Excessive Wear

[NCASAUmp]

I have a question regarding the "excessive wear" section of 3-1-G:

ASA 3-1-G: ...The bat barrel shall not have signs of excessive wear.

ASA provided some clarification this year in Rules Supplement #3:

ASA RS #3: When bats with dents,excessive wear or an audible rattle are found, that bat shall be removed and held until the Championship is over. When noticeable de-lamination appears on the Easton style bats designed to show de-lamination on the barrel area more than an inch in any direction, remove that bat and hold it until the end of the Championship.

Now, the Easton-style bats to which the RS is referring are these new ones such as the Reveal, which has some sort of laminated finish different from most other bats. However, I very frequently find that a lot of the Easton bats from previous years (such as the SCN8) gets a lot of wear towards the endcap to the point where the paint is gone for the last inch or two from the endcap.

My question is: what exactly constitutes "excessive wear?" I realize it's a judgment call on the part of the umpire during the pre-game equipment inspection, but there are very few guidelines as to what exactly is "excessive wear." Where do you draw the line?

[AtlUmpSteve]

My opinion; and how I would rule, when/if a UIC.

We really shouldn't be overly obsessed with cosmetic issues; is the bat now functionally changed, or has the wear made it impossible to determine if this is a legal bat?? If neither of those questions are issues, let it be.

[wadeintothem]

Agree with Steve for championship play. I think some are a little bat snatch happy... and thats not entirely their fault. IMO, some is the fault of ASA who respond to bat mfg's recommends who..guess what they want to do? Sell bats! This is a source of great discontent when 1/2 of a teams bats are removed under what are IMO, questionable reasons.

I think the eye should be towards safety.. not any ding the bat may have.

For beer league slow pitch, let em play homey. wtf?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by wadeintothem

Agree with Steve for championship play. I think some are a little bat snatch happy... and thats not entirely their fault. IMO, some is the fault of ASA who respond to bat mfg's recommends who..guess what they want to do? Sell bats! This is a source of great discontent when 1/2 of a teams bats are removed under what are IMO, questionable reasons.

I think the eye should be towards safety.. not any ding the bat may have.

For beer league slow pitch, let em play homey. wtf?

Where do you think most of the lawsuits originate? It certainly isn't championship play and there may be a reason for that (see comment above).

Teams lose 1/2 their bats because they don't buy smart. The sheeple follow the crowd. "If Susie has bat A and hits the ball, then so will my little Margie." Too many people actually believe the keystone of performance is the equipment, not the player and IMO that is part of the reason why the bats have come to the forefront as an issue.

Dummies go out and pay $250-$350 for a piece of equipment they go through pains to get broken in and then expect the thing to last a couple years. As a bat becomes broken in, it also begins to break down and that is where they become dangerous.

Have you ever seen a bat "explode"? Pieces go everywhere. Allowing the dents and dings go was okay with the aluminum. I don't think the composite bats are as durable to withstand flaws, constructural or developed through use, as well as aluminum.

[Tru_in_Blu]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

"If Susie has bat A and hits the ball, then so will my little Margie."

Well I'll be darned! I remember that show from long ago. Came home from school and watched in on one of the 3 stations we had at the time.

I seem to recall that the star of the show, Gale Storm, died recently, perhaps a couple or few months ago.

Guess that lets people know our relative dawg years...

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

Well I'll be darned! I remember that show from long ago. Came home from school and watched in on one of the 3 stations we had at the time.

I seem to recall that the star of the show, Gale Storm, died recently, perhaps a couple or few months ago.

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on it. I know there are plenty of folks on here old enough to remember the show and it just rolled off the fingers so easily...

[shipwreck]

Well I see that show ran from 1952 until 1955. Unless you watched it in sydication, you are giving away the proximity of your age. For that matter, even if you did watch it on syndication, you are still doing pretty much the same. Dave