ASA Convention
 

Early reports from Shreveport:

It seems the number of venders is down a little bit, but that seems to be expected in the present economy.

Rumor has it the 2012 convention will e in Dallas, TX

The rule to ADD the 52/300 ball to the list of approved balls has a lot of backing and will probably pass. During some testing, members of TeamUSA (SP) were hitting these ball over the lights in Hall of Fame Stadium using wood bats. From all reports these balls can be the difference between a bad headache and a fractured skull. They have a truer flight and bounce than the 52/275 and will last at all temperatures. The only people who will have a problem with these balls are those who cannot hit a home run without a hot bat.

Proposal to award bases for an IP in slow pitch has little chance to get through. The chances of the proposal to remove the awarded base for an IP in fastpitch seem to be 50/50.

Change to define a fair ball as it concerns to portion of first base involved may be taken to housekeeping.

Don't know if you are into architecture Mike.......but if so the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans is worth a look.

Joel

Thanks for the update, Mike. Say hi to Kenny Wayne Shepherd for me.

So, Mike, judging by the way you said "add" when referring to the 52/300 ball, do you think they will make this an second option and KEEP the 44/375? Or do you think they'll do what they did with the .47 COR ball and make it optional one year and replace it the next?

ASA must give manufacturer's 18 months notice to discontinue use of a ball. Remember, ASA did not discontinue use of the .47 COR, just stopped
using it in SP.

While typing this, a rep from ADStarr, formerly with Anaconda, stopped to say goodbye and stated this is the new ball and the 44 should be gone by 2013.

Umpires Committee approved:

Moving bases to 70', not including Seniors

All portions of the double base must be equal in height

Optic yellow is required in all divisinos of play except 16" SP

The 52/300 ball

Men's E/Rec uniform requirement of a matching shirt with number only

Penalizing a team for not having the proper number of player in Co-ed in the proper positions by giving the choice to the offended team of the result of the play or award BR 1B and advance runners forced. The violation is ignored if the BR and all runners advance one base safely.

Permitting leaping in all FP with the toes down.

Make 10 player pitching consistent with 9 player game

Add 1-1 count to the Masters classification

Gray ball bags

Add "silver" as an acceptable color of an umpire's mask.

Other points:

There were admitted continual problems with the system last year to the point they shut it down. They now have “in house” service persons and programmers along with an outside programming source which has added help in cleaning up the system.
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RegisterASA has been revamped and will provide a “Home Plate” page that allows for all information involving all registrations whether player, team, coach, umpire or any other position will be on a single data base with varying permissions for individuals.

2011 ASA Biennial UIC Clinic is scheduled 2/3-2/6, 2011. Registration fee is same as last year, $175 which includes Friday and Saturday luncheon, Saturday banquet, rule book, hat, shirt, Case Book/Clinic Guide and the new ASA Umpire Mechanics DVD. For those attending, they will be able to order additional copies of the DVD for $28/ea. The separate cost of the DVD has yet to been set.

The new DVD is to include 1 umpire mechanics, 2 umpire FP & SP mechanics and 3 umpire mechanics.

ASA is considering a new jacket that doesn't have the sheen the present jacket does. They are also considering it in a pull-over, partial zipper and full zipper jacket with, yeah, stripes on the shoulder.

Why do we care?

Which region is hosting hospitality? See you there. :)

Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it is a rule change which you will need to apply. :cool:
Haven't heard. I'll ask Bill today.

BTW, other notes that umpires will care about. It is being reported that to save money, umpires will only be covered on site of an event. Travel to or from will no longer be covered.

When you say "covered," are you referring to insurance or mileage?

Which will cause endless confusion between sanctions. :rolleyes:

But, it is a step, or should I say leap, in the right direction. I have always wondered why there was a difference in the way men and women were treated in the FP game.

Insurance

Equipment Testing and Certification Committee

Rejected all proposed changes to the field (base, pitching distance, pitcher's box) and the return to 12' max pitch height in SP.

Approved the 52/300 as a legal ball, better definitions of an altered bat and safety grip including any attachment be taped.

The new ball will travel just as far as the 44/375. Confirmed by a member of Team USA, while doing some onfield work (in Cincinatti) with the balls, Johnny Mac was carrying his wood bat and Wegman DID hit the ball that left the park high and deep (supposedly over the lights). The ball will travel far. The only issue they had was with the power of the batters in this case, the ball will "go oblong" in flight which means it will "knuckle" going to the outfield. The ball remained intact and playable.

On the 10' v 12' arc. After testing by Dr. Smith, it was determined that the standard pitch at these two heights would only create difference of .0005 seconds which would not give an perceptable advantage to the pitcher in reaction time.

A Trackman system has been developed and studied in Denmark that uses a Doppler radar system to measure all aspects of a pitched and batted ball that can even determine the speed of the ball's spin. They have already been using this system with some amazing results.

At the Hooters this year, all bats were tested prior to the tournament (30 teams). The good bats were held by ASA and those which did not pass the compression test were returned to the players for them to take back to the hotel or wherever. ASA placed holograms on them and retained possession throughout the tournament. Midway through the tournament, all bats were retested. Only nine had improved via normal use. These were taken until the end of the tournament. Any player who took a bat off of the field, including into the dugout, lost the use of that bat until it was retested and reapproved. Without the player's knowledge, all bats were tested overnight prior to the last day of play and all had passed the compression testing.

BTW, ASA's new system checking the bats and ball with the Trackman ($70K initial hardware/software investment with a considerable cost for software updates) is being done in partnership with the NCAA and NFHS.

Not yours. It is going to be the Eastern Territory.

BTW, Shreveport has been great. There are banner on all the light standards, half the front page of last Friday's local newspaper covered the convention and last night they bussed everyone to the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. For the old folks, that was the home of the Louisiana Hayride. Fed everyone, provided some Mardi Gras floats and beads and some pretty good music.

Of course, the city is not doing well, so any positive fluctuation of the economy is a plus.

Don't worry. People will be back in the casinos before you know it! :rolleyes:

It reminds me of Atlantic City where they promised to rejuvenate an old city and take care of its citizens. What has happened is that a very many beautiful buildings, a national summer family destination and turned it into a bright, glitzy and gaudy area in the boardwalk area and marina and pushed many of its longtime citizens out with much of the city turning into a near-slum status.

I hope Shreveport doesn't get to that point.

Mike thanks as always for the updates.


yeah.. but are we ever gonna get numbers ??!???!? ;)


Thanks again

Personal opinion: I do not care for anything which makes the umpire stand out other than a good, crisp mechanic for the purpose of selling a call.

An umpire's uniform should not draw attention to him/herself through style, color or condition. The uniform should be neat, clean and professional, not dapper and hip. Let the players and coaches wear the clown suits.

JMHO

Silver Mask.
 

So can we assume you disagree with the silver mask idea?

Basic, simple. Black. Why the silver?

they have very good masks that are "silverish" and they look sharp and it doesnt really matter. ASA needs to open up to umpire improvements that are coming out.

numbers are lame tho.. i was goofing about that. thank god we dont have to sew those things on. :P

"Look Sharp" is a matter of opinion. We will aggree to disagree. My personal opinion if that they make an umpire stand out. It has been said uncountable times in numourous threads how umpire should not be seen. So why are you concerned about "looking sharp" when the color of the mask is concerned.

How is the color of the mask have anything to do with umpire "improvements"? If they can paint it silver, they can paint it black.

Change can be good. But don't change simply to change and that is what this represents.

Just what was the 'change' about gray ball bags?? Just curious as the website has been selling gray bags with ASA on them for a while now.....

One thing to be decided in the future should be the adopting of gray as the 'official' slacks color. So many local associations (ours included)/ high school associations, even college conferences have already done so, or are in the process of doing this, so it is almost a moot point. Pretty soon, the only places mandating navy blue slacks will be ASA at the national level and NCAA...again at the national level. Most - if not all - of the 'other' alphabet soup groups (USSSA, PONY, etc) now mandate gray too. This is the type of thing where ASA usually leads, not follows....wonder why the hesitation?

I would love to know what the ratio of sales of navy/gray slacks are on official gear.com is......

I was wondering the same thing. Going to Nationals, the paperwork said that the ball bag had to have "ASA" on it in block letters, but never said anything about the color. So I brought my grey bags that I bought from OfficialGear.com and wore them. My UICs never said a word to me about it. I'm pretty certain I even asked them if that was okay.

I had my navy bags with me, of course.

1. The gray ball bag isn't approved for championship play according to 10.5.D. It requires a rule change to add it.

Modified (and some fastpitch) umpires from the midwest wear a grayish "p"leather ball bag with an ASA logo (not block letters) that has NEVER been approved, and never sold by ASA Properties (I have a set as a gag gift from one top gun after harassing him for years about wearing them). The NUS doesn't stop them at Modified Nationals, it is almost traditional for them, but they aren't the rulebook uniform.

2. ASA Properties/Officialgear.com sells lots of things that may be acceptable for league play, but not for championship play. Like, shorts, high socks with navy stripes, footies, leisure shirts and jackets .... Just because they sell it doesn't make it Championship Play approved.

3. Just wondering; wouldn't you think that refusing to follow the alphabet soups that give in to others' preferences being easier to wear than softball's traditional pants could be considered leading, not following??

In reverse, NFHS has more recently allowed state adoption to INCLUDE navy blue pants. Is that leading, or following?

Actually, the silver mask has a pretty dull finish and isn't as bad as umpires wearing red, green, blue, etc. pads.

Agreed. In fact, the mask is a lot less "blingy" than patent shoes and belts, IMO.

I would seriously think about a titanium mask if I could wear it for softball. Don't do enough baseball to justify the cost.