OK, the ASA needs to clarify this...

[JPRempe]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

I think that once you start attempting to list ways a bat could be altered, you will miss, or they will come up with a new, one you haven't listed. IMO, the generic definitions in Rule 1 "Altered bat" and 3.1, and 3.7 NOTE are sufficient. Fixed physical characteristics at the time of manufacture seems to pretty much make clear that vicing, rolling, shaving, changing balance, etc., is changing the manufacturer's fixed specs; therefore, altered. If icing, cooling, and heating equipment changes the characteristics (are specified as illegal, and are, at best, temporary changes), even the most dense "Bubba" has to grasp that the other permanent changes are altering the bat.

That isn't gray to me. It is only gray if you allow it to be gray. If you see one that you suspect has been altered, throw it out of the game. Period. "In your judgment", the bat has been altered, and is, therefore, not to be used in today's game. Period.

Vicing and rolling do not physically alter the bat (specifically rolling) any differently than hitting BP does. That's the problem. If there is no difference in the end results, then there is no difference.