Cheating pitcher

[Dakota]

First, to set the stage. Rec league, girls 14U fast pitch. I have called games for this leage for quite a while, and it is a very relaxed, have fun league, with the top teams being good enough to play "B" travel and even contend for tournament championships & the bottom teams pure rec. All that to say this: quality of play ranges from pretty good, to fairly awful, but the atmosphere at the games is a lot of good times by all. So, I was blind-sided by what happened.

Regular league game (evening double header). Pitcher for the home team goes out for her warmups with what is apparently one of the "team" balls, instead of the game balls her coach has given me. I let it ride, rec league & all.

The first batter fouls the ball out of play after a couple of pitches. I throw in one of the balls out of my bag. A few pitches later, a fan tosses in her original ball to me & I just bag it without looking too close (won't make that mistake again). Pitcher requests the original ball. I, thinking maybe there was something wrong with the game ball I tossed in, accomodate her. Nothing is wrong with the ball she returns. A couple of batters later, it is fouled out of play again. I toss in a game ball. When the fouled out ball is tossed back to me, she again asked to exchange balls. I, now suspicous (I may be slow, but it does eventually sink in), refuse,saying I am not going to delay play exchanging balls - play ball.

At this inning break, I look closely at her favorite ball. It does not have hardly any markings left, but what is does say is "low compression." The league's official ball is the ASA .47 COR / 525 lbs compression ball (diamond ASA stamp). Assuming her ball used to be official ASA, it would have been the .47 COR / 375 lbs compression ball (round ASA stamp).

I tossed the ball out of the game, but said nothing to either the pitcher or her coach.

Question: should I have done something more aggressive? I am certain she knew exactly what she was doing. I was caught completely off-guard with this kind of behavior in this league.

[Andy]

Tough situation...I also work a rec league much as you described. I'm trying to think what I would do if this situation came up in one of those games.

You could have ejected the pitcher as soon as you discovered the illegal ball. As you stated, you are convinced she knew exactly what she was doing. This may seem a little harsh for a laid-back rec league, but you would be sending a message to anyone else that thinks about trying something like that.

As for what to do at this point, maybe tell her coach next time you run across the team. Maybe notify the league board of directors, if you feel comfortable approaching them. Definitely let other umpires that work the league know so that they can be aware. Since you did not say anything to the player or coach, they may think they have gotten away with one and may try it again.

I know from here on, I will check each foul ball that gets returned back into the field.

[bluezebra]

You should have run her, then given a written report to the league director. This is blatant cheating, and you helped her.

Bob

[Dakota]

Bob,

If by "you helped her" you mean I wasn't diligent in asking for her warmup ball & giving her a game ball, and properly inspecting the ball when it was thrown back in, I suppose you are correct.

However, the ball she was using was not per se illegal by ASA rules. And, the published rules for the league do not address the compression rating of the ball. There is no ASA rule against using a ball with a low compression. I used the phrase "the league's official ball" in my original post, but what that really means is the ball the league officially buys to distribute as official game balls.

Further, other than general unsportsmanlike conduct, there is no rule in ASA addressing bringing a non-game ball into the game other than the illegal equipment should be removed.

ASA Case book play 3.3-1 deals with an illegal ball being brought into a slow pitch game by the pitcher. The ruling just says the ball is not allowed, and is silent on whether there is any sanction against the pitcher or the team.

For what it's worth, I did report her behavior to the league director and to the league UIC before I ever posted anything here.

[Playa]

Shoulda made it real obvious and thrown in the ball to the OPPOSING pitcher ! !