Girls Fastpitch Softball

Did Someone Order ...

2008-05-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I was at a Little League regular season baseball game this past weekend at one of the regional LL meccas, Toms River, NJ. You might think this was just a pleasant afternoon at the park but I take my job seriously. I was there observing in order to collect more material for my softball blog! I am a student of the game, after all. And that's a good thing because I saw something while I was there which is very relevant to girls fastpitch softball.

I was pretty impressed with the level of play in Toms River. There was one kid on the field who was easily bigger than any adult. Sometimes you see a kid like that and guess that his coordination hasn't caught up with his body yet. That wasn't the case with this kid. He was as coordinated and athletic as he was large. Luckily for the team he was playing against, he had used up his allotment of pitching for the week. He settled for playing first. I wasn't surprised to see the entire outfield standing on the warning track when this kid came to bat. I also wasn't surprised to see him walked frequently by a pretty savy pitcher!

Toms River has some excellent baseball in their town rec leagues. Anyone familiar with Little League knows a Toms River team has made it well into the tournament several times and won the whole shootin' match in 1998 with a 12-9 victory over Japan. Some of those players are just now trying to work their ways through professional baseball's minor leagues. Other towns nearby have produced MLB players too including former All-Star Al Leiter. Needless to say, the area takes its baseball rather seriously.

The game I watched was very exciting. It went to the fifth 1-0 with numerous good plays being made by several players. The pitching was well above anything I have personally seen in terms of 12 year olds. I have seen some good kids working out inside the Toms River indoor facility from time to time. But in general, the level of kids I see in my own town isn't even close to what comes out of Toms River in volumes, even just at that one game. I'm told the Leiter family may have something to do with that!

So the tension was pretty high. Runners on base were at a premium. Several attempted bunts didn't work out. Baserunners were caught stealing. Great plays were made in the field with runners in scoring position with two outs. It was a very well played game, played by focused kids. Then the unthinkable happened.

The unthinkable thing which turned the tide of this game did not involve any sort of play or error made by a stellar fielder. It did not involve a long ball by the big kid. It did not involve a pitcher getting wild or hitting a batter or any other thing you might possibly expect. What happened was one team suffered a mental breakdown. That breakdown resulted in several runs being scored by the opposition in one fateful inning.

I expect many did not know what had caused the breakdown. Coaches were dumfounded, having believed they had prepared this team well for the mental stresses of the game. They were shocked to watch their team fall to pieces because of an external stimulus they had not anticipated. Mental toughness be damned. This team had experienced the unthinkable. Billy's mom brought him a glazed pretzel from the snackbar!

Many present at the game that day did not notice the event. Billy was out of the game at this point. Few saw mom bring Billy the pretzel. Nobody saw him eat it ... except his teammates. I wouldn't have noticed this had I not been standing next to the dugout, talking with one of the team's coaches. There was only one way into that dugout and it was through me. Mom said, "can you please excuse me for a moment?" I replied, "sure" and got out of the way.

The pretzel looked and smelled extraordinary. The snackbar was just about 200 feet from where I was standing. I hadn't had lunch yet and a quick glance at my watch told me it was now about 12:30. My mouth watered and I heard my stomach growl once. I thought about leaving my perch and heading over to the line now forming at the snackbar. But the game was getting exciting and I opted to stay and watch.

A few minutes later, one father approached the dugout and begged my pardon so he could talk to his kid. The kid hadn't done particularly well his first time or two up and now was looking around for a batting helmet to take his next turn at the plate. The father offered probably the same advice he always does. "Keep your hands back. Lay off the high ones. Be patient. Pick a good pitch to hit." The kid listened attentively and then said, "Hey dad? Can you do me a favor? Just one little thing. Can you get me a pretzel?" I won;t repeat what the father said in response but suffice it to say it went something like, "a pretzel? Are you out of your *&^%$#@ mind? Just play the game and we'll worry about eating later."

Then a head popped out of the dugout and the kid attached to hit yelled, "Mom! Mom! Come here, please." When mom appeared, the head said, "can you PLEASE get me a pretzel?" This mother decided she would pretend that she could not hear her kid. She yelled back, "I can't hear you, I'll talk to you after the game."

Next I heard kids arguing about something and the coach yelled back at them, "guys, get your heads into the game. Quit clowning. We have a chance to win this one." he couldn't have been more wrong. The team had no chance of winning from that point forward. The kids were completely distracted by their stomachs. When my own stomach had growled moments earlier, I looked around in embarrassment to see if anyone had heard it. Luckily nobody had. But within a few minutes, I heard some unreal sounds emanating from the dugout.

One kid turned to another and said, "what was that?" The kid looked uneasily back and said, "that was my stomach, I didn't eat anything for breakfast." The kid might have been able to make it through this game but the presence of the pretzel in the dugout had sent him over the edge. All he could think about now was food.

I won't go into what happened after this "event" but things did not go well for the team who had received a room-service-for-one delivery. All the kids except Billy lost focus. But, as I said, Billy wasn't even in the game at this point. The kids who still had to hit and play the field had lost all focus and it showed.

Well, that's my story for the day and it reminds me of a day a long time ago when I coached 8 and 9 year olds. One kid received a special delivery of cheese fries sometime in the 4th inning. I was too involved with the game to observe the delivery but I did come to learn about it when I turned to tell the kid she was going in to play the field. When I found her in the dugout, she was holding one of those warped paper plates with maybe just two or three fries on it and the residual cheese spilling over the sides and onto the ground ... and her uniform. I started to tell her she was going in and realized she was in no condition to play. My first thoughts were "I'll hold your plate while you go run to your mom and get cleaned up." But I knew full well that I would not be able to control myself around those last three cheese fries and I didn't want to embarras myself. So I let her sit for another half inning.

My point today is game time is not meal time. I understand that sometimes you do not get a chance to eat enough food before the game gets going but you can't simply supplement with cheese fries or glazed pretzels during the actual game. You've got to find another way to do it. Perhaps a piece of fruit or a small bag of something in the bat bag. And don't forget a little napkin or paper towel, preferably with a little extra water or something to get the sugars off your little one's fingers. Better yet, bring something she can quickly eat before a game starts. It only takes a few minutes to eat an apple, a bag of pretzels, or maybe half of a small sandwich before you have to be on the field. If you just do not have time to get enough food into your body, how about a bottle of Gatorade to stave off the appetite for an hour?

Tournament players often face a difficult time trying to get enough to eat to keep themselves standing. I know we often have schedules like 8:00 first game, 9:30 or 9:45 second game, 12:00 third game, and 1:45 begins the elimination round. My kids don't particularly care for breakfast mostly because their school days include lunch around 11 or 11:30. I know one kid whose school lunch break is at 9:30 am! And during the week, we tend to eat dinner at 5:00 so we can do our homework and still have time to pitch or take a few swings in the basement. The typical tournament day is not conducive to good eating habits.

What we try to do is get the kids to eat anything in the car on the way to the location, drink a Gatorade during games one and two, maybe eat a Powerbar or some fruit between games 2 and 3, and then, if there is time, perhaps eat something more substantial before the elimination round. Many times our kids have too much adrenaline flowing to allow themselves to eat. The one thing they agree to pick on is some cut up fresh fruit. We either buy something already made up at the local supermarket or, if time permits, buy an assortment ourselves and cut it up. And, and, and we always bring enough for all the kids on the team if they want some.

I have never read any book on etiquette. I am not in competition with Martha Stewart or any other stalwart of the field when it comes to proper manners. Nobody ever said of me, he is this or that but at least he has good manners. However, there is one thing I will not do and that is consume an entire meal while somebody sits next to me without one and drools on themselves. This I learned in Kindergarten.

The way I understand things, the concept of manners developed spontaneously as a means toward promoting good relationships among people. If something is referred to as "good manners," that something usually prevents one from doing something which might cause physical or psychic harm to another and thereby make them angry. We say "please" so the person to whom we are directing our request understands that we will appreciate them when they comply. We say "thank you" in order to acknowledge that we are not some spoiled brat who has absolutely no appreciation for whatever we are thankful for. We refrain from eating glazed pretzels in the dugout because we recognize that while everyone else is also probably hungry, they don't have a glazed pretzel. We refrain from eating cheese fries in the dugout so our teammates do not begin some sort of brawl in order to get in line to ask for "just one of those."

What I'm telling you is it is the height of rudeness to bring your kid some sort of delicious snack in the middle of a game. If you can't be more discreet, don't do it. Not only is it the height of rudeness, it takes not only your kid out of the game but the entire team. If I catch you sneaking food into the dugout, chances are pretty good I'm going to be mad. I'm very definitely going to be mad at the parent and I'm also going to think less of the kid. I understand how things work in rec ball and when I'm dealing with 8s and 9s, I will quickly forgive everyone and not make it into a big deal. But if I'm coaching a tournament team, say 12U or 14U, trust me, you have tried my patience beyond its breaking point. If you're going to bring meals into the dugout for your kid, she had better be not just one of the best on the team but an indispensable member without whom we cannot win, or she is going to sit.

Well, that's it. I'm going to go eat breakfast now. For some reason I'm having trouble concentrating on writing at the moment.

Get Up, Stand Up

2008-05-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Someone asked the question over this past weekend as to what the best position in the batters box is. I think the answer is easy enough. The further you are up in the box, the better. As to where you are in relation to the plate, that depends on how the pitcher's pitches are breaking. Let's just take a look at why it is important to be up in the box and then go over considerations with respect to positioning relative to the plate.

In fastpitch softball most pitches have some kind of movement on them. Some few pitchers do throw a fair amount of fastballs but most rely on drops, screws, curves and rises. Even the change has relative break on it. And the questions you have to ask yourself before you decide where in the box is best are what is the typical trajectory of a pitch and where does it hit the zone.

There are two general approaches to throwing a movement pitch. One is the back door and the other is the front door. "Front door," a not very commonly used term, refers to a pitch that begins in the strike zone or close to it and breaks or otherwise moves outside the zone. "Back door" refers to a pitch which begins outside the zone and moves back into it.

The principal problem with back door pitches is the ball ends up in the strike zone from which it is hittable. Using the back door requires the pitcher to fool the batter into not swinging because she thinks the pitch will be a ball. Front door movement pitches usually work better because they entice the batter to swing and then prevent her from centering the ball on her bat. There are plenty of pitchers out there who strike out lots of batters but most have to settle for getting the batter to hit the ball badly. If your aim is to pitch to contact and get grounders and soft linedrives, the front door is a better approach. Also, it is probably easier to strike out hitters swinging when the ball is moving out of the zone rather than it is to get them looking when the pitch is drifting back over the plate.

Whether you agree with the foregoing or not, I think empirical observation will show that more pitches use the front door than the back. The remainder of what I have to say is based upon that assumption. In order to decide where the best place to position yourself, you've got to take a look at some of these pitches and figure out how to adjust to them.

The straight dropball is usually thrown low in the zone and breaks out of it. I have heard pitching coaches tell their students that ideally what you are looking for is a pitch which meets the ground right in back of the plate. When you throw the drop, what you are after is a groundball or, alternatively, a swing and miss. You throw the pitch to look a little fat just above the knees and try to get it to turn down as it approaches the batter, ultimately just grazing the strike zone (or going right below it) and then tumbling to the ground between the plate and the catcher. There are drop which have slight lateral movement on them - drop in, drop out and these complicate the picture a bit but most are thrown low and fall outside the zone.

There are a bunch of different curves out there. Two of the best have either drop or rise on them. A drop curve can look almost like a straight drop but it moves laterally depending on the pitcher. Righties throw a drop curve which breaks away from a righty batter. From this point forward, all movement will be discussed with reference to a righty pitcher and batter.

From the batter's perspective, I suppose you could say that a drop goes 12 o'clock to 6, a sweeping curve goes 9 to 3, and a drop curve kind of goes 10 to 4 or 11 to 5, depending on how much drop it has relative to curve. A drop curve is intended to get you to swing and miss or hit a weak ground ball to the right side. Of all the pitches which might be used through the back door, curves are perhaps the most likely. I think I have seen more sweeping and drop curves brought in via the back door that any other variety of pitch. In those instances, the pitcher is trying to get the hitter to step in the bucket and then either take a strike or swing weakly as she recognizes that the pitch is moving into the zone.

The rise curve is a very interesting animal. This pitch usually has less lateral movement than a sweeping or drop curve, its lateral movement tends to be later, and its upward jump is not as drastic as a true rise ball, which will get to in a moment. The rise curve is usually thrown either down the middle and a little up where it rises up, out of the zone and moves off the plate, or on the outside corner of the zone whwere it becomes unhittable as it approaches the plate. It isn't the easiest pitch to learn. Some girls have trouble enough working on the rise and other curves. They don;t need to mess up their mechanics by working an in between pitch. But as a batter, you have to consider the possibility that you may face it sometime.

The plain vanilla rise ball has backward spin on it and it rises up from inside the zone to out of it as it approaches the plate. Good rise ball pitchers can throw it for a strike but it is a difficult pitch to master and be able to have command over. Most average pitchers throw their rises at the top of the zone or just above it. (As an aside, I wonder if the NFCA decision to lower the top of the strike zone will serve to further reduce the number of pitchers who can effectively throw a rise.)

The screwball, in general terms, moves laterally in the opposite direction to the curve. In fastpitch softball I think what we most commonly see in terms of a screwball is less lateral movement and more angle of the pitch. What I mean is, I haven't seen a lot of screwballs which move a great deal inwards towards the right handed batter. Typically what I see is a pitch which is thrown on an angle from the furthest allowable point to the batter's right inside the pitching lane, to a point in tight to the batter and which moves in slightly towards the batter. The screw can be a downward pitch, flatter, or have some rise to it.

Lastly, let me say that the objects of any pitcher throwing a change-up are two fold. First of all, her primary objective is going to be to confuse you with the speed and spin of the ball. Her second ojective is going to be to "keep it out of your eyes" which means, she wants it to be in the bottom of the zome, preferably breaking out of it as it approaches the plate.

So that's enough about the way pitches generally move. The next part of this analysis is to take a look at the plate. If you stand over the plate and with your imagination, cut off the back end, you are left with a square. Now bisect the plate into four equal sized quarters. Not many pitchers are even a little concerned with the back two squares you have made. What they view as the strike zone they are interested in is the little tiny outside corners of the front two boxes. These are the places any good pitcher is going to throw the ball.

In terms of up and down, it is a little harder to visualize but in general a good pitcher is going to try to stay in the upper or lower couple of inches, that is when she wants to throw a strike. The rest of the time, she is going to be preoccupied with throwing poitches which look like they might hit those corners but which move off the plate.

So, if we could create a three dimensional strike zone made out of some material and then sit and watch a good pitcher pitch to it, what we would see is a gradual wearing away of the material only in the front corners, only at the top or bottom. The best pitchers will wear away very little material. They will never hit the main part of your imaginary strike zone unless they make some sort of pitch execution mistake.

The only logical conclusion I can make, based on the foregoing analysis, is if you want to hit, you must be up in the box. If you're going to protect the plate and prevent the pitcher from putting anything past you which touches the zone, you want to meet the ball before it breaks out of the zone. As I said, that's simple enough but it requires the hitter to react faster and make good judgments in less time.

As to where one should stand relatives to the plate, I think that depends on variables over which you, the hitter, have little control. You want to position yourself so as to protect both corners, though whether that is actually possible is a subject for another debate. Most of your decision with respect to this depend upon where the ump is calling balls and strikes. if the ump is giving the pitcher the outside corner, chances are decent she isn't giving her the inside one and obviously, you need to crowd the plate more.

Some umps don't give pitchers that much of the plate unless and until they earn it by showing command of the zone through the first couple of innings. if a pitcher isn't nibbling too much but she is hitting corners, the ump will generally broaden the zone in the middle innings. Batters need to adjust accordingly. Further along in the game, different umps have different tendencies. Some shrink and some expand depending on their particular habit and possibly the game situation. No ump will ever admit to shrinking or expanding the zone but I think we've all seen this done at various times for various reasons. As the batter, you have to at least be aware that the zone could shift furing the game.

Further, the batter must also be aware of the pitcher's tendencies. Some pitchers earn their living on the outside corner and off of it. They will only come in when they want to push you back so they can sneak one over the outside on the next pitch or the one after that. Some pitchers earn their keep by working mainly the inside corner. These often are the screwball pitchers. A select few pitchers will work both corners with equal ease. A smaller set will work the middle of the plate with risers. And an even smaller set will work both corners, up and down with a broad mix of pitches.

What I don't want to convey to you is a habit of shifting your foot position in and out according to the pitch you just saw. If that starts happening, you're dead. But if you know you are battling with a pitcher who throws all drop curves on the outside corner, you should adjust to that. And when she comes in on you after the first pitch strike, you should know that this is just an attempt to get you off the plate so she can throw one for a strike on the outside corner. That's probably going to be the one you want to hit. So don't move back away from the plate. Stay in there and be ready when she throws the pitch on the corner.

Also, when you set your feet up, you want to be consciously aware of where you are. If you are used to setting up in the box to where you can just cover the outside corner with about 3 inches of metal, and you move closer to the plate, you have to recognize that the strike zoine has shifted relative to you. It is closer. So when that pitch with the spin looks like it might just nick the outside corner, it probably is three or more inches off the plate and that's not the one you were looking for. This is true when you move up in the box towards the pitcher and her out pitch is the straight drop. The pitch look up a bit from where it would have been if you were sitting deep. You have to adjust your perceptions of the strike zone when you take up a new position there. Experience will make you better at this but, for now, at least be aware that when you move inside the box, the strike zone stays pretty much where it was - in other words it moves relative to you.

Finally, as a hitter you must be aware that if the pitcher can get you out without ever throwing a strike, that's what she's gonna do. One of the best pitchers I have ever observed throw maybe one true strike per hitter. That may be her first pitch, her second, or her third. Most of the rest of the time she is trying to throw something that looks like a strike but isn't. Sometimes umps give her strikes. Sometimes they don't. When they do, hitters need to adjust but they cannot adjust by swinging at every ball that is six inches or more out of the zone. They have to be aware of an expanded zone and act accordingly but I don't want to be blamed for encouraging batters to become bad ball hitters. When the umps are pinching the pitcher, batters are going to have something better to swing at but, here, I don't want you to become overly choosey. You have to figure out what pitches you want to hit and then go after them. This is a cat and mouse game. Which would you prefer to be, the cat or the mouse?

Mistake!

2008-05-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoy watching sports of all types as much as possible. And this internet thing really comes in handy when events take place and I cannot possibly attend them. We have watched several softball games online via college sponsored programs in which for a reasonable price, it is possible to subscribe to their "webcasts." This year I was really looking forward to the Big East softball championship tournament. When I discovered that the Big East has their own webcasts, I quickly ponied up the 6 bucks and planned my schedule to see several of the games. Unfortunately, things did not work out very well for me.

First of all the sign-up process was miserable. I entered in my credit card and other information several times before the thing finally decided not to crap out. I guess they can't afford to have big time web developers over at the B-East. Their software and other technology is weak, to say the least.

But finally I was able to get through and get my card posted. Then, in order to see the webcast, I basically had to close down all the idiotic windows which had popped up in the process of placing my order, exit out of Big Beast dot org and then try to sign on again. When I did, I was greeted with a message which told me I had not purchased any products. I figured maybe my credit card did not go through yet so I walked away from the puter and had some lunch. later I signed back in again and was greeted similary. This time I decided to click on anything and everything I could find until they let me see my blasted games, one of which was already underway.

After much trial and tribulation, I finally got the game on. It played on Windows media player which has, shall we say, limited functionality. But the picture wasn't too bad and I was able to see some of the game, though, might I add, i couldn't tell which team was which, there was nothing on the screen indicating inning, outs, score, let alone ball and strike count. It wasn't quite like watching TV. Then, after just a few minutes, there was a substantial rain delay. I decided I could live with that because there's nobody to blame. This sort of thing happens. And I wasn't hot to watch this particular game anyway. It was the next three, the semi-finals and the championship which really interested me.

An hour or so later, I decided to check and see if the game had begun. Apparently it hadn't but it was difficult to tell. I had been booted off the server for inactivity, I guess. I had to close windows again and re-navigate the site. Later the games came back on and I watched several. It wasn't the worst experience I've ever had watching sports via the web but certainly not even close to being comparable to the best. The picture quality is what it is. The streaming sometimes ran into great difficulty and I felt like I was either watching a series of stills or a slow-motion reproduction. My internet connection is good and my machine is top quality. Whatever was to blame, it was on their end, not mine.

It is a minor point but the fellow the Big East had doing this game knew nothing about softball. He kept referrinf to things in baseball terms. And when there was a play on which there was clear offensive interference, he was left speechless because he had no idea why the umps had ruled the way they did. basically I was left lsitening to some baseball fan talk about a sport he knew nothing about. So I turned the sound off.

I got to see the games in the first round of the tournament I wanted to see and was lookign forward to the semis and final game today and tomorrow, weather permitting. Unfortunately, the "Big East softball tournament package" does not include access to anything but the first round! the second and third rounds have been sold off to CBS' CSTV. So I got shut out there.

I admit that very possibly it should have been clear to me that all the games were not included. But it wasn't clear to either me or my wife. And we're extremely experienced at this. I wonder about the poor guy who paid over his money to watch his daughter or niece play. Was it obvious to him that this package only included the first day's play? I'll let you know when I speak to him!

I wrote to the Big East and complained. My wife said I should just deny the charge on my credit card. I could have done that and it would have cost them a lot. I wouldn;'t have paid one red cent but they would have to foot the bill for the charge-back. I decided it would be better to complain and see what their response was. That was mistake number two. The guy who wrote me back said basically "sorry but you're the one who made the foolish mistake."

For now, I'm done with the Big East. I went to a Big East School. I have been to literally hundreds of Big East sporting events. I'll never pay over another red cent to the Big East to watch their webcasts online. And I strongly suggest you refrain from doing so too.

No Fear

2008-05-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

I've experienced "the fear." That was quite a while ago. I'm over that now. I've seen the fear in others' eyes. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it other than to explain what I mean by "the fear," how I overcame it, and what I think others ought to do when they experience it or see it in others' eyes.

"The fear" refers to fear of the unknown - that which we can only imagine, of course in a travel soiftball setting. More specifically, the kind of fear I am referring to is fear of going to a "nationals" tournament whether that be ISA, USSSA, FAST, PONY, NSA, or some other fastpitch sanctioning body.

Many bodies which sanction some sort of nationals require a team to earn their bid via a national qualifying tournament (NQ). Several provide a means by which a team hosting a NQ can acquire a bid by virtue of their hosting the NQ. The value of obtaining a hosting bid is, a team can plan to attend well in advance and set their sites on preparing for attendance from the outset of the season. Obviously, the value of earning a bid is the team knows they belong there. They are going because they won a NQ or because the team which beat them in the NQ final already owned a bid. But trust me when I tell you that even though a team may have earned their way, they are going to have a logistical nightmare trying to get everyone and everything organized enough to get there in good shape to compete well.

I said that I've experienced "the fear." A few years back, we both hosted a NQ and earned a bid to go there. We had joined the team knowing that they were going to nationals. That was condition of being on that team. Yet, as the season wore on, we suffered numerous injuries and shortly before we were supposed to leave, we were down to 9 players at a tournament in which there was a bid at stake.

Most of the teams were headed to the same nationals we were going to. Several had earned bids and a few were going on host bids. Generally, the best teams from our state were playing this tournament. And we got smoked. We were mercied three straight preliminary games in 4 innings, mostly because every able body played every game and there was no way to rest a pitcher or catcher - we were down to one and a half pitchers and just one catcher. The day of elimination games, we held our own despite being a bottom seed, playing against a much higher one. We lost that elimination game but it boiled down to a late run scored on an error. I felt then and I feel now that we should have won that game.

After that tournament, I think 75% of our team felt we just couldn't go to nationals. We weren't healthy and although two of the three injured kids would likely be able to play some, we still weren't entirely whole yet. We grumbled along the sidelines "how can this team go to nationals?" I think I forgot to mention that 75% of the team had never been to nationals before. Finally we mustered the courage to go before the team's manager and plead our case against going. He listened long and hard. Then he thanked us for our opinions and informed us that "we are still going."

That manager was right. The team competed well, going 3-4 and losing yet another game we could easily have won. Had we won the game which eliminated us, I believe we would have won the next one and then had a shot at going into the final round. We were that close. There was no reason to fear anything.

I also said that I've seen "the fear" in others' eyes. Obviously I saw it in the eyes of parents and players from the team I just discussed. But I've seen it in a number of other people's eyes as well.

Last year, one team was trying to get my daughter to join them for this year. I asked the head coach what their plans were. he mentioned several tournaments, some of which were NQs and many involved lesser competition. I asked him directly about the prospect of going to nationals, any nationals. He replied, "well, we're playing several qualifiers, so there's a shot we'd go. Sure, I'd be interested in going to nationals ... provided we won our bid. We wouldn't want to go unless we won our bid."

So I told him flat out, "there is no way that you are going to win a bid in late June and get it together enough to book a hotel, make travel arrangements, and get all these people to nationals. The only way you are going to go is to make plans right out of the box and then make sure you go. The way you have your schedule set up right now, you won't be able to anyways because you have something planned for the week they are being held."

The team had arranged to play one of those tournaments near some big theme park where there are lots of touristy things to do. The coach told me, "it's a really, really good tournament and the families all like going there because we stay a few days extra and make a vacation out of it."

OK, that's fine but it is not nationals. You don't get to go to some place and make a softball experience out of a vacation. It is just not the same thing. But in the course of my discussions with this fellow, that's when I saw "the fear." He's not the sort of fellow to admit any kind of fear. But I could see "the fear" in his eyes nonetheless.

There's another fellow I've met in softball circles who has "the fear." He's been running a team for several years now. They're pretty good - better than many teams we've played at nationals. His team sticks to tournaments in which they have a good chance to win. They're afraid to play anything in which the team might get mercied by a monstrous opponent. They are also fond of telling everyone what their won-loss record for the current year is. We see this team mostly when we play tune-up "friendlies." They usually win most of their games, except those played against better teams. The team crumbles psychologically when they play the type of team which routinely plans to go to nationals.

I've also seen the fear in a few people's eyes more recently. I was involved with a team on which the manager was plain, flat out afraid to go to nationals. We had a host bid with that team. And by every way I have to judge a team, they would do quite well. But the manager is afraid of going. So when the date to register that the team would be taking the host bid came and passed, he said, "the only way we go to nationals is if we win a bid." That is the common "out" used when someone is afraid of going. That's the same kind of language, spoken in the same manner, as the fellow I mentioned above. It is a way to avoid facing the prospect of going to nationals while not admitting that you are afraid.

I told you that I overcame the fear by just going to nationals and watching our team do not too badly. That's partly true and partly false. The very next year after first attending a nationals tournament, i managed an team of young, inexperienced girls for their age category. I told the team before we even organized that we were going to go. I went so far as to tell the parents that at some point in this season, we were going to find ourselves at a low point and somebody was going to speak those words. Somebody was going to say "how can we bring this team to nationals." Well, we got to that low point and I was surprised at who was doing the talking. It was me!

We reached the low point with the team during a "summer league" game against the team which tried to get my daughter to join them the following year. They beat us via the run rule after, I think, 5 innings. I was so disappointed in the degree to which we had not improved, perhaps gotten worse, to that point. Our trip to nationals was about a month or so away and the girls quite frankly couldn't play a lick. I was stressed out to say the least but I was shocked to hear myself suggesting that we wouldn't go. I was snapped to my senses when one of the parents reminded me of what I had said a few months earlier and the team generally made me keep my word. We went, we did pretty well, and I'll never experience "the fear" firsthand again.

So what do I suggest you do when you encounter the fear? There are only a couple options. The best one is to keep talking. Tell your experiences and let others know that there is nothing to fear. Its fine to go to nationals or another big tournament with lots of teams and get your butts handed to you. There's nothing wrong with getting smoked as a result of shooting to high. More learning is done at the hands of defeat than can ever be as a aresult of winning.

When you join a team, I do suggest you ask the coaches if the team is going to nationals, whichever one you'd like to attend. Make sure of the team's plans for getting there - host bid or earned one. Find out when the team plans to play tournaments and how many shots at earning the bid they will take. Try to learn whether this "plan" has a real chance of coming to fruition. Many of these "plans" to earn a bid are merely smoke and mirror intended to fool those who don't know better. If the team actually does earn its bid and then they don't go because they couldn't get a hotel, so and so can't get off from work, or because somebody or somebodies cannot afford to take an expensive vacation, you can bet dollars to donuts that there never was a plan to go whether we won the bid or not. You were told that the team would go to nationals if they won as a way of enticing you to join the team. But most likely, the team not only won't go this year, they never will. Most likely, they are afraid to go and compete against God-only-knows what sort of team might be there!

There are many reasons to go to a nationals tournament. The kids will invariably enjoy staying in a hotel or motel. There's the team bonding that goes on in the tiny swimming pool. There's the two or three other teams also staying at your hotel. Pin trading is a blast for the kids and you really need something in your house which you can brow beat your kids about once they have left your nest. "You come over and collect the things you left behind like those pins from nationals or it is all going into the garbage next week."

More than anything else, there is a certain festivity which goes along with playing a national tournament. There's bound to be some softball vendors there. And you can go watch a myriad of other teams playing. You'll undoubtedly get a chance to watch some team which murdelized you this year get murdelized by some other team from East Jabib. You may get to beat a few teams, also from east Jabib in the process. You'll eat breath and drink softball for a week while you stay in some rotten place and eat at fastfood places or, if you are lucky an Applebees or two. The whole thing will be an incredible bonding experience. And neither the kids nor you should ever be intimidated by the prospect of playing a team from some state you;ve never even visited again.

So, have no fear yourself and when you encounter folks who have "the fear," try to help them get over it.

More Random Thoughts

2008-05-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have some more random thoughts which occurred over the past week while watching tournament, high school and college games and thought I'd share them with you.

1) Here's one to stuff into the back of your playbook and bring out in special, very rare circumstances. A few weeks ago, someone wrote an e-mail to me about an intentional walk he saw attempted in a junior college game. It went awry when the batter reached out and drove the pitch into right for a two rbi single. I was watching an intentional walk in the process of being issued in a Div. I college conference tournament game when that e-mail flashed into my mind.

There were runners on second and third with one out and a tied ball game in, I think, the fifth inning. The defense elected to walk the hitter who had already hit two basehits in her previous at-bats. The walk was executed flawlessly and the bases were loaded setting up a force all around. But what occured to me is that the pitcher A) threw the ball just about 12 - 18 inches off the plate and B) was throwing ordinary warm-up fastballs about 5 mph or more slower than her normal pitching speed. If the batter had inched up in the box, toward the plate, I believe she could have had no trouble putting the ball into play. Under the circumstances, a soft grounder to second would have brought home the go ahead run!

Why not teach your sluggers to attempt this? If I were going to try, I would wait until the pitcher threw one or two balls and got a little too comfortable. Then, on ball two or three, I would attempt a hack. What is the risk? Just keep in mind that your baserunners should be in on the joke.

2) I've grown weary of listening to the catcalls from the sidelines on ball and strike calls. I am now working very hard, when I am a spectator, to never even mumble anything unless I am absolutely sure the call was a bad one ... and I don't have a pony in the race. I would like us all to back off the sort of comments which ordinarily should only be made by the catcher or a coach like "where was it" or "was that one low?"

There are a couple of reasons I wish we could find a way to stop doing this from the sidelines. First of all, it has gotten to the point where a coach can barely breath hard on a bad call without being warned by the plate ump. Last year I was calling pitches and thought I had the batter set up pretty well. The pitch came in exactly where I wanted it, just outside the strike zone - not a hittable pitch. I watched the batter's hands and as she flinched, I exhaled. When she held up and didn't take the bait, I moaned. The plate ump turned to me and sternly said, "coach, it was clearly outside."

I was too stunned to tell her that I was not complaining about the call. I hadn't moaned because it was a ball. It was supposed to be a ball. I moaned because we almost got that batter on that "waste" pitch. But umps have become very defensive about their ball and strike calls because they are under a microscope on every pitch from both teams as well as fans who can often be allowed to sit very close to the plate. As an aside, if the fans do not stop getting into the umps' ears from these spots, sooner or later facilities are going to move the fans further and further away. That's not in your best interests. So bite or button your lips!

Another reason to not make comments about pitch calls from the peanut gallery is it usually has bad consequences for your team. People who complain about pitch calls often think they will embarrass the ump into "giving one back." Umps know this is what is in fans heads and hearts when they complain. On the odd occurrence when an ump makes a bad call and knows it was a bad call, he or she may indeed give a subsequent close call to your side. That's maybe in 5% of all cases. The rest of the time, 95%, the ump just gets irritated. That may or may not make him or her call the next close one the other way. It is not a high percentage bet for you and your team.

Lastly, umpires do talk to each other. The teams whose parents (and for that matter coaches and players) complain the most are easily identifiable. Its always the same teams. So when umpires "always call them tight" for your team, you maybe shouldn't wonder why.

3) I receive a lot of e-mail from parents and players who wonder if they have already missed the boat for becoming a pitcher. I've received such questions in a range including everyone from parents of 9 or 10 year olds to players as old as 15. They ask, "should I give pitching a try or is it too late?" My answer is always, "give it a try." My reasons for this are as varied as the age range of those asking the question.

I'm no expert of childhood development but from what I have read and heard, the age range of about 8-10 is the best time to start pitching. 9 seems to be the time when muscle memory development first starts really getting going for girls. 9 also seems to be the best time to begin learning anything like multiplication tables, dance, etc. Yet, there are plenty of girls out there who burn out of pitching by 14 when they started taking lessons at 8 or 9 years old. And there is no good reason to simply not do something because you feel you might be too old.

I suppose many folks feel that starting something relatively late will lead to fruitless effort. Still, we see octogenarians graduating from colleges across the fruited plain. We see some 40 year old one time high school dropouts going to medical or law school. If you do not try something because you believe you might be too old, what we have is an excuse not a reason.

I have observed and heard about many kids who got going late. Heck, I didn't really understand what pitching lessons were about until one of my kids was almost 11. A friend had suggested to me that all the decent pitchers in and around our area saw private coaches. I nodded but had no idea what he was talking about. Later, when I discovered what he meant, I suppose I could have decided it was too late for this. Now my kids have been pitching for years. The younger one seems to have a leg up on the older one. She's better when compared to the older one at the same age. But the older one is no slouch. And if she works hard, I have no doubt that she will continue to develop.

I know of one particular girl who didn't really get serious about pitching until she was 12. That's when she started goping for regular, weekly lessons. She's quite good today. If you listen to the top pitching stars (Team USA, NCAA), you will most likely hear several of them state that they never pitched before the age of 12. That may not be totally common but it certainly isn't unusual. Kids develop at different ages and interest in things rises and falls depending on the particular kid. You can't judge a kid's potential by making all the decisions about her life when she is 8-10!

I know of one girl who when she entered high school had apparently reached the zenith of her pitching career at 55 mph with just a few pitches and decent location. A prominent pitching coach had told the girl she had reached her full potential at 15. When she graduated, she was clocked at 67 by a college coach who offered her a full ride. She also had a killer rise ball, an excellent dropcurve, good change and numerous other pitches which were in the process of being developed. She reached her potential at 15? No, she hadn't even scratched the surface.

On the other hand, I can identify several pitchers who stepped into high school throwing near 60 with relative command over four pitches and left closer to 55 with command over none.

My purest advice is to give pitching a try whether you are 5 or 15. Are you late to dinner if you start at 15? Certainly. Chances are pretty good that you won't make it into the big time. But you will still enjoy learning a difficult skill and the experience will be invaluable.

If you start at 5, my guess is by 10, you won't be any or much more advanced than a kid who starts on her 9th birthday. The later you start, the harder you will have to work to get up to "speed." But that's true of any pursuit. Like I said, don't look for excuses. Just do it.

4) My final random thought involves injuries. I have seen more pitchers come down with injuries this year than ever before. The reasons for pitcher injuries usually involve A) improper mechanics, B) failure to adequately warm-up when playing in cold weather, or C) excessive practicing in the months just prior to and continuing with the season.

My best advice is proper mechanics are critical. Before anything else, work on mechanics. We had a little discussion here regarding open- and closed-hip styles of pitching several weeks ago. Since then I have done a little research on arm injuries in pitchers and everything I have seen seems to indicate that open hip pitching puts too much strain on the arm. I won't list out links or reference materials. I'm not an expert in bio-mechanics. I'm not telling anyone what they should or should not do with respect to the style of pitching. I'd rather you find your own resources in this regard.

A proper warm-up is imperative even if your mechanics are nearly perfect. You don't need me to tell you that windmill pitching is physically demanding. There are a lot of moving parts. The more warmed up you are, particularly in cold weather, the less likely you are to suffer an injury. I've yet to see the pitcher who can warm-up, stretch and warm some more in under 20 minutes. Many take much longer. It isn't about the coach or team's convenience. It is about not suffering an injury, potentially a career ending injury. Work out your own warm-up routine. Don't adjust it to suit anyone but yourself - your physical needs. And if your coach does not provide sufficient time for a good warm-up, have a long discussion with him or her about how you will not pitch without an adequate warming.

Lastly, there are several girls out there who do not pitch much in the fall and winter. When they get to about a month or two before the beginning of practice season, they work like demons. Just to be clear, I'm not talking about girls who pitch year round and then take one or two months off before beginning their annual cycle. I'm referring to those girls (you know who you are) who do not pitch much for about half the year and then get going in time to pitch by the beginning of the season.

Initially they don't throw very well. So, in order to get back to where they were last year, they throw every day and their sessions are long. This creates stress in their muscles and does not provide any time for the muscles to heal after intense exercise. That sets the stage for injuries.

As an additional point, there are girls who pitch year round who also can be at risk on injury. They also, pitch intensely and do not make time for sufficient rest to allow the body to heal. As the demands of game season begin to add to the overall burden, this also sets the stage for injuries.

Rather than pitching 365 days per year of for 180 straight days, a more sensible approach is necessary. Everyone's body is different. You, the pitcher, need to decide when you have overdoen things or need some period to rest before going on. Listen to what your body is telling you and tell those who take care of you when you feel new, inexplicable pains or old ones which may have indicated injury in the past.

Lastly, lest I be told I focus on pitching to the exclusion of everything else, these same injury concerns are true of every player on the field. They are true of baseball as well as softball. I had a conversation with the father of the CF of our high school's varsity baseball team. He didn't pick up a ball during the winter. Then during the pre-season and after games began, he was doing a lot of long distance throwing. He felt a twinge in his elbow. That twinge continued to progress until recently. Now he is the first baseman of our high school varsity baseball team. I also know of one very good softball catcher who suffered from a dead arm recently. I don't know what her out of season regimen is but I suspect it does not involve much throwing. It may not be easy to find a place to do some winter throwing but it is certainly not impossible.

Well, that about does it. I have many more random thoughts but I've about maxed out your attention span for today. Have a good weekend and may the weather be good enough to get a few games in.

Great Expectations

2008-05-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

I may have written about this in the past. I didn't bother checking and the spirit has moved me so I'll just write.

I remember the first time I observed real talent on the softball diamond. I was coaching 8s and 9s. My team was in the field. This one girl had asked, no, begged to play the same position she had been in the previous inning, but that position was in the leftfield where nobody had hit a ball that game, possibly for the whole season. But she was so insistent, I allowed her to play there.

Understand that normally, I do not allow my players to ask to play a position even at 8 and 9 years old. I frown upon anyone asking to play a specific position. In fact, at older age groups, I make sure that a kid who asks to play this or that position, after I have told them over and over again not to ask me, never sees that position. If I want to know where someone wants to play, I'll ask. Usually, after I have made my point, nobody asks, at least not more than once.

Also, when I coached 8s and 9s, I made a practice of moving players to different positions every inning. I wouldn't put a girl who could not catch at first or catcher. I wouldn't allow a kid to pitch unless and until I saw her do it in practice and I witnessed at least some level of commitment to actually practice pitching. I wouldn't put a kid in harms way say at third base, if I felt she didn't pay enough attention. But otherwise, I tried to move kids around and get the most broad experience possible.

I find it comical when parents of players ask, on their kids behalf, to play this or that position exclusively. The notion that my kid has to play third base every time because that's the only position she really knows is a bad one. The complaint when you put a kid out at second base, she fails to cover on a bunt or short hit to the first baseman, and the parents get upset and make a point of informing me that she didn't know to cover because she has never played second before, is not the kind of thing I want to hear. I believe all these kids were present at the 20 practices in which we spent significant time explaining to everyone that the second baseman covers first. I believe these kids ought to gain an understanding of how to play every single position on the field. Sure they won't do it perfectly but they should understand the fundamentals. They won't be experienced at the differing ball angles in the various positions and I'm not going to yell at them if they don't take exactly the right approach to the ball. But we're all softball players out there and we should all be able to play most positions at least reasonably well. It is a great disservice to a kid to figure out where they should play by age 7 and then keep them there for 1,563 games without ever trying something else.

Anyways, I am spouting off. Back to the matter at hand. This one kid, say 8 years old, wanted to repeat her position in leftfield from the previous inning. I don't usually do that. But this one time in particular, I was weak and allowed the girl to play that position. And that is when I witnessed true talent. By the way, LF at this level is someplace behind the shortstop but still on the infield dirt.

The occasion was, I believe, a point in the game where our pitcher had become too worn out to continue. She was throwing ball after ball and wanted to come out. So I went out to the circle and pulled her for a replacement. The replacement was our shortstop so after I arrived at the circle, i walked over towards short and said, "hey Sam, you're gonna pitch now." Sam came over from her position at short to warm-up. As she vacated her position, the kid who had asked to play LF came into view.

There i was looking right at my left fielder and she never noticed that I was watching her. Actually, she had not noticed that play had stopped and we were making a pitching change. She was busy.

This girl's glove was on the ground and she had a stick in her throwing hand. She was drawing something in the dirt with the stick. I was slightly bored so I went over to see what she was doing and that's when I saw real talent.

This girl had created the most incredible masterpiece with her primitive tool. To say the picture was intricate would be an understatement. Words such as "mosaic" and "mural" come to mind. I don't really remember what the picture was about today but if I underwent some sort of hypnosis, maybe I could recall. Suffice it to say, it was not just a "picture." The term "work of art" more aptly describes what I saw.

For those of you feeling a bit more serious than I today, yes, I did have a discussion with the kid about paying attention to the game, perhaps trying to keep one's mitt on one's hand, not bringing sticks onto the playing field, etc., etc. But I didn't have the heart to do that on the spot. I liked this kid and had a genuine appreciation for her apparent talents. I didn't wish to do anything which might upset her Karma. We talked about this at the next practice and right before she took the field in our next game.

I give you this little anecdote for entertainment purposes and also to lead into the topic I want to discuss today. I was at a very good high school game yesterday between two outstanding teams. I saw several readers of this blog there but regardless of that, one thing stuck out in my mind. The coach for one team said something which resonated with me because I have heard myself say it several times. She told her players to "expect the ball."

What does coach mean when she says "expect the ball?" Isn't that plain enough? You're in the field and you expect the batter to hit you the ball! Big deal!! That isn't instruction, it's some sort of jargon!!! Expect the ball? OK. I now expect the ball. I also expect to watch our pitcher strike out every hitter except a few. I expect to get my turns at bat and hopefully get a hit or get walked and run the bases. I expected that from the time I pulled on my uniform and laced up my spikes. This is softball, after all. When I signed up to play softball, I expected to play softball and in softball, sometimes somebody hits you the ball, right? Coach, can't you do better than that? Expect the ball? Come on?

Yet, that's exactly what is meant by the phrase. Expect the ball to be hit to you on this pitch, every pitch. And if you expect it to be hit to you on every pitch, I suppose that means you had better be paying close attention. It also means you should know what you are going to do with it before it is hit to you. It means you want that batter to hit you the ball on this pitch. It means you should be going through the mental gymnastics right now in which you envision the ball being hit to you, you field it cleanly and make a perfect throw to the right place. Let me give you some examples of what I mean, what I presume all coaches mean, when we say "expect the ball."

1) I'm playing second base and its the first pitch of the game. I expect the batter to hit the first pitch to me. She may hit it weakly in which case I'll charge it and my line to make the throw is different than it would be if she hit it hard. If she hits it to my right, I'll run to my right, get the ball and set up to throw it. If she hits to my left, I'll charge left and then keep a half an eye on the first baseman so that if she gets to it, I'll cover the bag. if she hits it with her glove but doesn't make the play, I'll go after the ball and hope she gets back to the bag to cover. If she doesn't get back to the bag, I'm gonna run and see if I can make the play unassisted. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!

2) I'm playing left field. There's two outs and a runner on second. The score is 2-1 with us in the lead in the fourth inning and there is plenty of time left on the clock. We'll probably get up two more times. if she hits the ball to me, I'm going to have to make a decision about where to throw it. If its hit hard enough, right at me, I'm going to expect that perhaps the runner from second is going to try to score but probably will round third and stop. if it is not hit all that hard, I may have a play to make at home. If it's hit in the gap or along the line, chances are decent that i won't have a play to make on the runner from second. Oh, and by the way, it is just possible that the pitch will be in the dirt - not get hit to me - or maybe the runner from second will do an all out steal. So I've got to be ready to back up third. And in all cases, I'm going to have to hit the cutoff. If there's a play at home, chances are pretty good that our first baseman is going to be lined up with home someplace around the pitcher's circle. I'm going to throw the ball on a line at her head. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!

3) I'm playing third, there's a runner on first. It's definitely a bunt situation. I'm taking up position expecting the bunt and I'm going to closely watch her hands and feet. If she separates her hands and turns, I'm charging but I'm ready if she pulls back and slaps. If that runner instead steals, I'm going to retreat to third and cover just in case. if she puts down a bunt and it is toward the pitcher or first, I'm also going to retreat to cover my bag. Regardless of what actually happens, I'm going to be ready for it. I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!

These are all very simple and not particularly exhaustive of what should go through a fielder's head on every pitch. But its an important consideration nonetheless. How many times have we seen a rightfielder get hit a hard liner right at her and A) it hops before reaching her and she doesn't make a play on the batter-baserunner at first? B) she catches it on a line and then acts surprised when she sees the runner a little too far off of first and doesn't react in time to nail her? How many times have we seen some fielder make a play on a ball or errant throw and then act surprised that there was a runner rounding second and taking third on her hesitation? How many times have we seen a player act confused in a game situation in which we felt she should have been expecting this or that to happen?

It doesn't much matter whether the player in question is 9 or 19. It doesn't much matter if this happens to be rec, travel, high school, or even, to a lesser extent, I hope, college. What matters is the girl did not take the right mental approach to this pitch, this game situation. As a result of this lack of attention she makes the wrong play or misses the opportunity to make a really good one, one which might change the course of the game.

The plays we make in the field involve action, reaction, and conditioned response to "unexpected" developments. They involve knowing where to go with the ball if this happens. Before we even get to the actual play, there are some things a player needs to know and contemplate, however briefly. Often times we find a player in a game who doesn't know what inning it is, is unaware of any time expiration, the score, how many outs there are, etc. It is not all that uncommon to have a player in the field who has no idea what the count is. I dare say it is relatively common for a player to not know something which is critical to the next play.

Again, we see major league baseball games as well as Olympic softball games in which a player does something which clearly demonstrates that she didn't know a critical piece of information. Each of us has seen an outfielder make a play of a flyball and then quickly hop to throw it in, only to stop in mid throw in order to watch the other 8 players run off the diamond. We've also observed players make a catch and then begin trotting in on the second out. I know I've seen catcher pop out of the crouch and throw to third because runners were moving on a pitch thrown with a 3-2 count and 2 outs already recorded. It happens time and time again, perhaps in every game at every level. A player just doesn't know what to do next because he or she was not adequately mentally prepared and was missing important information.

So what do you as a player need to know out there? I suppose knowing the score would be a good first step. Obviously, you should know how many outs there are. My feeling is you should always know what the count is. You should also take note of how many runners there are on base and where they are. You may want to observe those runners and gauge how fast you think they run. if the enormous killer pitcher is walked and then they run for her with a girl who resembles a greyhound dog, you might want to expect her to run or the next batter to bunt, depending on a few other pieces of information. If the kid on second base is wearing a bodycast or has just barely made it to second after a walk to the batter and is know hunching over in the midst of an asthma attack, you may want to record this too. This mental going over of the game, inning and pitch situation is just your start. You should do this on every pitch within a half second of the pitcher getting the ball back. Then you can begin the real mental preparation for the next pitch.

You want to go over the possible scenarios which might involve you. Ball hit here, ball hit there, softly, somewhat hard, scorched, at you to the right side, to the left side, etc. EXPECT THE BALL! WANT THE BALL! What exactly are you going to do with it when it comes? I am expecting the ball. I know what to do with it. I want her to hit the ball to me!

There are lessons in this for all of us, coaches, players, pitchers, and parents along the sideline. How is a player supposed to be ready for the next pitch and play if you are asking her what she is going to want to eat between games? How are your defensive players supposed to be prepared if you are standing on the rubber and making the next pitch within a millisecond of when the ball hits your glove on the return throw from the catcher. On the other hand, if you take 15 minutes between pitches, chances are pretty good that your defensive players will have gone through their mental gymnastics, forgotten everything about what they just thought through, and progressed to wondering what mom and dad put in that cooler or what the snack stand is selling today. Coaches can keep their players "up on their toes" via reminders but if you have to speak a paragraph to one particular player, I suggest she is still going to be looking at you and listening to your instruction when the ball hits her in the face. Cheering from the dugout or talking about last night's movie may provide something to do when there is nothing else but if the players on the field cannot focus and run through some sort of mental routine, they are not going to be ready.

As a coach, I'm not a huge fan of the obnoxious cheering which doesn't directly have anything to do with the game. I don't mind i9t so much when it does have direct bearing. And I do like steady chatter of the sort I grew up with (of course switching to girls from boys). "Two down ladies, let's get the out at first." "Watch her hands." "Outfield hit the cutoff, don't let her go to third." You know the sort of talk I'm referring to. I prefer the sort of chatter which mirrors what you hope the kids are thinking to themselves. I like to talk the whole game so the kids, especially the younger ones, begin to say these things over and over in their own heads. But that's not as important as having a discussion with the players about having some sort of expectation on every pitch.

I strongly urge coaches to have frequent discussions with their players about having these expectations, knowing the game, inning, and pitch situation, and being ready for at least routine plays which are likely to come up when and if she does hit the ball to you. You need to prepare your kids and it isn't enough to merely go over fielding fundamentals or run plays in practice. the average kid doesn't know much about pre-play visualization or about expecting the ball, wanting the ball. Part of your job is explaining this to them.

Finally, I have approached the issue of "great expectations" from the point of view of just the defensive players but the same is true of offensive players, particularly baserunners. Not to belabor the point but ideally a base coach should not always have to tell runners that there are two outs. Runners should understand at some point in their playing careers that if you are forced, the count is 3-2 and there are two outs, they are running straight to the next base on release before any other consideration. They should be schooled to watch for angle up or down when they are on base and know to hold when a kid hits a pop-up with no or one outs. They should not be confused by a linedrive caught by an outfielder. They should be conditioned to not immediately charge to third base when a grounder is hit right at SS, they are on second and there is no force play. They should be taught to go back to the bag at third on outfield flies with less than 2 outs rather than going halfway and then sprinting back to the bag to tag up.

The list is probably endless because there are so many possible situations. But players on base should know the same things players in the field should. And they should be schooled in certain fundamental "rules" to follow while on base. They should be prepared to run through a mental checklist of situational stuff which may dictate what they do if this or that happens. There's no reason why a girl on second should go back to tag up on a fly to right with 2 outs. They should haver knowledge, information and certain expectations.

If coaches, players, and parents don't understand this seemingly most simple aspect of the game, they should expect some other things. They should expect to lose. They should expect to look foolish in the field. They should expect to not enjoy the games quite as much as they would otherwise. They should expect to get less out of the experience of playing fastpitch softball than they might otherwise get.

Facemask - 15 Lash Penalty

2008-05-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

I heard a story about one of those games in which a town rec/all-star team lured a travel team to come scrimmage them. At this game, the travel team infielders all wore the "gameface" face mask. I think we see these worn in competitive fastpitch more and more frequently and that is a good thing. But at the game in question, a mother from the rec/all-star team began yelling to nobody in particular (perhaps the umps) on the field, "they can't wear that - they're not allowed to wear catcher's masks in the field - that's illegal!" To this woman and anyone else who just has never seen this equipment, I feel comfortable saying you are rather wrong. This is but a simple piece of safety equipment. It is not intended to intimidate or otherwise distract your daughter when she is at bat. I am unaware of ANY rule prophibiting their usage and I suggest you find out more about this device as you may save your own daughter some significant pain. But this isn't really why I am writing about this today. The reason I am writing about it is because some folks, who should know better, do not.

For the second time this young season I heard a story about a game in which an umpire wanted to prohibit girls from wearing gamefaces. Ultimately he relented and permitted the girls to play with them on. But he suggested that they were not regulation gear and nearly made them take the devices off. He asked the coaches of the team wearing them to show him in the rulebook where it says these are permitted. That's beyond ridiculous.

Show me in the rulebook where it says girls can wear sunglasses. Show me in the rulebook where it says girls can wear underarmor. Show me in the rulebook where it says girls can wear cups. Show me in the rulebook where it says gilrs can have decals placed on their regulation helmets. Show me in the rulebook where it says girls can wear knee braces.

The fact that the most recent games in which the idiot ump was going to prohibit the wearing of gameface was a friendly was somehow lost. There was no "rulebook." There was the notion that the friendly was played generally under ASA rules except for teams being allowed to bat their whole lineups, etc., etc. So which precise rulebook the idiot was referring to is anyone's guess.

I believe the coaches must have responded with something like, "OK buddy. We're going to play with these on and if you don't like it, you can call the game, award it to the other team, and then go explain to the site director about what you did. The site director would likely have torn him a new one.

As I said a moment ago, I think we see more girls wearing game faces each year. That's true in age group ball, high level ASA play, high school and even NCAA. I will not be shocked to see a few of these at the Summer Olympics though that may be a little unlikely. The Olympic players tend to be older-style players who shun such things as face masks.

This simple, light-weight protective gear has a lot of benefits and few, if any, drawbacks. I do know that a few girls, including my own, find that they obstruct the vision a bit. My older kid won't wear one unless and until everyone else around her wears one. The younger one wears one some of the time but she doesn't when she needs to wear a visor due to sun glare or when for whatever reason, she struggles to keep the thing in place on her face.

One time, an ump asked me if it would be OK if I allowed my younger daughter to take it off and I complied. We were appealing to a higher authority, my daughter's rather strong will! That ump doesn't like the thing anyways and hates to see kids get upset when they struggle with a piece of equipment. His own daughter doesn't wear one when she plays school ball but that's her choice. She's even stronger willed than my daughter. Still, he is smart enough to realize there is no prohibition against them.

The reason I am writing about this today is it boggles my mind that any umpire would be so monumentally stupid as to presume to know that the rules prohibit wearing of a safety device like this. I'm shocked to learn that there might be two idiots out there. It is possible that the two stories which came to me involved the same imbecile but I can't say for sure. I just want to say in the bluntest terms possible that while there is no rule I am aware of which prohibits a little girl from wearing something intended to keep her unharmed while she is engaging in the activity of fastpitch softball, there is a rule against anyone so stupid that they make up the rules as they go being paid to officiate a game. I call on the loser umpire to give any money earned from calling these games back to the organization which paid him since, quite obviously, he did not earn his pay.

You Make The Call

2008-05-04T03:07:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite "shorts" on televised NFL football games is the one where they show you a play and "you make the call." I wish I had softball video for the following but I don't. Let's see if my words do it justice.

Batter hits a pop-up along the first baseline and runs towards first. First baseman calls "I got it" and attempts to make a play. Batter-baserunner continues towards first running hard right on the baseline, contacting the chalk with each foot in sequence. Batter-baserunner approaches fielder still stepping on the chalk with each foot. First baseman, standing completely in fair territory, reaches up to catch the pop-up but as the two players come together, there is a moment during which the batter-baserunner appears to make some slight contact with the fielder who, about a quarter to a half second later drops it into fair territory. Immediately following the play, there are tons of catcalls from fans along both sidelines. On the defensive team's side, folks yell "interference!" On the offensive team's sideline, they yell "she was in the baseline!"

Just to properly set the stage - this is a pretty big high school game, under the lights, on a Saturday night. Emotions are very high. Both teams have filled their respective benches with JV players to support the varsity girls. Both benches are very loud. Additionally, there are 200-300 fans in attendance. Every major player in the county is here watching. There has been yelling on every pitch beginning with the first one. Every call has been questioned by someone. Every "out" has raised screams of pain from one side or another. To this point of the season, you have not officiated a game which is anywhere near as intense as this one.

Both teams are relatively young. There aren't a half dozen seniors starting. Yet almost every girl starting on both teams has played this game at the highest levels. At least half these girls have played ASA Gold or showcase ball before college coaches. The other half will probably do so within the year.

There will not be many runs scored here. Baserunners will come at a premium. There may be as few as a half dozen baserunners for the entire game for both teams combined and this very well could go into ITB. That's not to say these girls can't hit. Several in this game are hitting at, near or above .500 against other teams.

The pitcher for one team has allowed no earned runs this year. The pitcher for the other team sports a sub-1.00 ERA and hasn't given up a run in recent memory. Both girls are throwing in the 60s with good movement and location on their pitches.

Small ball is coming into play as the two teams try desperately to get a runner on and move her along. Whichever team gets a runner past first, over to third and across the plate first, is going to win.

These conditions should not impact your call, but let's face it, stress is stress and human beings are human. Whatever you decide to call, somebody is going to be unhappy. If you make a bad call, people will be talking about it for years and asking you about it for just as long. The next time you make a questionable call in any game, somebody there will have seen or heard about the call you made here. They will inevitably remind you of tonight's call. Now:

You make the call!

We'll make this just a little easier (if that's possible) by providing some possible considerations. You could call:

1) Obstruction by the fielder who was blocking the baseline without having possession of the ball.

2) No call - the batter-baserunner stayed completely in the baseline and, therefore, had a right to be where she was. She couldn't have interfered because she was making an ordinary effort to just get to base while not leaving the baseline.

3) Interference by the runner who did not allow the fielder to make a play.

4) No call because the runner either did not make contact or made such light contact that it couldn't have impacted the fielder's attempt to make a play. Alternatively, you might think contact did occur but that the fielder either had no chance to make the play or the runner was so far beyond the fielder when the ball came down that no call should be made.

I won't go straight to the call the ump actually made. That would be too easy, totally unsatisfying, and provides no instruction. Instead, let's analyze what happened on the play and how that might be viewed within the context of the rules of the game.

First of all, the notion that a fielder can obstruct a runner while in the act of fielding a ball is wrong. A fielder can obstruct a runner while not in possession of the ball or while awaiting a throw but not while she is attempting to make an initial play on a batted ball. The first baseman has a right to make the play whether she is in fair or foul ground.

Secondly, a baserunner has almost no more right to be in the baseline than the batter has to be in the batter's box. Having said that, I realize perhaps some of you do not realize that the batter does not have a right to the batter's box. The rules read something like the "batter's box is not a sanctuary." In other words, if there is a wild pitch or passed ball while there is a runner on third, the batter must get out of the way and permit the defensive team to attempt to make a play. She cannot simply stand in the box and then, when she is called for interference, claim "but I was in the box." Well, I guess she could but the ump won't agree.

A few years ago, I observed a play on which a runner from second stole third, the catcher threw towards the base, but the ball hit the batter, standing like a statue in the box, in the helmet and bounded out of play, thereby allowing the runner, now at third, to advance to home. I didn't understand the rules when I observed that play and thought the umps had made the right call. In the newspapers, the batter noted that long ago she had learned when there is a play going on while she is at bat, she should stay in the batter's box and that way she can't be said to have caused any interference. I assure you she is wrong. The batter's box is some sort of absolute sanctuary.

The batter has a duty to get or stay out of the way of fielders making a play. The only benefit of staying in the batter's box is that the umpire more or less has to read the batter's mind and determine if she is intentionally interfering. Intention has bearing in this case and no other. In most other types of interference including our case today, it can be "intentional or unintentional." So our runner to first's intentions don't bear any weight at all.

Runners are not really "entitled" to the baseline. The baseline is an area a baserunner cannot leave while attempting to avoid a tag but it is not the exclusive domain of the offensive team. For instance, let's say there is a runner on first and the batter hits a groundball at the second baseman. The runner from first, advancing towards second as she must on the play, is not entitled to the baseline. If the fielder is standing in the baseline awaiting the ball, the runner must allow her to make the play. If she contacts the fielder before the ball gets there, she will be called for interference. If, on the other hand, she goes around the second baseman and gets past her before the ball gets there, you will never see her called out for "leaving the baseline."

Let's think about this for a second. When have you ever seen a baserunner called out for leaving the baseline. My guess is the only time you have ever witnessed that occurred where there was a tag play on the runner. For example, let's say you are at a field where there is no outfield fence and the batter hits one hard in the gap. She ends up legging out a homerun. As she approaches first, she will most likely balloon out her running path well beyond the "running lane" (we'll get to that in a minute), turn and head for second. As she approaches second and then third, she will again balloon out, usually well outside the baseline, round the bag and head for the next base. When have you ever seen an umpire hold up his or her hands and announce that the batter-baserunner is out for leaving the baseline? It doesn't happen and it shouldn't happen.

The only time the runner should be called out for leaving the baseline occurs when she does so to avoid a tag or to interfere with a play. Most rulebooks I have consulted only refer to the baserunner being out for leaving the baseline "to avoid being tagged out by the fielder." Conversely, most rulebooks also provide, the baserunner is not out when she "runs behind or in front of the fielder and outside the base line in order to avoid interfering with a fielder attempting to field the ball."

So, had the batter-baserunner ballooned out on this pop-up, she should not have been called out for running outside the baseline. Any ump who would call a runner out for leaving the baseline when she did so to avoid contact would be ... um ... wrong. Runners are obligated to go above and beyond to avoid contact. That's within the letter of the rulebook for all competitive softball. It is also the virtual embodiment of the spirit of the rules of the game.

There is a related play which I think we should discuss, however briefly. Last year, in a MLB game, the New York Yankee's Alex Rodríguez was running towards third on an infield pop-up. As he approached the third baseman, he supposedly said something, exactly what has been questioned extensively. Some said he yelled "I got it" whereupon the third baseman backed away from the play and the ball fell to Earth. A-rod denies he said "I got it" and instead said something else which, while not overtly intended to confuse the defensive player, was kind of, sort of intended to confuse him. I believe A-rod also added something like "hey it's a part of the game, I can't tell you how many times I have gone for a pop-up and somebody yelled something like that."

I don't know MLB rules on the subject but I do know absolutely that you can't do something similar in a fastpitch softball game. The offensive team is not allowed to do or say anything which is intended to confuse the defensive team. For example, a base coach, baserunner, or player in the dugout cannot yell "I got it," "ball, ball, ball," or "miss it" in an attempt to get the fielder to make an error. In fact, fans cannot do that either. It is interference and such a play should not stand. That's because the way the rules are currently worded, interference is defined as "the act of an offensive player or team member which impedes or confuses a defensive player attempting to execute a play." For more on what fans cannot do, see rules under "fan interference."

So the baserunner is not "entitled" to the baseline and there are strict limitations on what an offensive player, coach or even fan can do when a batted ball is in the act of being fielded. What we're left with is either interference or no call.

Before I go on, let me say that generally any contact, no matter how light, is usually considered cause for an interference call and well it should be. The fact is light contact is easily as distracting to a fielder as a runner knocking her down. The reason is the fielder, anticipating contact and then feeling what seems like the first touch of what is going to be a collision, necessarily believes she should go into personal protection mode.

There really is no such thing as slight contact. There is such a thing as incidental contact but that says nothing about the intensity of the contact, rather it refers to contact that couldn't really be avoided. In this case, I told you the batter-baserunner "appears to make some slight contact." Degree doesn't really matter so the question is whether there was any contact at all or she otherwise interfered with the fielder.

Also, I told you the batter-baserunner's feet were stepping on the chalk baseline as she headed for first. I don't see it discussed very much but there is something we should at least mention. Many people see the lines on the field and wonder what some of them are about. There is the coaches box which usually does not contain a coach. The rules say they should stay there but seldom are these rules followed by base coaches. Then there is that funny, seemingly out of place line which goes from first to about halfway to home in foul ground. Nobody seems to fully understand what that is for.

I'm not being snotty or self-righteous here. It's just my experience that most people I have discussed this with don't seem to understand what that line is supposed to be for. That line is referred to as "the three foot line." In baseball, I think it is called the "restraining line." The line is drawn exactly three feet from the first baseline, beginning exactly half the way from home to first. Normally the legal baseline for a baserunner or batter-baserunner is the area extending out three feet on either side of a direct line between bases. the one exception to this rule is the area thirty feet from home along the first baseline. There the batter base-runner must stay in foul ground on her way to first - she must stay between the lines drawn, the foul line and the "three foot line." if she leaves that and is hit by a throw, say from catcher to first, she can and should be called out for interference.

As a minor point, I cannot exactly find this next small aspect exactly discussed anywhere but I arrive at my opinion via deduction and, in the end, I believe it won't matter anyway. I told you that the batter-baserunner was running down to first with her feet landing on the chalked baseline. The question is, was she within the "three foot line" or not. I haven't seen this precise topic discussed but let's start out by saying the foul line is not really the "foul" line. It is clearly the "fair line." That is, the chalk or whatever material which makes up the so-called "foul line" ir in fair territory. My understanding is the running lane to first is supposed to be exclusively in foul territory. So technically, the runner was out of the baseline! But I don't think this matters because whether she is in or out of the baseline, whether she is where she is allowed to be or not, has no bearing on whether the call should be interference.

It is also irrelevant whether the batted ball dropped into fair or foul territory. The fielder has just as much right to field a foul pop-up without interference by the batter-baserunner as she does a fair ball. Had the first baseman been standing on the bag or straddling it while trying to make a catch, the baserunner could not step onto or slide into the bag and then complain that she didn't interfere because she just has to get to first if the ball is dropped. The fielder has right of way, if you will.

I need to tell you what the ump called in this case and then see if I can bring this to a conclusion. First of all, the ump made no call and the play was allowed to stand. the defensive coach screamed his lungs out at both umps and then left the field. The field ump who was the only one who could make the call, said, "I did not see any contact." At the time, everyone, including yours truly, pretty much shut up and accepted this explanation. But in hindsight, this isn't right. There is no place I can find where contact is a necessary element of interference. Contact would require a call of interference but I do not believe the absence of contact dictates no call of interference.

As we said, the batter-baserunner was possibly not running within her lane since she was in fair territory. And she did not make any attempt to avoid interference. She could have run 5 or 10 feet to the side of the first baseman and completely avoided any chance of being called for interference. She didn't and I believe based on these facts alone, interference should have been called.

Just to conclude this discussion, let me tell you that I was in a better position than the field ump. I was standing about 15-20 feet away from the first baseman, obviously I was off the field and out of play. There was contact made between the batter-baserunner and the fielder. In fact, there is no question that this constituted interference, none whatsoever. I was a little shocked that the ump did not see the contact. It wasn't all that slight. But be that as it may, no runs scored in that half inning so the play made no difference. Still, I would advise coaches to teach their runners about this pretty arcane aspect of the game and tell them not to worry about running outside the baselines when avoiding contact with a player making a play on the batted ball, at least within reason!

Little League Rule Change?

2008-05-01T05:57:00.000-07:00

Some of you may think I have absolutely no regard for Little League and that can never change. I do have some beefs with Little League rules but I'll be the first to admit that when they have the good sense to change them, I do appreciate it and they still have the opportunity to pull me over to their side.

I had a genuine dislike of Little League's age cutoff differences and this they rectified in the last couple of years. Now LL uses the same January 1 cutoff which had been used by other sanctioning bodies.

I really despised the rule requiring use of the 11 inch ball at ages up to 12 but this disappeared, I think, last year. Now LL uses the 12 inch ball in 12U ball and the 11 only for ages 10 and under. That was an important change, at least as far as I'm concerned. Of course it took place too late for me and my girls.

One of the rules which bugged me was the prohibition against playing other games for other teams once international tournament play has begun. This morning I received a message from Patrick in Florida wondering what my reaction to LL reversing "its ruling that girls could not participate in travel ball programs while participating in their LL All-Star tournaments. How do you think this will effect things in the future?"

Patrick had already deleted the original message but promised to get a copy to me as soon as he was able to. Rather than wait, I decided to crawl the web to see if I could find it. It was no easy task but ultimately I found the following on a blog called "The Little League Coach"

"The rule that prohibits players from participating in non-Little League programs (dual participation), once Little League tournament play has begun, has been rescinded at all levels of play for baseball and softball. However, the local Little League retains the right to dismiss a player from a tournament team if the player repeatedly misses games and practices."

Now, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of these purported rule change. I receive e-mails from LL but perhaps I missed this one or it never reached me. But for the sake of argument, I'll act as if I know this rule change to be fact.

First of all, the way the rule previously read was:

"Participation in Other Programs
Little League, 9-10 Year Old Division, 10-11 Year Old Division: A player may participate in other youth softball programs prior to the first scheduled game involving that player's team. Once play begins for a tournament team, players named on that team's tournament affidavit may not participate in any other youth softball program until that team is eliminated from tournament play. After tournament play has begun, players added to a team's affidavit may not have participated in another youth softball program since their team's first scheduled tournament game. Junior League, Senior League, Big League Division: Participation in other programs during the International Tournament is permitted, subject to the provisions of Regulation IV (a) Note 2."

I'll be honest, I never realized that the prohibition against travel play did not apply to levels above "Little League" (12U). I don't know that my daughters would have participated had I known but I can't say that they would not have. As it is, assuming this rule has been changed, I'm going to ask my 2009 12 year old if she wants to give it a go. I'm also going to ask her big sister if she wants to play rec ball with the potential opportunity of playing in the international tournament for (I guess they call them) seniors.

I have had a couple experiences in Pony and travel ball which were related to the LL prohibition against playing travel ball simultaneously. A few years back, we had a kid on our all-star team who continued to play travel ball. Everyone knew it but nobody acted to prevent her from participating on the LL tournament team. Honestly, I think she played one non-LL tournament day for her travel team and that was about it. She didn't flagrantly violate the rule. The kid was young and she wanted to play the LL tournament. But she was a good ball player and needed to play travel to improve her game. I can see why the parents would permit this to go on and I don't hold anything against them.

Last year we were involved in Pony State championships and faced what is usually a very difficult team in the elimination round. My stomach was sick as I drove to the fields that day. I was afraid my very young, inexperienced team would be experiencing what I like to call one of those "character building" days. We werre eliminated that day but we won the game against the usually very tough team. I was left speechless by that one ... at least until ... somebody explained what had happened. The day before, four or five girls had left the team to go join up with their LL tournament teams. They were gone for the duration of their LL team's participation in the international tournament.

On another occasion, we were playing in a Pony national qualifier hosted by our organization. My team went out early and everyone went home. I had to stay because I was the site director and would give the closing speech while also handing out the banner that goes with the bid to the winner. The final game was a great one and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But the team which won the game, tournament and bid, had already won a bid to nationals so they relinquished it. I turned to the runners-up and told them they had earned a bid. They replied, rather sadly, that they would not be accepting it because this was their final game together. The team had voted to disband so girls could go play with their LL teams in the tournament. I understood what they were doing but what struck me was their sadness. These girls and their coaches really wanted to go to Pony nationals. They also wanted to participate in the LL tournament. Realizing they could only do both by breaking the rules, these folks decided the best course of action was to give up travel for the remainder of the summer.

So, my first reaction to Patrick is I think this development is great. It will avoid much sadness and allow girls to just play ball. Also, I suppose that had it been implemented one year sooner, my team might not have experienced that win! But kidding aside, I think this is a very positive development for Little League, for travel teams of all sorts, and most of all, for all the girls who are the core of all this jazz.

The whole schtick about playing travel is you get to play tons of games. When I was a kid, our rec league was something like 12 or 16 games. Fior several years there wasn't even an all-star team in my town. Then they got that going and we doubled our bounty of games. That was great but you know, if somebody had come to me and said, "kid, you can play 50-80 ball games per year if you want, but your life will be shortened by ten years," I would have said, "that's OK, I've got nothing planned that far into the future - play ball!"

The LL thing doesn't really get going until the ? end of May ? / ? beginning of June ? Most tournament teams have played about 5 or 6 tournaments by then. They are just beginning to gel at that point. It doesn't make much sense to form up a team in the fall, practice all winter and then fold up your tent in May when the team should just start getting serious. So girls are left with a huge decision about whether to play travel ball at all. That's not particularly fair.

I understand that what LL was after with this rule was preventing little kids from becoming softball machine who had nothing else in their lives. But what about those few kids who live for softball? I'm not talking about kids who have nothing else in their lives but there are some kids who, while doing well in school and participating in plenty of other activites, would like to spend every other waking hour doing something with a 12 inch yellow ball with red seams in one hand and a composite bat or glove in the other.

LL also wanted to limit sport-related injuries. But limiting the younger kids while permitting older ones to play as much as they like seems wrong-headed to me. In older age groups more injuries occur due to the higher intensity of play. Also, the LL tournament doesn;t involve the sort of play many girls are already used to. There's none of those 5-game days like the ones we have experienced. There's also no time limit which is more like the school games - that's a positive thing about playing LL.

Many travel teams don't want LL kids on their rosters because of the potential mid-season disruption this can cause when they leave for their LL tournament teams. Many LL tournament teams don't want the kids who play travel on their rosters because they know they will be available for fewer practices, may sometimes be late for games, or possibly put the entire team in jeopardy by playing travel tournaments after the LL international thing has started. The net effect has been that kids had to choose which kind of play they would sign up for. The result was kids got to play less than they wanted.

I don't know how my kids will react to this news. They've been playing travel, PONY, FAST, NSA and ASA for so long, they may not care. But I sort of hope they do care and want to sign up for LL rec ball next year. There are other problems with rec ball generally but maybe we can overcome those in order to get a shot to play the LL tournament. Well, I'll leave the final decision up to them. It's their game.

I applaud Little League for making a sensible rule change. My thoughts on it are all positive, Patrick. Now if they can only get rid of the grass infields and the pitching limitations which exist nowhere else!