Stupid Local Rule

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I umpire in a girls' fastpitch league Fall League. The age groups are 10U, 12U, and 14U. The league uses ASA rules EXCEPT: A girl who is eligible to play for 10U team can play for a 12U team. If the player is a pitcher, her coach has the option of letting her pitch either from the 40 foot pitcher's plate using the larger ball, or her coach can have her pitch from 35 feet using the 11 inch ball instead of the 12 inch ball.

The first three Sundays went well becuase we did not have any 10U pitchers playing for a 12U team, but today it happened. The girl was as tall as any of the 12U pitchers my partner had seen on previous Sundays and was definitely one of the better pitchers in the league, but her coach took advantage of the 35 foot option and the parents of the opposing team let my partner and I they were not happy with us for letting her pitch from 35 feet.

My personal opinion is that if the girl is good enough to play 12U and she should pitch from 40 feet with the 12 inch ball.

Okay, I have vented. Let the comments begin.

MTD, Sr.

[Dakota]

OTOH, the legitimate 12U players should be able to smack that little ball quite a distance.

I'm not sure, on balance, it is an advantage. It does, however. sound dangerous for the pitcher.

All that said, I agree it is a stupid rule... either play up by 12U rules or stay down at your age level; one or the other.

[bluezebra]

MOST local ‘rools’ are made by fools.

Bob

[wadeintothem]

10U / 12U rec with a good pitcher?

That means outs... so you should be thankful.

Count the outs.

Leave the rest up to the league, its their problem.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by wadeintothem

10U / 12U rec with a good pitcher?

That means outs... so you should be thankful.

Count the outs.

Leave the rest up to the league, its their problem.

Oh, I am not complaining about the outs. But as a parent of two sons, that play baseball and swimming and have played basketball, I believe that you either play in your own age group or by the rules of the age group if you are good enough to play up.

But Dakota also brings up a very good point. Lets say that 10U pitcher is not that great and the 12U girls start hitting her (I mean her pitches.), she just might have a line shot hit right up the middle and has five (5) less feet to react.

MTD, Sr.

[BretMan]

Stupid rules and local rules go hand-in-hand. But, the men's fastpitch league where I play has adopted what has to be the number one stupidest rule in the history of stupid local rules.

We play by ASA rules- with modifications...lots of modifications. These modifications are proposed and voted on by league coaches during the off-season, each with their own agenda and each with varying degrees of cluelessness.

For instance, they allow a continuous batting order and free substitution on defense. That one's not so bad, as it does promote participation in what is, essentially, a recreational league.

They use four outfielders. Odd for fastpitch, but since we play on unfenced fields it does provide some degree of balance between offense and defense. Up until about 10 years ago, this league was for 30-and-over players only, and that played into the four outfielders rule. Since opening up the league to all ages, the rule has been retained. Not the stupidest of rules- just different.

The wise and all-knowing powers that be have made batting helmets optional. Not the smartest of rules, but still not their stupidest. You do have some stupid players that forego the helmet though. I always wear mine and it saved me a probable concussion on one nasty hit-by-pitch to the head.

Their absolute stupidest rule which, when you think about it would be impossible for an umpire to enforce, involves courtesy runners. With a continuous batting order, the standard ASA courtesy runner rule (a player not in the game- everybody is in the game) can't be followed.

So what they came up with is a courtesy runner can be used for any player at any time, and the courtesy runner can be any player- SO LONG AS THE COURTESY RUNNER COMING IN IS NO FASTER THAN THE PLAYER BEING REPLACED.

How in the world would an umpire know which player is faster than the other? What is he going to do- stop the game and have the two guys run a couple of timed forty yards to see who is the fastest?

A stupid and virtually unenforcable rule, somehow pushed through by a couple of crybaby coaches that felt violated because teams were legally using the previous C.R. rule (anybody at any time) to put good runners in for older or injured players.

Our coach, who is 65 and still plays a few innings here and there- and is exactly the kind of player the old C.R. rule was supposed to address- pointed out that at one recent game, the only player slower than him was me- I had a severly sprained ankle at the time and had to ride the bench for a couple of weeks. (I still think I could have out-limped him in a footrace!)

[NCASAUmp]

BretMan - Maybe they should look at the courtesy runner rules in ASA senior play. The gist of it is thus...

1 - Any player on the bench can be a courtesy runner.
2 - If player A goes in as a courtesy runner for player B, player A can't be a courtesy runner a second time in the same inning, and player B can't be a courtesy runner for anyone else in the same inning.
3 - If player A goes in as a courtesy runner, s/he can't be replaced by another courtesy runner, except in case of an injury.
4 - If a player's spot in the line-up comes up to bat while they're a courtesy runner, just pull them off the base, call an out and let them bat.

But I agree, stupid rule.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by BretMan

We play by ASA rules- with modifications...lots of modifications. These modifications are proposed and voted on by league coaches during the off-season, each with their own agenda

The NCAA has a men's FP program?

Our coach, who is 65 and still plays a few innings here and there- and is exactly the kind of player the old C.R. rule was supposed to address- pointed out that at one recent game, the only player slower than him was me- I had a severly sprained ankle at the time and had to ride the bench for a couple of weeks.

weeks? From what I've heard, it has been more like "years".

[archangel]

Originally Posted by BretMan

So what they came up with is a courtesy runner can be used for any player at any time, and the courtesy runner can be any player- SO LONG AS THE COURTESY RUNNER COMING IN IS NO FASTER THAN THE PLAYER BEING REPLACED.

Thanks, Bret, for making me spit out my drink laughing! That is funny (and stupid) stuff!