Other ASA bat length rule?

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Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
Is there a rule that you have to use a 34" bat in softball. out 85# catcher uses a walmart 31 inch ASA bat and our ump said that you can not use any bat under 34"

This is what our leagues statment is on bats.

League softball will operate under current ASA rules BUT will allow NSA bats and shall apply certain League modifications or exceptions as indicated below. No modifications are listed about length.
 
baseman

baseman

in your face nancy grace
I've yet to see one that said it has to be 34'' but may be a local league rule. I don't think it can be more than 34 but certainly can be less.
 
beernbombs

beernbombs

Abby's dad
In ASA bats must not be longer than 34". Check with your league director. Umpire may need clarification from above.
 
Gamble

Gamble

Addicted to Softballfans
Rule 3 only specifies maximum measurements for length and weight, with no prescribed minimum.
 
dttruax

dttruax

Addicted to Softballfans
Rule 3 Section 1.A.c

C. LENGTH AND WEIGHT. The official bat shall not be more than 34.0 inches
long, nor exceed 38.0 ounces in weight.
Click to expand...

the ump needs to read his rulebook again
 
G

Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
The reason I bring up such an asanine question is the call led to a confrontation where the umpire choked one of our players and when I went to get him off our player he reared back to hit me. It was the worst thing I have witnessed in my personal sports history. No other punches or pushes were thrown. None of our guys touched the umpire(besides me trying to break it up).
 
eddieq

eddieq

The Great and Powerful Q
I find the question irrelevant in the light of this information. There is no excuse for fighting, especially an umpire throwing punches.

There has to be more than this to the story. Unless the umpire is Gyp Rosetti.
 
G

Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
Hate to say it but the umpire has very bad anger management issues. He is the only umpire that I have ever played with who yells at players to "get in my face" or "step up". He always esclates any situation on the field and never trys to calm things down. We called the league office and he is suspended for the rest of the season. I know the point is moot now.
 
IrishBlue

IrishBlue

Addicted to Softballfans
You what now???

BretMan said:
Obscure reference of the day! :D
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One quick trip to google and I'm back. Ok, obscure reference indeed.

So, I am now confused, is it ok to hit players? Outstanding, I have to re-do some of my assignments :p

It's not the size of the bat but how you swing it :)

The bat has to be no longer than 34, free of dents, dings, rattles, excessive delamination, stamped as required by the discipline you are playing in (Or so old as not to be relevant ;) ), not appear on the banned bat list, not too heavy and away you go. No doubt I have missed a couple of things like not enough tape, too much tape, no 90 degree knob (My knob is 45 degrees at best but I'm getting old) yada yada yada.
 
rhound50

rhound50

Rec Coed Superstar
Gishdream said:
The reason I bring up such an asanine question is the call led to a confrontation where the umpire choked one of our players and when I went to get him off our player he reared back to hit me. It was the worst thing I have witnessed in my personal sports history. No other punches or pushes were thrown. None of our guys touched the umpire(besides me trying to break it up).
Click to expand...

Wait what, the umpire tried to choke someone for arguing a call and when you tried to break it up he hit you? Forget about softball, this is assault plain and simple, call the cops.
 
eddieq

eddieq

The Great and Powerful Q
irishmafia said:
He wasn't the only one :rolleyes: Somebody needs to pop that mother ****er, choking isn't good enough for him and besides, he likes it! :eek:
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No kidding. But he is quickly becoming one of my favorite "characters to hate". He'll get his soon enough, though.
 
VF500Racer

VF500Racer

Addicted to Softballfans
Gishdream said:
The reason I bring up such an asanine question is the call led to a confrontation where the umpire choked one of our players and when I went to get him off our player he reared back to hit me. It was the worst thing I have witnessed in my personal sports history. No other punches or pushes were thrown. None of our guys touched the umpire(besides me trying to break it up).
Click to expand...

This is hilarious... :D:eek::D:eek:
Sounds like a bad player pretending to be an ump. :rolleyes::(
 
G

Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
rhound50 said:
Wait what, the umpire tried to choke someone for arguing a call and when you tried to break it up he hit you? Forget about softball, this is assault plain and simple, call the cops.
Click to expand...
He never got the chance to hit me. But he ****ed to hit me. Some members of the other team held him back. We thought about the assult charges for the chokeing but the guy didn't want to deal with it.
VF500Racer said:
This is hilarious... :D:eek::D:eek:
Sounds like a bad player pretending to be an ump. :rolleyes::(
Click to expand...

I think he is a player in his spare time actually.
 
rhound50

rhound50

Rec Coed Superstar
Did you at least talk to the league director? This guy should not be an umpire, hell he should be banned from playing too.
 
G

Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
He is banned from umping the rest of the season. We are trying to get him fired. The league night director is his GF... so that didn't help any. But the over all league director took the matter very seriously and was handled within hours.
 
NCASAUmp

NCASAUmp

Un-Retired
Agreed. He shouldn't be an umpire if he can't maintain control over himself.

Sure, I've been pissed off at players or coaches. It happens. But starting fights on the field? No way.
 
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Gishdream

Addicted to Softballfans
Like wise. Every player has been pissed at an ump a time or two. But you never put your hands on someone. EVER. Worst I ever expect to see on the field is excessive language. It was a sad day indeed. I love the league(met my wife playing in this league). I would hate to quit over an ump.
 
K

Katzy63

The Veteran
In regards to the bat not being 34" in length, if you're playing in a league that prohibits the use of fast-pitch bats then the idiot umpire was right.
I was the UIC for a womens league that wanted to change their bat rules and get rid of the glass and other crap. One of their biggest issues was to get rid of the little kids fast-pitch bats for some reason. When I wrote their bat rules I basically copied the ASA bat rules and went with "all bats must be 34" in length (the max length anyone produces) and no more than 30oz (the heaviest produced). They signed off on the rule change and it left the door open for the educated people (those with reading and comprehension skills) to find the fast-pitch bats that met the length requirements.
 
I

irishmafia

Addicted to Softballfans
Katzy63 said:
In regards to the bat not being 34" in length, if you're playing in a league that prohibits the use of fast-pitch bats then the idiot umpire was right.
I was the UIC for a womens league that wanted to change their bat rules and get rid of the glass and other crap. One of their biggest issues was to get rid of the little kids fast-pitch bats for some reason. When I wrote their bat rules I basically copied the ASA bat rules and went with "all bats must be 34" in length (the max length anyone produces) and no more than 30oz (the heaviest produced). They signed off on the rule change and it left the door open for the educated people (those with reading and comprehension skills) to find the fast-pitch bats that met the length requirements.
Click to expand...

And what did the one-handed players use? I've seen handicapped players use bats as short as 18" and still hit the ball 300'. It have been quite a few years and I don't know if any would meet today's standards, but there is no problem using a smaller bat as long as it meets all the other specs.
 
K

Katzy63

The Veteran
Funny you should ask that. I worked the Special Olympics recently and all I can say is, "What a bunch of cut-throat muthaf'ers!!" Leagues anywhere have to make adjustments for handicapped players. Notice that I said "leagues" though. Leagues are 99.9% run through the cities and have to make concessions to those with disabilities to allow them to participate to avoid a messy lawsuit. But tournaments are played by specific rules and that associations rule book needs to be followed. After all, the Special Olympics doesn't allow non-handicapped players to participate as "tokens" in the same manner as Hispanic, Pacific Islander or African-American worlds allows for "tokens" on their rosters. You have to use common sense when applying rules to handicapped participants. For the sake of argument, lets say you do have a one-armed person playing on your team. I would allow them to use a bat that they could handle within their limitations, but no other person on that team should use that bat if they didn't need to.

As far as a league saying you can't use a fast-pitch bat (usually anything under 34') in a slow-pitch game, that's their prerogative and you either abide by it or find someplace else to play.
 
dttruax

dttruax

Addicted to Softballfans
Katzy63 said:
In regards to the bat not being 34" in length, if you're playing in a league that prohibits the use of fast-pitch bats then the idiot umpire was right.
I was the UIC for a womens league that wanted to change their bat rules and get rid of the glass and other crap. One of their biggest issues was to get rid of the little kids fast-pitch bats for some reason. When I wrote their bat rules I basically copied the ASA bat rules and went with "all bats must be 34" in length (the max length anyone produces) and no more than 30oz (the heaviest produced). They signed off on the rule change and it left the door open for the educated people (those with reading and comprehension skills) to find the fast-pitch bats that met the length requirements.
Click to expand...

Good thing all the "FP bats" I use are 34" ;).... BTW, according to ASA, there are no "FP bats", but bats typically used in FP play.
 
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