more consistent and easier to explain if the rule was changed to require pitches to pass through the strike zone and not hit the plate. In explaining that rule, they used the language that the ball had to pass the plate to be a strike.

It was an easy extension of that logic when stealing was added; balls short of the plate are dead, thus balls that hit the plate are dead; the ball must pass the plate to be considered a strike, and to be live for stealing.

ASA is all dicked up on this. Ask the beer league guys how to do it.

Look here, put down the plastic mat thing.. 6'/12' if it hits the plate or the mat .. strike.

SZ is lame.

only part of plate
 

Well it can hit the plate but must also hit part of the mat. ;) . My first summer doing SP,we use the mat, and it was interesting to say the least.

The most important lesson I learned-people know all the rules. I had the catcher from hades last night, freely admitted her first week of SP ever. "I haven't even watched one complete baseball game my whole life." telling me about the must slide rule . Other than the bruised knee and the swollen family jewels from her,ahem,skill set I really enjoyed her sharing her belief system around SP. :mad:
I will do it again next summer but not work as many games.

Dont get me started on this idiocy.......

Hey bigwoof
 

I would like to hear your thoughts on the "MAT". The local beer leagues all use it. When I did a tourney-no mat-the players expected a strike zone based on where the ball landed, like a pretend mat deal......:eek:

So please RANT on.......:)

Now you're going to get it........

The mat is for idiots.

The players can look and poke at the ground with the bat all day long, I don't care. I'm not there to satisfy their t-ball ego. The mat means that the strike zone is the same for someone 4' tall as well as someone 7' tall. Yeah, that sounds fair to me.

Just to make sure you don't misunderstand my feelings about the "mat", it is for idiots.

exactly! Were talkin SP right?

Its great. All problems solved. Beer leagues for all!

Mat or Plate 6/12 .. wammo blammo striko

I call what the leagues want me to call. If they want to use a mat, sure! Makes my job easier. :cool:

Yep, we dont run the show.

My current mat for the beer league I worked about 10 games for takes the cake..

Well.. they didnt have a mat! So they made one out of carpet. They asked me if it looked like a legal mat. HA!

I told em it looked a little small. :cool:

In the few games I worked with a mat a few years ago, the players even argued over whether it hit the mat or not.

Mats make it easier for beer leagues to get someone to "officiate." Teach them a few rules, give 'em a mat, and let them "call" a few games. Though the last time I called with a mat, I "accidentally" called a strike on a pitch that didn't hit the mat. It would have been a legal ASA strike, and I'm so used to front knee, back shoulder that I rang the batter. Oops.

Yep, did that, too. However, I'm still waiting for them to teach the mat to make that call at 2B.