Altered Bat? You make this call (or do you?).

[nc452010]

ASA SP men's game.....league (same rules with a couple minor changes). There's some "chatter" in the community that one of the teams is utilizing a "hot" bat (believed by some to be shaved). One of the biggest "chatters" is the grounds supervisor (for this field) who is also the coach of a team in the same league.

Umpire knows of the "chatter" about the alleged altered bat. He is also a very knowledgable and well-respected umpire. Those two things are never in question.

So.....part-way through the game, the umpire "feels/senses/thinks" he's seeing better hitting than should be happening (he may or may not have had this team's games earlier in the year to discern this.....I have no idea). He decides that he will deem the bat (although it has all proper stamps and is by all intents and purposes, legal) "altered".

Via the league, he has no authority to confiscate the bat. He offers to have the bat tested (although I'm not sure what this proves, once the bat has already been removed with no empirical evidence to sunstantiate said removal).

My question is........has a HUGE can of worms not been opened? What's to stop EVERY team from simply saying "That bat's hot"; "He can't hit 'em that far": etc...; etc...; etc.... ? Where does it end? How do you qualify your decision to remove a bat on "feel"? How do you remove a bat (by rule) and not the player?

If I'm wrong.....just tell me I'm wrong. I think this is an area we do NOT belong in.....nor should we want to be there.

Thanks.

jeff