Is throwing overhand just an illegal pitch?

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
But you have to admit, if you have a field with a very reachable fence, it's really hard to pitch around someone in slowpitch. ijs...
 

Country469

Well-Known Member
With the equipment we have today, 1/2 of the guys who play can go deep. You're pitching around max 4 runs, max. If you aint scoring 10-12 runs in the game you don't deserve to win anyway. Its underhanded for everyone.
 

irishmafia

Addicted to Softballfans
Better yet. Just push the arc to 25-30' the umpire can call illegal pitch, and the batter gets a chance to swing.

Last time a pitcher did that, it was to show me (PU) up for calling his 15' pitches illegal. Since I didn't give him the satisfaction of a reaction, he did it a second time. The batter hit it well beyond a 315' fence. He got a reaction then, a HUGE smile from me and the batter.

His team was not happy. :)
 

MR.PISSILE

Addicted to Softballfans
PITCH TO HIM!!!! PITCH HIGH, PITCH LOW, PITCH FLAT, INSIDE OUTSIDE, SWITCH UP YOUR PITCHES...
quick question??? are you a waiter at OLIVE GARDEN??? because its sounds like your serving MEATBALLS!!! LOL JK
i wouldnt walk him in LEAGUE PLAY.... tell your manager DONT PLAY BUSH LEAGUE... Tournaments WALK HIS BIG ASS unless is GSL PLAY....lol
 

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
With the equipment we have today, 1/2 of the guys who play can go deep. You're pitching around max 4 runs, max. If you aint scoring 10-12 runs in the game you don't deserve to win anyway. Its underhanded for everyone.
Well yes and no. No real need to pitch around him with bases empty. Just take your chances, unless the score it tied and they are home in the last inning. But if you have runners on, late, might have to give this guy a pass.
Not everyone that can hit HRs can do so as consistently as this guy in the thread. Lots of guys are "mistake hitters" that can be pitched around.

If it's UTrip, you can try different stuff to throw him off. But the other associations, w/o juking, you're kinda at the mercy of the batter. So you might have to walk that guy a time or 2.
 

EdFred

every day I'm shovelin'
If the game is close, I'm going to walk him no matter what. If we are up 10+ or down 10+ I'll probably pitch him something waaaaaaaay inside. If he whines like a baby like everyone in here would, well, that's his issue, not mine.

No one here will get upset when the entire team goes oppo and peppers the RF all day while the LF stand there and does nothing. Where's the outrage for that?
 

jbo911

Super Moderator
Staff member
You mean people will try and not hit the ball to a lock down shortstop? But he comes out to play too?
 

MaverickAH

Well-Known Member
If a team feels the best strategy to win is to hit middle every damn until all the pitchers are knocked out of the game, its legal. But I know most of you would have an issue with that. Its about playing the damn game. Just like floyd catches heat for dancing around, its a puss move to walk a guy every single time.

If a team makes a decision to walk a batter every single time up & the batter hitting behind them is incapable of consistently making them pay for it, guess who's really the puss?

I'm going to tell this story because it's completely relevant.........

Used to play in this 12 team, restricted speed modified (closer to a flat Utrip pitch) league. One division with the top 8 teams making the playoffs. The top 4 teams were usually elite teams & most teams carried a 20 to 25 man roster. The elite teams were literally composed of 20 capable starters so there was little to no falloff when their bench players were in the game. It was a money league (Top prize was $3k) so teams spared no expense to bring in the best players & there was a lot of side betting going on every week. I played on one of the top 4 teams.

After losing in the championship one year, I left the team I was playing for (didn't feel I was getting enough playing time) & went to one of the teams that never made the playoffs. With the permission of the team owner/manager, I was able to drill & train this team into making the playoffs as an 8th seed. Enough of the setup..........

1st round of the playoffs & we're up against the best team in the league. They were fundamentally sound in every aspect of the game & had, someone I consider to be, the most knowledgeable & best coach/manager I've ever played against. This was the team I had lost to the previous year playing with a much better team & they were in the middle of a 5 year straight championship run! In other words, we didn't have any serious chance of beating them. To compound matters, there was no mercy rule for playoffs. All early playoff rounds were 2 out of 3. First game & it became obvious that they were going to employ a strategy that involved intentionally walking our cleanup hitter. He was a power hitting lefty & we played on a field with a short porch in right (straightaway RF = single, RC = double). There was also some ongoing animosity between him & the opposing coach (never found out what that was about!). The decision to walk he was definitely related though. It had nothing to do with whether we were going to beat them or not!

In any case, they stayed true to their manager's decision. It became fairly clear late in the 1st game when they were up by almost 20 runs that their players weren't happy about implementing it but they remained good soldiers & did as they were instructed. Last inning & they did it again. Our cleanup hitter was incensed! He cursed out the opposing coach, picked up his bag & quit the team! I tried to talk him down between games to no avail. It made no difference that I was hitting behind him & they weren't getting me out. He literally walked away from us in the middle of a playoff series. Guess who I lost respect for?

Prologue:
Yeah, we got stomped on the 2nd game too! The next year I was able to attract a couple of pieces solely based on my rep & how we performed the previous year. We became a top team with a couple of what I felt were major flaws. Unfortunately the manager/coach quickly let it all go to his head. He literally was only manager/coach on game day as I ran all of the practices & in-game strategy. The major flaws were a couple of his long-time players whom he was loyal to. He & I began to butt heads. It doesn't help to keep a light hitting CF with a below average arm in the starting lineup. It doesn't help to talk down to & disrespect your players. They're grown men! That was my last year..........
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
Gimme 5 bees for a quarter...

Seriously though, what does that have to do with some douche walking a guy every single at-bat in a fun league? I noticed (before the story went completely off the rails) that the league you were talking about had a $3k first prize, and only the top 8 of 12 teams made the playoffs. Different situation completely.
 

MaverickAH

Well-Known Member
The situations are not different when the object of the game is to win! Whether it's a money league or a fun league, the objective is always the same.

The better question is what is a stone cold homerun hitter doing playing in a "fun" league? Big fish, little pond syndrome much? I personally find that much more distasteful than the intentional walks.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
The situations are not different when the object of the game is to win! Whether it's a money league or a fun league, the objective is always the same.

Hypothetical situation: Game tied, bottom of 7, 2 outs, you're batting, tying run on 3 and winning run on 2, homeruns are gone. You notice the second baseman is way over and there's a big gap between him and the pitcher. A middle shot slightly to the right of the pitcher will tie or maybe win the game.

Now imagine that setup in two different scenarios; scenario #1 is the championship game in your $3k men's league, scenario #2 is the championship game in a coed charity tournament and there's a woman pitching. Are you honestly telling me that you approach both scenarios with the same mindset because "the object is to win"?


The better question is what is a stone cold homerun hitter doing playing in a "fun" league? Big fish, little pond syndrome much? I personally find that much more distasteful than the intentional walks.

If you were a "stone cold homerun hitter" and there was a local league with unlimited homeruns, you wouldn't be first in line to sign up?
 

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
kinda went from one extreme to the other. Girl pitching to a Big Money league is opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course you're not shooting middle on a woman, but pitching in a charity tourney, also? lol. How about a church league, at least. geez.
 

blakcherry329

Well-Known Member
Also, if he is that good of a hitter, he should expect to be walked, every now and then, especially if he's playing down.
 

EdFred

every day I'm shovelin'
kinda went from one extreme to the other. Girl pitching to a Big Money league is opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course you're not shooting middle on a woman, but pitching in a charity tourney, also? lol. How about a church league, at least. geez.

I've seen worse attitudes as far as whatever is needed to do to win in a charity tournament than I have in sanction or league. Some people just shouldn't ever be on the field.

I can't pick my spots where I'm hitting. So it may go back up the middle even if I'm not trying, girl pitching or not.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
kinda went from one extreme to the other. Girl pitching to a Big Money league is opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course you're not shooting middle on a woman, but pitching in a charity tourney, also? lol. How about a church league, at least. geez.

I've seen worse attitudes as far as whatever is needed to do to win in a charity tournament than I have in sanction or league. Some people just shouldn't ever be on the field.

I purposely picked two extreme examples because so many people here seem to have a black and white view of what is acceptable and what isn't. Same thing is happening in a "middle" thread in the OSPB. And I too have seen some awful things from people in charity tournies, coed leagues, even pickup games. The point I was trying to make was; there's a gray area where people have to use some common sense, it's not always "yes, this is ok" or "no, it isn't".


Also, if he is that good of a hitter, he should expect to be walked, every now and then, especially if he's playing down.

Every now and then, yes. I agree 100%. But the OP said every single time he got up, no matter the situation.
 

TEX1959

Addicted to Softballfans
WOW
4 pages of mostly trolling.
In the Ask the Umpire section to boot.
With hardly any of it to do with answering the OPs question.
Thought we had moderators for this.
 

Joker

Well-Known Member
WOW
4 pages of mostly trolling.
In the Ask the Umpire section to boot.
With hardly any of it to do with answering the OPs question.
Thought we had moderators for this.
you're an idiot, it was answered in post #2
 

Beauner

Starting Player
Pitch around him without walking him intentionally. Throw a couple that land short. Throw a ball that crosses over his head. If he's so anti-walking he'll swing at something and get himself out. Chances are the guy you're talking about isn't Greg Connell or Ryan Harvey so he's not going to hit it 300+ feet every time on a bad pitch. Throw them inside, throw them short, throw them deep, throw them flat. Tell your manager to pound sand or find another pitcher if he doesn't think you can get him out.

I'll pitch around guys on a regular basis when I'm pitching and there's a slugger up and HRs left. Especially if he doesn't have high-end protection behind him (generally in the form of another guy who can launch the ball out of the yard). It's not rocket science.
 

Kodiak1

Addicted to Softballfans
That's an odd mentality. I honestly think it's pretty crappy to walk the guy in the first place, since he's paying to play in a league, and probably worked hard to become a good hitter. Also, you play in a league with unlimited home runs .... so expect people to hit home runs.

Do you want to win or just keep on serving up meatballs? It's a game not a HR derby

Paying for a league, lol

If you can't swing the $40, find a new sport. Good luck finding something cheaper!
 

tommyd

Addicted to Softballfans
Better yet. Just push the arc to 25-30' the umpire can call illegal pitch, and the batter gets a chance to swing.

I was thinking about it and think this is what I'm going to do next week. Pitching around him didn't work out well. Last two homeruns were definite balls.

Not sure about 30', but they'll probably get higher the more people on base!
 

SammyJaxxx

Starting Player
We can debate the moral implications of the intentional walk forever. However, everyone except the OP agrees throwing overhand is a douche move.

I can't imagine that throwing overhand once would get you a warning. If you threw me a second over hand fastball, there is a real good chance that the grip of my bat would be real slippery and the bat just might come out of my hand.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
There's a real good chance that I'd calmly lay my bat on the ground before I walked out and punched OP's teeth down his throat.
 

RDD15

Addicted to Softballfans
There's a real good chance that I'd calmly lay my bat on the ground before I walked out and punched OP's teeth down his throat.

Is there still any question about "who is whats wrong with softball" in this thread? Ballfield badasses that want to fight everyone and get all pissed off about what happens in a softball game need to go away. Seriously, a lot more people would play if certain guys didnt show up to league looking to threaten other players, or worse.
 

Hiltz

Built for comfort
Is there still any question about "who is whats wrong with softball" in this thread? Ballfield badasses that want to fight everyone and get all pissed off about what happens in a softball game need to go away. Seriously, a lot more people would play if certain guys didnt show up to league looking to threaten other players, or worse.

Have you honestly read any of this thread? Cliffnotes version: OP wants to surprise a batter by throwing overhand because he hit homeruns in an unlimited homerun league. And for the record, I don't think I'd qualify as a "ballfield badass". In 18 years of playing, I have yet to argue with an ump or even get in a minor scuffle with anyone. But in 18 years I've never had anyone throw overhand at me either.
 
Top