Bad Rules

I just came from the baseball forum. Everyone should go over and read Major Controversy in Caldwell County and see how bad a job our Athletic Association is doing.
Also I would like to hear some coments on some of the new high school rules being made

 

Why are the girls treated differently?

If I'm not mistaken, next year the NCHSAA is requiring softball players to wear facemasks on the batting helmets. Is the same thing going to be required for baseball? I know the response from from some will be that so many girls have been hurt while attempting to bunt when a ball bounces off the bat and hits girls in the face. I am in no way making light of this, but in over 20 years of umpiring baseball (Little league to college) I have never seen a guy get hit in the face by a ball that bounced off the bat while bunting. My opinion is that the young ladies who have been injured this way have not been coached very well. If the proper technique for bunting is taught, I don't see how a ball could hit the bat and then hit a player in the face.

Another thing I have noticed while watching my neighbors daughter play summer ball is the white/orange first base. What is up with that? Again, some will say there have been way too many girls injured in collisions at first between the runner and first base person. Well again, my take on that is teach the young ladies the proper way to run to first and to use the running lane marked and the collisions will be greatly reduced. When do you think we will see the white/orange first base in baseball?

Last thing. High school baseball players are allowed to wear metal cleats. I don't the the girls in softball can. Why not?

I'm all for making the games of softball and baseball as safe as possible, but why can't the girls be treated the same as the guys. Are we saying that the girls aren't coached as well? Probably not. Are we saing that the girls can't learn how to bunt and run to first properly? Certainly not! So why the difference?

OK,lets see what I have stirred up with this!

 

OK, pal, without giving you a geometry lesson, a softball is thrown underhanded on an upward plane. Therefore, fouls on a bunt will surely shoot upward. A baseball is thrown downward, so when you are bunting, it is less likely that the ball will jump in your face. Unless you are willing to get in there at the plate against a good riseball pitcher, then I suggest you stick to what you know. The facemask is a great idea in either sport, but in softball, the ball is rising. Your face is in much more danger! Not to mention, the baseball mound is 60 feet, the softball mound is 40 feet. As far as the coaching, the coaches seem to be doing great!

Let me edit, I've not seen any white/orange bases, and I don't think that's a good idea, but metal cleats are "STUPID", period. I have a hard time believing you are an umpire believing some of the things you are saying?

 

There's no point to metal cleats even in the Majors. That new fangled stuff called plastic is some kind of amazing.

 

Because they are girls

If metal cleats are stupid why do the colleges use them. I have been on so many infields that are so hard the great plastic cleats are useless. i believe the gentleman that was asking the question about why we treat girls differently was asking just that. It is OK for the boys but we need to modify for girls. Don't get me wrong I am in 100% agreement with the face mask and also mouth pieces but that was not the intent OF the question. It simply asked in todays world of everything being equal why treat the girls in one way and the boys another.

 

Thank you Rebel. I was in NO way stating that I didn't agree with the facemask rule, just that there seems to be inequality to the way the girls are treated compared to the boys. This inequality can be found in the rules as well as the funding of female high school athletics.

For example, how many high school softball fields don't have lights, but on the baseball field there will be lights,a press box and a concession stand. At some schools I have been to, softball is played on a makeshift field on the baseball field. I live in Davie Co. and I know the our HS softball team plays and practices at a field about 5 miles away. But we are lucky, other than having to put up a temporary outfield fence, that field is pretty good. I know there is limited funding nowadays, but it still seems an unequal share of the funds raised by booster clubs going to the male sports. I understand that many teams do their own fundraising to pay for things like press boxes and overnight trips out of town and such, however I just see an overall difference on how the girls are treated compared to the boys.

Now, ladiesbballfan, thanks for the geometry lesson! I agree a baseball is pitched on a downward plane whereas a softball is pitched on a upward plane. But I have seen MANY a good fastballs rise. Nothing like a rise in softball, but they still rise. But here is where we differ in our views. I feel that if any athlete is taught the correct way to bunt, then the likelihood of a foul ball hitting a player in the face is reduced if not almost eliminated (based on the laws of physics.) In short, if a player, softball or baseball, keeps the barrel of the bat with an upward angle while bunting, then the chance for injury is greatly reduced. I have seen quite a few baseball players get hit in the face when the batter hits the ball off home plate and the ball bounces off the plate. Because of that, I guess the guys will have a facemask soon if a prent complains to the NCHSAA.

I'm glad you agree with the not having the orange bases. But again, if you just teach the correct way to run to first, then most of the collisons will be avoided. That's why there is a running lane marked on the field. As for metal cleats, I have no opinion either way. I just don't understand why guys can wear them and girls can't. I know plenty of HS softball players who are tougher than a lot of baseball players!!


One last thing. As for sticking to what I know, after I stopped umpiring baseball, I spent 8 years as an assistant softball coach at 2 small colleges in GA and FL and coached a summer travel team for 5 years before I moved the beautiful Davie Co. So I would venture to say I have coached in more fastpitch games than you have ever watched from the stands.

Again my whole point was as Rebel commented, why are the girls treated differently in softball/baseball than the boys. I don't know, but are there any "safety" rules in HS basketball that the girls must follow and the boys don't?

 

I played fast pitch softball for 12 years throughout the Southeast, probably close to 100 games each summer, not counting our fall leagues. Your statements don't really reflect all the knowledge you say you have.

Let's see, why are ladies treated differently? Well, because they are ladies. Why are there ladies' tees in golf? Oh yes, I forgot, the ladies' basketball is smaller than the mens'. The rules at the foul lane are different. I don't have time to examine other sports to see how the rules are different, and I don't mean to sound sarcastic, but I just had issues with the things you said. I'm sure in the end we would be pretty close to agreeing on a lot of things.

 

but as a rule the girls arent being properly taught the fundamentals
therein lies a lot of the problem
also i feel the girls game is played faster and in a more confined area
leaving many more opportunities for injury
and i agree with facemasks, and no metal cleats
orange base is debatable
just my thoughts

 

There are some really bad new rules this year being enforced; the one over on the baseball forum under Controversy in Caldwell about meeting out of the dug out is really stupid and is supposed to be in effect for softball too.
I think face mask are ok but should NOT be mandatory. Each girl should be able to choose here. I have been involved with fastpitch since it started in NC and though I am sure it happens I have never seen a girls seriously hurt by being hit in the face. Only one or two bloody lips so it is not a huge problem.
The rule stating that the girls cannot recieve a ball in a way as to block the bag or plate is totally rediculos and almost impossible to do. The kids have to recieve the ball where it is thrown and if that is in front of the bag that is where they should be. Terrible rule here.
As for metal cleats I don't think they are really needed. My daughter went on and played in college and said she would give anything to have her rubber cleats instead of metal but the coach won't allow it. As for me I played in both and with the exception of playing on wet outfields the rubber was just as good and to me they were faster.
Orange and white first base: THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THEM IN SOFTBALL OR BASEBALL.
One other comment guys; it is sports; there are going to be some risk and if you can't handle that you should probablly join the chess or debate clubs and give up on sports

 

I know a girl who fouled a pitch off out front and it came straight back into her right eye. It is still dialated six months later.