Softball in California

[Mikey 16,577]

9 hours ago, guest23 said:

Y'all are so quick to turn on these girls.  Worst umping ever but you quickly throw our girls under the bus. Sad

Idiot troll. My guess is it's some loser bamzo that happened to drift by on it's way to the crackhouse.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

The batter's box rule is going to cause a lot of anguish this year, and not just for Auburn.  A girl who has had a certain batting motion since she was 8 years old will naturally find it difficult to adjust that consistently when she's 21.  And to me, the idea that the HP umpire can call balls and strikes and still watch the batter's box is laughable.  I've always thought the ball/strike umpiring was the weakest part of the game.  Does it suggest anything that the batter's box calls always seem to be made when the batter has produced an important hit?  There needs to be a better way to make this ruling.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

1 hour ago, Mikey said:

Idiot troll. My guess is it's some loser bamzo that happened to drift by on it's way to the crackhouse.

I think it was more likely someone close to the team, who was offended by my prediction that we would lose the game.  I still love all 25 girls, and I'm still a realist.  Let's win the next one.

[SumterAubie 3,031]

1 hour ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I think it was more likely someone close to the team, who was offended by my prediction that we would lose the game.  I still love all 25 girls, and I'm still a realist.  Let's win the next one.

That is what I was thinking. A friend or relative of one of the players. 

[augolf1716 21,109]

12 hours ago, guest23 said:

Y'all are so quick to turn on these girls.  Worst umping ever but you quickly throw our girls under the bus. Sad

Nice first post 

[AU64 10,122]

2 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

The batter's box rule is going to cause a lot of anguish this year, and not just for Auburn.  A girl who has had a certain batting motion since she was 8 years old will naturally find it difficult to adjust that consistently when she's 21.  And to me, the idea that the HP umpire can call balls and strikes and still watch the batter's box is laughable.  I've always thought the ball/strike umpiring was the weakest part of the game.  Does it suggest anything that the batter's box calls always seem to be made when the batter has produced an important hit?  There needs to be a better way to make this ruling.

When the rule change was announced you could see this coming.   Going to be hard on the umps and raises more opportunities for coaches to question things going on during play....can be used against slap hitters to get them off their stride .....and I'm guessing that instant replay will not be available when there is a challenge. 

[GBAU83 212]

3 minutes ago, AU64 said:

When the rule change was announced you could see this coming.   Going to be hard on the umps and raises more opportunities for coaches to question things going on during play....can be used against slap hitters to get them off their stride .....and I'm guessing that instant replay will not be available when there is a challenge. 

My understanding of the change (for college) is the past rule allowed her to be ruled in the box so long as no foot was in contact with the ground completely outside the box (so part of a foot on the batter's box line was ruled in the box).  Now the rule is any part of the foot outside the line is ruled out of the box.  Very hard to call and see, especially on a slapper.  As a high school umpire, the only time I can see it is if she plants her foot completely out of the box.  If she is moving, I am watching more with ball location (in case she doesn't swing), if she swings or not, is there contact or not and if contact, was it a tip, foul, fair or contacts the batter.

[around4ever 4,139]

2 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

I think it was more likely someone close to the team, who was offended by my prediction that we would lose the game.  I still love all 25 girls, and I'm still a realist.  Let's win the next one.

My thoughts as well about being someone close to the team. You really didn't throw anybody under the bus by making a prediction.  

This poster joined last April but never posted until last night.  Their first and only post.  We are all fans of each and every girl on this team. If they can't see that, it's their problem not ours. 

[AU64 10,122]

2 minutes ago, GBAU83 said:

My understanding of the change (for college) is the past rule allowed her to be ruled in the box so long as no foot was in contact with the ground completely outside the box (so part of a foot on the batter's box line was ruled in the box).  Now the rule is any part of the foot outside the line is ruled out of the box.  Very hard to call and see, especially on a slapper.  As a high school umpire, the only time I can see it is if she plants her foot completely out of the box.  If she is moving, I am watching more with ball location (in case she doesn't swing), if she swings or not, is there contact or not and if contact, was it a tip, foul, fair or contacts the batter.

Good luck on catching all those moving pieces.  I watched a few video clips explaining the rule and even in slow motion some of them were hard to see.  And as I suggested earlier,  if a coach wants to shake up the opposing slap hitters, he / she can just make a fuss at a critical moment and get the hitter thinking about her feet and timing.....and not the ball...JMO

[around4ever 4,139]

8 minutes ago, GBAU83 said:

My understanding of the change (for college) is the past rule allowed her to be ruled in the box so long as no foot was in contact with the ground completely outside the box (so part of a foot on the batter's box line was ruled in the box).  Now the rule is any part of the foot outside the line is ruled out of the box.  Very hard to call and see, especially on a slapper.  As a high school umpire, the only time I can see it is if she plants her foot completely out of the box.  If she is moving, I am watching more with ball location (in case she doesn't swing), if she swings or not, is there contact or not and if contact, was it a tip, foul, fair or contacts the batter.

So every rule in softball the line is in play except now with this new rule. The line of the batter's box is now out.  I love consistency in the rules. 

[around4ever 4,139]

4 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Good luck on catching all those moving pieces.  I watched a few video clips explaining the rule and even in slow motion some of them were hard to see.  And as I suggested earlier,  if a coach wants to shake up the opposing slap hitters, he / she can just make a fuss at a critical moment and get the hitter thinking about her feet and timing.....and not the ball...JMO

Also, that makes the umpire focus on the feet and not the ball.  Which forces the umpire to judge the pitch by where the ball was caught or framed by the catcher. 

[WarTiger 3,901]

13 hours ago, guest23 said:

Y'all are so quick to turn on these girls.  Worst umping ever but you quickly throw our girls under the bus. Sad

Registered last April, took you this long to post and that's what you are going with?   Clearly, you never actually read anything here if you really believe that, because you couldn't be more clueless if you tried.     Post less...

[saminbama 740]

26 minutes ago, GBAU83 said:

My understanding of the change (for college) is the past rule allowed her to be ruled in the box so long as no foot was in contact with the ground completely outside the box (so part of a foot on the batter's box line was ruled in the box).  Now the rule is any part of the foot outside the line is ruled out of the box.  Very hard to call and see, especially on a slapper.  As a high school umpire, the only time I can see it is if she plants her foot completely out of the box.  If she is moving, I am watching more with ball location (in case she doesn't swing), if she swings or not, is there contact or not and if contact, was it a tip, foul, fair or contacts the batter.

While it is tough to spot, it's not impossible.  Without seeing the play, it's impossible to judge the validity of it.  You won't have this issue with power or right handed batters and our three most likely batters are Draper, KK and Taylon.  This year I've noticed all three have a tendency to step in the area between the box and the plate.  As an umpire, you are lined up in the slot and even though your eye level has to change, that call is right in front of you.  One thing to remember.  It's early season for the umpires as well and they have to get in game shape just like the players.  Not just physically, but mentally as well.  That may explain why the local umps haven't called it.  They play softball year round out there, so those umps may not be in the same early season shape as our local umps are.  Anyway, I hope we use this road trip as a learning experience.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Just noticed that Washington beat Long Beach 4-0.  Washington threw their ace (Alvelo), and she had a no-no going to the 7th, where she gave up a single.  LB threw a different pitcher from the one we faced.  Huskies now 18-0 on the year.

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, OlderWhiskey said:

Just noticed that Washington beat Long Beach 4-0.  Washington threw their ace (Alvelo), and she had a no-no going to the 7th, where she gave up a single.  LB threw a different pitcher from the one we faced.  Huskies now 18-0 on the year.

Their ace is truly an ace......I'm satisfied that we did not see her last week....

[OlderWhiskey 953]

The Long Beach pitcher we faced (Cielo Meza) no-hit #20 Minnesota today.  11 strikeouts, one walk.  Faced 22 batters as LB won 1-0.