Legal Safety Grip?

[EsqUmp]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

Please provide a rule citation that backs up your ruling that the bat is altered.

In my interpretation, a bat with insufficient tape is not an altered bat. It is an illegal bat as per 3-1-D.

My point is that if the manufacturer didn't create the bat with the grip that way, the bat is altered. The rules allow the replacing of a bat grip. The don't allow moving the grip or replacing one in a new location. The issue isn't that the grip may be insufficient, but that it isn't as it was manufactured. That's my argument for an altered bat.

I still argue that the bat is illegal because it doesn't meet specifications (assuming that some insane manufacturer made the bat that way).

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

My point is that if the manufacturer didn't create the bat with the grip that way, the bat is altered. The rules allow the replacing of a bat grip. The don't allow moving the grip or replacing one in a new location. The issue isn't that the grip may be insufficient, but that it isn't as it was manufactured. That's my argument for an altered bat.

I still argue that the bat is illegal because it doesn't meet specifications (assuming that some insane manufacturer made the bat that way).

You couldn't be more wrong. There isn't now, nor was there ever a requirement that a manufacturer's grip be retained or maintained. For that matter, there isn't even a requirement for the manufacturer to present the bat with a grip.

[EsqUmp]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

You couldn't be more wrong. There isn't now, nor was there ever a requirement that a manufacturer's grip be retained or maintained. For that matter, there isn't even a requirement for the manufacturer to present the bat with a grip.

You are way off. http://forum.officiating.com/images/icons/icon13.gif Obviously the manufacturer can make whatever bat they want. The question is whether it will obtain ASA approval. What you can and cannot do with a bat handle are outlined by the rules. You can replace the grip but you cannot cut it in half even if it remains 6 - 15 inches. It's absurd to think you could do that.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

You are way off. http://forum.officiating.com/images/icons/icon13.gif Obviously the manufacturer can make whatever bat they want. The question is whether it will obtain ASA approval. What you can and cannot do with a bat handle are outlined by the rules. You can replace the grip but you cannot cut it in half even if it remains 6 - 15 inches. It's absurd to think you could do that.

Uhhh, no.

I think you're focusing and over-applying the old rule where if the grip tape formed a cone or flare, the bat was considered altered. This is no longer the case. And even prior to 2010, having too short a grip or too long a grip was not considered altering the bat - it was simply illegal.

You said it yourself, the grip can legally be replaced by the owner of the bat. If the tape on the bat doesn't comply with 3-1-D, it is NOT an altered bat, it's an ILLEGAL bat. They haven't changed the physical characteristics of the bat, as the grip is not a permanent component of the bat. Therefore, moving said grip is not altering the bat. Period.

Please read the definitions of an "altered bat" and an "illegal bat" in Rule 1, then ask yourself, "how is a bat with an insufficient grip an altered bat?"

I seriously hope you haven't tossed someone in the last 2 years over how they taped their bat. If so, you owe them an apology.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

You are way off. http://forum.officiating.com/images/icons/icon13.gif Obviously the manufacturer can make whatever bat they want. The question is whether it will obtain ASA approval. What you can and cannot do with a bat handle are outlined by the rules. You can replace the grip but you cannot cut it in half even if it remains 6 - 15 inches. It's absurd to think you could do that.

You know what, you're right, the world is wrong. Good luck this season.

[SRW]

quit feeding the troll ...