That is the problem, many umps or the people testing, just look for anything and call it a crack. It's F'ing annoying when the bat nazi's are out.
CRACK OR PAINT SEAM?
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Swing away. IF some ump pulled that bat, they a dumb dumb. That bat is in NO way a safety threat, at this point in time and does not have an open crack in the composite to pull said bat.
Doesnt matter, umps arent taught about bats. Not like umping has a class about bats and goes thru everything. They are just taught
that if a bat looks cracked, pull it. Some look wayyyy to hard.
Honestly, I doubt any assoc wants to be responsible for teaching bats and have it put on their and their ump's shoulders
My vibe is along your comment "Some look wayyy to hard" That's where my annoyance comes from.
- May 29, 2015
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Since @CoreSoftball20 brought this up in another thread (but didn’t tag me here!), I came searching.
Did that mean I was looking way too hard to find this thread so that I could be a thread Nazi? No, it means it was brought to my attention and it stood out.
That said, some of the happiest days of my umpiring career were when orgs removed the requirement for us to do pre-game equipment inspections. As Core said, THEY DON’T TRAIN US on this stuff. We get the rulebook and maybe, MAYBE, some vague conversation at a clinic and even then, that is only based on the clinician’s personal experiences.
So … the rest of what I say is based on a rulebook and my personal opinion.
First, the rulebook. Despite being somewhat vague, it is pretty clear. I wish they would just clean it up and say “irregularities” rather than trying to describe possibilities. Is the bat in the condition the manufacturer made it in? No? Illegal.
The bat in that picture, I would probably toss it as a damaged bat. If I roll my hand around it and I can feel something sticking out (or in), it is not what the manufacturer or the sport intended. I don’t care what or why, you need to take that up with the manufacturer. It’s not my job to be a bat expert. It’s my job to watch out for the safety and integrity of the game, as best as I can. If there is a question, I am erring on the side of caution in the absence of better training and direction from the org.
This part is a no brainer: once you start trying to “fix” it, you have now tampered with it and made it an illegal bat. Super glue, 3M, flex seal, adamantium tape, dipping it in melted vibranium, repainting it with unobtainium laced paint … you have tampered with the bat. Now the bat has to be tossed, and your daughter has to go with it as it is an illegal bat. Am I telling you that you will be caught? No. I’m telling you that if you are caught, those are the consequences (and maybe more, depending on the org).
Am I looking for it? Yes and no. Do I look at bats as they come to the plate? Casually. It's like listening to the chirping and the fans . . . I am not actively doing it, but things catch my attention.
I don’t even pick up bats after an at-bat … unless something catches my eye. Do well-versed, eagle-eyed catchers look for it and bring it to our attention? Yes. Was I one of those catchers? Yes.
I did toss a bat as a damaged bat a few weeks ago. The batter used it once, and I thought “Man, that sounded weird when it hit the ground.” They used it a second time and everybody could all hear the broken connection inside of it when it was dropped the second time. I told the coach to toss it. Did the kid start to come out with a third time? Yes. Did I stop them before they got in the box? Yes. Did the kid use it the next game? Probably.
Do what you want. You can choose to follow rules or choose to try get around them. If you chose the latter, take responsibility for your own choice and quit trying to blame the umpire.
Did that mean I was looking way too hard to find this thread so that I could be a thread Nazi? No, it means it was brought to my attention and it stood out.
That said, some of the happiest days of my umpiring career were when orgs removed the requirement for us to do pre-game equipment inspections. As Core said, THEY DON’T TRAIN US on this stuff. We get the rulebook and maybe, MAYBE, some vague conversation at a clinic and even then, that is only based on the clinician’s personal experiences.
So … the rest of what I say is based on a rulebook and my personal opinion.
First, the rulebook. Despite being somewhat vague, it is pretty clear. I wish they would just clean it up and say “irregularities” rather than trying to describe possibilities. Is the bat in the condition the manufacturer made it in? No? Illegal.
The bat in that picture, I would probably toss it as a damaged bat. If I roll my hand around it and I can feel something sticking out (or in), it is not what the manufacturer or the sport intended. I don’t care what or why, you need to take that up with the manufacturer. It’s not my job to be a bat expert. It’s my job to watch out for the safety and integrity of the game, as best as I can. If there is a question, I am erring on the side of caution in the absence of better training and direction from the org.
This part is a no brainer: once you start trying to “fix” it, you have now tampered with it and made it an illegal bat. Super glue, 3M, flex seal, adamantium tape, dipping it in melted vibranium, repainting it with unobtainium laced paint … you have tampered with the bat. Now the bat has to be tossed, and your daughter has to go with it as it is an illegal bat. Am I telling you that you will be caught? No. I’m telling you that if you are caught, those are the consequences (and maybe more, depending on the org).
Am I looking for it? Yes and no. Do I look at bats as they come to the plate? Casually. It's like listening to the chirping and the fans . . . I am not actively doing it, but things catch my attention.
I don’t even pick up bats after an at-bat … unless something catches my eye. Do well-versed, eagle-eyed catchers look for it and bring it to our attention? Yes. Was I one of those catchers? Yes.
I did toss a bat as a damaged bat a few weeks ago. The batter used it once, and I thought “Man, that sounded weird when it hit the ground.” They used it a second time and everybody could all hear the broken connection inside of it when it was dropped the second time. I told the coach to toss it. Did the kid start to come out with a third time? Yes. Did I stop them before they got in the box? Yes. Did the kid use it the next game? Probably.
Do what you want. You can choose to follow rules or choose to try get around them. If you chose the latter, take responsibility for your own choice and quit trying to blame the umpire.
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- May 29, 2015
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The rules do not say it has to be a safety threat. If it is damaged, it is damaged. If it is illegal, it is illegal.
If you are too cheap to replace it, that is on you.
Can you clarify what you mean by the daughter being tossed? Is that only if she gets caught using it in a game? I assume a pregame bat check would t get a player tossed, right?
- May 29, 2015
- 4,069
- 113
Yes, sorry. Since we no longer do pregame checks, I just kind of glossed over that.
NHFS … (I’ll have to double check the others since I haven't called them in awhile) … A damaged bat just equals “take the bat out.” Come to the plate with an illegal bat equals ejection.
That makes more sense.
The NCAA still does pregame testing, though. They even test between games of a DH.
- May 29, 2015
- 4,069
- 113
It is equally annoying to us when we have to keep policing people who are either willfully trying to break rules or are willfully ignorant in an effort to do the same. Often it is the same people over and over and over again.
Back when we had to do pre-game equipment checks, I tossed the same bat three times in one week. Not a tournament. I had the same team three times (not on purpose, and we don’t like that either) in regular season play. The third time I told him not to bring it back out again or he would be going with it the next time. No, it was not a power trip on my part. It was “You know and you are trying to break the rules.”
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