Mush Balls in Play...

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Jun 3, 2021
157
28
I bet none of the pitchers parents were complaining. LOL.

I remember when I first started playing men’s slow pitch softball. The league changed the type of ball they were using to prevent homeruns from going so far. All of a sudden what used to be a 400 foot plus home run was struggling to get past 350 feet. The ball alone can make a huge difference!
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
The bownet balls seem to get soft fast.

It could be that every time I saw them used was extra hot and humid and they weren’t being changed out enough…
 

softgabby

Gear Empress
Mar 10, 2016
1,073
83
Just behind home plate
At the tournament my sister just played in, the balls had a great sound coming off the bat for both sides. Plus it seemed like the balls went just as far. On another note, another coach for a team my sister pitched against, accused her of cheating because she struck out 12, gave up a hit and walked one in 5 innings
 
Apr 5, 2013
2,130
83
Back on the dirt...
We played a very large TCS tourney in austin and TCS supplied the balls. Some were stamped and some were not. The some that were not, sucked. Mush but NEW! only plus is both teams played with the same balls. You just didn’t know what you were getting each game.
 
Mar 20, 2019
115
28
You want bad balls try the ones Dicks give out to rec leagues, those thing changes shapes with regularity.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk
 
Mar 1, 2013
396
43
At the Special Olympics one year, the balls that were donated for the Summer Games were awful like that. They barely held up in the lower divisions, but in division 1 and unified, we would often be removing them from play after a couple of innings. Any ball hit over the fence was guaranteed to be an egg when it came back in. On day two, I believe we went into the stash from previous years and gathered as many decent used balls as we could for the championship rounds.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Before I read anything past the OP ...

Later, a parent (who is also an umpire) sitting right behind home plate asked the umpire to check the ball after it sounded really thudish. Umpire looked at it, and made the coach switch it out, and we played on...no other consequence. Talked to the TD, who chuckled and said "I'm not surprised".

Umpires on this board, what do YOU do, if anything, to prevent this? What action would YOU take in this situation?

No. For the umpires on here looking for advice: do NOT EVER do this. If you are watching a game, do NOT talk to the umpire. If you are umpiring a game, do NOT talk to the fence.

If a coach wants to take direction from the crowd, that's his/her prerogative (although things like dad sitting behind home plate and providing intel is illegal). As an umpire, do not do this. ALL COACHES NEED TO BE IN THE TEAM AREA (dugout). The bookkeeper who is sitting behind home plate is NOT team personnel if he is not in the team area. I don't care if the wrong batter is up IF the bookkeeper is screaming at you from behind home plate.
 
Last edited:
Oct 25, 2013
90
8
DFW Area
...

Umpires on this board, what do YOU do, if anything, to prevent this? What action would YOU take in this situation?

If I am calling and its a team-supply-the-balls game, then I do nothing. Just call the game. Of course this should be known by all going in.
 
Dec 26, 2017
487
63
Oklahoma
I will wager $1 it was bownet balls.

In a tournament like this, balls should be inspected and stamped at check in OR The tournament sponsors should buy a reputable ball in bulk and sell min 4 of them to the teams with no markup.

When we get back to normal, the umpires and td’s should start every game with four new balls, not frigging two and quit using the same balls all damn weekend. Especially exposure events.


Actually they were Dream Seams (blue) and they were mushy from the first pitch of the first game. My only explanation is that they were stored at the bottom of a pond.
 

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