The evaluation committee usually consists of umpires who have worked nationals and are among the Elite in ASA. The UIC and his deputy are automatically members of it, and they pick the other members of it who are in that category I just mentioned, and usually are the ones who have attended NUS almost every year since they started. (I'm not trying to knock the system here, but I think it needs some tinkering) Pretty much all are fast-pitch who will do slow-pitch in a pinch. One of them is a fast-pitch guy who doesn't shy away from doing the slow-pitch stuff.

There used to be base-stealing in that league. The players voted it out after the year they tried it. They didn't feel it changed the game any, so it wasn't worth it. However, I did have a couple of guys that you described who thought it was ridiculous that these big former college athletes were trying to steal bases in slow-pitch when they aren't too sharp at it in the fast-pitch game. I had to figure that logic out. :(

I love the stealing leagues/tourneys in SP. So much more exciting and more for the BU/PU to do...

I'm not a slow pitch guy, but from the umpire's perspective, it would seem a benefit of a league with stealing is the catcher has to actually try to catch the ball!

Then I would have to believe the players are either not very smart, not very athletic or both.

I think the stealing adds a bundle to the game. It keeps a player in the catching position. It keeps the pitcher and catcher in the game because they can no longer think about the beer after the game :D .

It keeps the umpire on their toes, also.

This year in our states of all levels, the steal was a big part of the game including delayed steals of home.

It is so well liked by the "college" players, that every level wants it.

As long as it is on the bounce. Too many goofs back there want to reach up and catch the ball in flight and get clocked by the batter.

Which I've also seen. Last time the guy got it in the temple, and I though I was going to have to administer CPR. He went down like a sack of potatoes (a 260lb sack at that)...

Personally, I like stealing in the slow pitch game.

Going off topic a bit here...but I can remember my first time as a player playing in a league that allowed stealing. This was actually about 15 years ago and, if I'm remembering correctly, was an NSA league. I'm not sure if NSA allowed stealing under their standard rules back then or if it was something the league added on its own. I wasn't an umpire in those days so I didn't sweat those kind of details!

Our catcher was a good player, but was playing the catcher's position primarlily because a previous knee surgery had limited his mobility. He could catch the ball just fine, but had a hard time coming up from his crouch.

Once the other team caught on to this they began stealing bases at will! There was just no way our catcher could throw them out after struggling to his feet and getting in a good throwing position.

After the first inning and four or five steals, our coach pulled me from the shortstop position and stuck me behind the plate. Apparently the other team didn't pick up on the fact that there was a new catcher, or if they did just figured we had stuck another random warm body back there.

Their first batter hits a single and on the very next pitch heads for second. I pop up and fire and the throw beats the guy to the bag by a good twenty or thirty feet! The stunned look on his face as he was tagged out was priceless!

There were no more stolen bases the rest of game.

Normally, in games without stealing, the catcher's position isn't my favorite place to be. But on that night being behind the plate created on of my fondest playing memories!

I just finished my 15th year umpiring baseball and fastpitch softball. I only umpired slowpitch softball my first year of umpiring and I would even umpire a baseball game before I would umpire a fastpitch softball game. Having said that, I am suprised that major softball organizations such as ASA, USSSA, or NSA do not require catchers to wear a mask simply as a safety issue.

I attended the Univ. of Miami (the one in Coral Gables, FL, not the one in Oxford, OH, that one is Miami Univ.) in the mid-70's and the intramural sports department required all catchers and umpires in its slowpitch softball leagues stictly as a safety issue.

I am not a lawyer, but I know that no matter how quick one is, there is already that one time when a foul ball is going to come back and hit the plate umpire or the catcher in the face. And it only takes one foul ball to the face to ruin one's day. I was never comfortable behind the plate that year I umpired slowpitch softball.

Just my humble opinion.

MTD, Sr.

Actually, the only year it was used in any of our city leagues, it was used in the Open League (the top league in the city), which consists of the best players in the city. Many of these guys are former college athletes, including a few former Division I football and baseball players. Every team had a hell of an arm put behind the plate when the stealing rule was in effect to the point noone could even steal at all. I guess that wasn't the only reason they took it out of the league rules.

Other reason was those umpires who were not used to working the Open League weren't too sharp with the base stealing rule, either misapplying the ball location at home plate or not being on top of the play when it was at 2nd base. I had a couple of those nights. One I remember vividly because I was home plate and the pitch landed behind the plate clearly, and it was a called strike. It jumped up a little so the catcher had to reach for it and he was a little slow with the throw. Runner was on his way, and I hear "time" in the field. Partner on the bases told the runner to go back. I asked him why he did that. His answer (and to this day, I still groan when I think about it): the catcher was able to control it, it didn't go past the catcher. :mad: :confused: