ASA Illegal bats

[smarkley3]

I play in a Senior one pice only single wall bat league. There is a guy who uses a Rip It composit (black w yellow lettering). Everyone knows its illegal, I even told the guy (as did his friends) not to swing it and that I would call it out. Yesterday he walks up to the plate and rips a triple with it. I asked blue to look at it, he does and declares it legal. At that point I lost my cool, did not swear but did ask him if he knows the difference between a composite and a single wall metal bat. He got upset and jumped in my face. I just suggested he learn more about bats but backed off before I was ejected.

Was I wrong to do this, I think its cheating and dont want to see anyone get hurt?

Oh he said it was legal because it has an ASA stamp, but it says nothibg about ASA in the legue rules, only that it must be singlewall metal and meet BSF 1.20

 

[NCASAUmp]

Sounds like there may be some miscommunication with whoever runs the leagues and whoever is assigning the umpires. When so many umpires call so many different leagues with so many different local rules, it's easy for these things to get overlooked. It does you no good to get upset over it, and it sounds to me that the umpire thought you were being a smartass.

Only thing you can do is protest the call. He's declaring the bat legal, when your local league rules say otherwise. Protest, move on.

 

[SevenBizzos]

When the ump ruled it legal, that pretty much ends the discussion for that game. After the game, a good place to start is the legal bat list the league is using. If there isn't one, then it's up to interpretation. I'd also speak to the LD about the incident.

If all those fail and the bat remains legal, I'd go and get one too.

 

[clementeunknown]

Bring your ASA stamped composites next time you play them. If they complain tell them you'll put yours up when they do. It's obvious the umpire is oblivious

 

[rhound50]

Well asking an umpire if he knows what he is doing is pretty much always a no-no and is pretty much always going to get you a bad reaction. Not that I haven't done it myself, I played in an temple league back when I was young mostly so I could play ball with my dad. The rules said singlewall only and the team brings out a TPS SB34. I tell them to put it away or we will protest the bat, they ignore me and swing anyways, after the first hitter hits we protest. The umpire looks at it and says its legal, I even showed him paper work that showed it was banned in all ASA play but he wasn't having it. He tells me to shut up and go back to my position. I told him if someone gets hurt I would personally assist them in suing him personally since I warned him of the safety hazard and he chose to ignore it. He told me one more word and I'm gone, I walk back to my position. The ump has a long conversation with his partner and tells the other team they can't use the bat anymore.

Most of the time these leagues have a list of legal bats, if they don't you have to go to the league director. The other more douchy option is show up with an OG ultra or Ultra 2 with the ASA stamp and tell them that if they can use an ASA stamped composite so can you and watch heads explode.

 

[MaverickAH]

Sounds like there may be some miscommunication with whoever runs the leagues and whoever is assigning the umpires. When so many umpires call so many different leagues with so many different local rules, it's easy for these things to get overlooked. It does you no good to get upset over it, and it sounds to me that the umpire thought you were being a smartass.

Only thing you can do is protest the call. He's declaring the bat legal, when your local league rules say otherwise. Protest, move on.

The problem with that is that more and more leagues are going to an on-the-field immediate resolution system & are not accepting post-game appeals.

It's best that both umpires & teams have the LD & UIC on speed dial so that they can get a point of contact answer when situations arise. Having a copy of the league rules readily available wouldn't hurt either!

 

[NCASAUmp]

The problem with that is that more and more leagues are going to an on-the-field immediate resolution system & are not accepting post-game appeals.

It's best that both umpires & teams have the LD & UIC on speed dial so that they can get a point of contact answer when situations arise. Having a copy of the league rules readily available wouldn't hurt either!

THIS! Holy ****balls, this!

 

[smarkley3]

I spoke to the offending player, he made excuses, but I am sure he wont use it when he plays the team I am on. Still amazed by how it was handled. Old guys are as bad as old women sometimes LOL.
I think part of the reason I got angry is that the guy is a higher level player and hit better than me, even though he's got a few years on me. This is a single wall legue where you can use ASA Nanotech but not USSSA ones. I jus wish the Umps would learn local rules, I mean all you have to do is bounce a ball off the bat and you can tell if its metal or composite.
I kinda feel like this league need some new blood, hope to put my own team together in the future. At least I get to play ball, gotta stop bitchin, LOL.

 

[irishmafia]

I spoke to the offending player, he made excuses, but I am sure he wont use it when he plays the team I am on. Still amazed by how it was handled. Old guys are as bad as old women sometimes LOL.
I think part of the reason I got angry is that the guy is a higher level player and hit better than me, even though he's got a few years on me. This is a single wall legue where you can use ASA Nanotech but not USSSA ones. I jus wish the Umps would learn local rules, I mean all you have to do is bounce a ball off the bat and you can tell if its metal or composite.
I kinda feel like this league need some new blood, hope to put my own team together in the future. At least I get to play ball, gotta stop bitchin, LOL.

How about just playing the game by the real rules. You cannot just make **** up and expect the umpires to memorize stupid rules for every little pissant league. There is a reason umpires say, "local rules are made by fools".

 

[BigSam]

I told him if someone gets hurt I would personally assist them in suing him personally since I warned him of the safety hazard and he chose to ignore it. He told me one more word and I'm gone, I walk back to my position.

He let you have this whole little speech and DIDN'T toss you? You'd have been yapping this nonsense on the way to your car with most blues.

That said, umpires in my area are TERRIBLE when it comes to knowing about bats. Which is a shame, since it is part of our jobs to know. Need to know the equipment along with the rules in order to make those calls. Personally I keep an eye on bats both old and new and I regularly keep track of the ASA bat lists. And I'm in a league where we force the guys to use league crap single wall bats only. Because it is part of our job to know.

 

[rhound50]

He let you have this whole little speech and DIDN'T toss you? You'd have been yapping this nonsense on the way to your car with most blues.

That said, umpires in my area are TERRIBLE when it comes to knowing about bats. Which is a shame, since it is part of our jobs to know. Need to know the equipment along with the rules in order to make those calls. Personally I keep an eye on bats both old and new and I regularly keep track of the ASA bat lists. And I'm in a league where we force the guys to use league crap single wall bats only. Because it is part of our job to know.

Ive actually done this twice and didn't get tossed either time, in 18 years of playing softball I've still yet to get tossed. The single wall bats are crap but they really are a good idea when it comes to rec coed or old low skills leagues. Keeps people from getting seriously hurt.

 

[smarkley3]

I was close, I think he knew that I know bats but thought I was trying to show him up. I walked away and let it go but, I think you need to know a metal bat from a composite. I honestly think its laziness on the Umps part. This league has been single wall forever and he is not new to the league. Plus every team has complained about the bat. You would think he would take the time to check himself or at least ask the LD. The comment about local rules is true, they tried to tell me I cant use a single wall fast pitch bat, but its not written in there rules and neither is any mention of an ASA approved sticker. Just says single wall, one piece aluminum bat that meets ther 1.20 standard.
not only cant they enforce there rules, they cant even write them.........