Stupid League Rules

[mcnary26]

our only dumb rule is the halo rule.

one year my league allowed an eleventh fielder that you were supposed to play behind second base to try to keep people from going middle. it did not work at all, people just used it as a second rover and came up with some crazy defensive alignments that made it almost impossible to get hits. did not even last half a year.

 

[TonyB]

Our coed league has a few odd rules. All male fielders must be at least 175ft from the plate until the ball crosses the plate when a female batter is up. So if you have girls in the field, its an advantage. Used to be 150, but that was a bit too close for a lot of the girls. We used to have a rule stating that girls couldn't be thrown out at 1B from the field, but they changed it a few years ago.

When you say "field" and "fielder," do you mean "outfield" and "outfielder"?

By far the worst rule, is lead offs are an out. No anticipation. take your foot off the bag after the pitch is thrown, and the batter doesn't hit the ball, your out. Makes runners way slower, but can help keep them on the bag if they need to tag up.

You're supposed to wait until the ball crosses the plate.

 

[pompetti]

You're supposed to wait until the ball crosses the plate.

I played in a co-ed league that had the same rule. Most associations say you can't leave the base until the ball crosses the plate. But this rule was unless the batter made contact, you couldn't leave the base.

If batter swung and missed and the runner stepped off the base as the ball crossed the plate, it was an out.

The guy running the league was also the only umpire for the league. I think he put the rule in to keep him from having to look for runners leaving early.

 

[pontiacfb78]

When you say "field" and "fielder," do you mean "outfield" and "outfielder"?

Yeah, I saved myself from typing 3 letters in each case...until now. Plus, its not like you refer to it as the 'center outfielder'. You know what I meant, and its not like i misspelled 'their'.

 

[Superstar555]

No. They can play on the edge of the grass, but they all have to play there. Or they can play on the fence, but they all have to play there.

This. There is no restriction on where any outfielder plays distance-wise, but they ALL have to play at that same distance.

I agree, it's COED and I'm not here all WTFBBQ!?!?! about it, it's just a dumb rule that's hard to enforce. I'd much rather have the COED line or just let the girls use senior bats.

 

[stork]

Having girls use senior bats/different bats isn't a bad idea in theory...but most umps don't know/don't check the difference between bats. I'd venture to guess that 50% of the time the dude following her could pick up the same bat and the ump wouldn't even notice.

It won't ping like a lot of co-ed teams bats up here. He might notice.

 

[TRaj2327]

Let the women use senior bats and you wouldn't need that rule.

This is another misconception of softball. Senior bats really aren't THAT much hotter. Hotter? Yes...but only marginally. For many league players it makes a difference that can barely be detected by the naked eye.

 

[ball go far]

still, stupid coed

 

[MichelleG]

I was asked to play women's ball in Racine this year. Didn't find out until it started that it's metal only, we hit 12 inch SB12s, and there's an extra shortstop. WTF? Maybe I can live with one of those....but all three?? Did I mention it's WOMENS league?? Going back to Milwaukee where I can swing my Mercy, hit the 11 inch and have a normal number of infielders. Sheesh!

 

[Jusrah99]

I hate the stupid "no drinking beer on the field" rule...I just never really understood the logic behind it.

 

[TRaj2327]

I hate the stupid "no drinking beer on the field" rule...I just never really understood the logic behind it.

We used to play some teams so bad a teammate would take his cell phone to the outfield and say goodnite to his kids. That league was TERRIBLE.

 

[ichiromoco]

If league was that bad why is he not at home with his kids?? Or playing in a better league? Prob so he can be the man.

 

[Jusrah99]

We used to play some teams so bad a teammate would take his cell phone to the outfield and say goodnite to his kids. That league was TERRIBLE.

Those BP games are always fun...

 

[pontiacfb78]

I know there is at least one league around here that does 'big ball - small ball' where women get to hit an 11" and men hit the 12". Never played it, but it would probably make more of a difference than letting them use senior bats, and without most of the hassle.

 

[Jusrah99]

I know there is at least one league around here that does 'big ball - small ball' where women get to hit an 11" and men hit the 12". Never played it, but it would probably make more of a difference than letting them use senior bats, and without most of the hassle.

This is how most of the co-Ed leagues around me are...

 

[Ballisttic]

When you say "field" and "fielder," do you mean "outfield" and "outfielder"?

No the infielders need to be 175' from home plate when females hit lol or its not fair.

 

[GrinningBear]

One bunt per game sounds like a very fun time, and could make for some interesting strategy on when and how to use it. That's something that I would like to see more often in leagues.

Some league rules that I've seen that can be interesting:

Hits a leaf on a tree in fair territory, no pitch and reset the bases.
Roof of the barn is a HR, but play the side like the "Green Monster"
Unlimited runners from the box, but only one runner per inning on the bases

Stupid league rules that I've heard:

Commit lines
Plate & Mat strikes (in non-no limit leagues)

Can you explain unlimited runners from the box?

I'm glad we don't have the coed line, but we do have the commit line and safety line. I voted against both, but I was outvoted by every other manager in the league. Somehow after 3 weeks we also went from 6-12' pitches to unlimited arc because two substitute umps didn't know the league rules and let a bunch of weird crap happen.

We have differing definitions of weird crap.

This is another misconception of softball. Senior bats really aren't THAT much hotter. Hotter? Yes...but only marginally. For many league players it makes a difference that can barely be detected by the naked eye.

You've been swinging the wrong senior bats.

If league was that bad why is he not at home with his kids?? Or playing in a better league? Prob so he can be the man.

Maybe he really likes his new phone?

I know there is at least one league around here that does 'big ball - small ball' where women get to hit an 11" and men hit the 12". Never played it, but it would probably make more of a difference than letting them use senior bats, and without most of the hassle.

A lot of leagues like that. What sucks is if the team provides the ball and they want the same specs as the men's ball. An 11" Classic W is .47 something. Or was. You can find lower specs on 11" but they're not as common.

 

[smarkley3]

I hate the stupid "no drinking beer on the field" rule...I just never really understood the logic behind it.

Its so the ball dont hit your beer and spill it tard.

 

[AmmoDawg]

I love the mat for strikes, and would like to try a plate as a strike league. I don't think I'm exaggerating in saying that 90% of umps call strikes solely based on where they land anyway.

Last year while deployed, the intramural league on base went to mat ball, but only the mat was a strike. My last year at Moody we had gone to mat ball, but the plate and mat were a strike. So this year at the coaches meeting I talked everyone into plate and mat. Only thing that sucks is the league has way more walks than ever.

 

[TRaj2327]

You've been swinging the wrong senior bats.

These bats are PLENTY hot and at the top of the senior game from my understanding.

OG U2 with ASA stamp
Geezer
SR.1
12" SR.1

You do understand the difference between 1.20 and 1.21 BPF, right?

If league was that bad why is he not at home with his kids?? Or playing in a better league? Prob so he can be the man.

The league went downhill in basically one season and the competition switched nights. We didn't have many other options.

 

[irishmafia]

Umpires have a little saying, "Local rules are made by fools".

 

[cr4shpeg]

Ridiculous rules from my league:

Swing wood, but you can't use anything with a composite handle, 2 piece bats, bamboo bats, or Worth Toxics (100% serious)

Force play at every base

No sliding

You're able to run through every bag like its first base

Supposed to be 10-12 foot arc, but one particular pitcher throws straight pitches and gets the same strike zone

Step off the base when a batter swings and misses and you're out

 

[etnstudios]

Ridiculous rules from my league:

Swing wood, but you can't use anything with a composite handle, 2 piece bats, bamboo bats, or Worth Toxics (100% serious)

Force play at every base

No sliding

You're able to run through every bag like its first base

Supposed to be 10-12 foot arc, but one particular pitcher throws straight pitches and gets the same strike zone

Step off the base when a batter swings and misses and you're out

that's feckin retahdid

 

[pontiacfb78]

that's feckin retahdid

I second this. Force play at all bases? wtf?

I checked my league rules yesterday, and it doesn't actually specify that a lead off is an out. Everyone has been playing that way forever, so I'm just going to point it out at the meeting next year. Hopefully everyone will agree and the rule will go away.

 

[Superstar555]

So this year at the coaches meeting I talked everyone into plate and mat. Only thing that sucks is the league has way more walks than ever.

As I pitcher I love the mat+plate=strike for league play. Half of the umps are terribad and the other half are too busy Bluetoothing some heifer to pay attention to the game, much less a real strike zone.

I think I speak for most pitchers when I say that I really don't care what you call a strike, as long as it is consistent. Hard to beat the mat for consistency...

 

[pudds]

Our co-ed city slow pitch league has the absolute worst rules.

1) No bat rules. Anything goes.

2) Pitches have to be at least 6' high, but there's no upper limit. Plate is used for strikes.

3) There are 40+ teams in the league, so we use basically every diamond in the city on Wednesdays, including many diamonds that adults have no business playing on. One diamond has a soccer field about 200' out in right field that there are always neighbourhood kids on.

4) No home run limits. It can get painful on the very small diamonds.

5) No stealing, sliding, tagging up.

6) No tagging runners, all bases are a force out. Runners can over-run any base as long as they make a turn to the right like at first.

But here's the worst one of all:

7) Instead of 3 outs, all 10 batters from each team bat every inning (if you sit in the field, you sit for batting that inning). Play goes to the plate on the 10th batter unless it's caught in the air.

Games take for-f%cking-ever. You can get 4-5 outs in a row to start an inning, and still give up 5 runs because you have to face the best hitters every single inning. All 7 of em. The average game takes 3 hours to finish.

We switched leagues this year, to a 10 man modified co-ed league (there's only one slow pitch league in the city). Huge improvement.

 

[AreJay]

But here's the worst one of all:

7) Instead of 3 outs, all 10 batters from each team bat every inning (if you sit in the field, you sit for batting that inning). Play goes to the plate on the 10th batter unless it's caught in the air.

You're playing adult T-ball??

 

[pudds]

You're playing adult T-ball??

Right? So dumb. But it's "just for fun", you know. I filled in for a friend's team one game last month; not sure how I managed to play 2 seasons in that league. The games are just horribly draggy.

The only upside was that it made for good BP because you got 5-7 bats per game, regardless of whether the rest of your team was hitting or not.

 

[coldengineer]

This is another misconception of softball. Senior bats really aren't THAT much hotter. Hotter? Yes...but only marginally. For many league players it makes a difference that can barely be detected by the naked eye.

Cold Engineer disagrees. There is a noticeable difference, especially if you're pitching or playing corner against a pull hitter.

 

[BigWhiffa]

having to run out homeruns...what a waste of time in an hour long softball game.