Country469
Well-Known Member
Also no floating rubber in conference. Strike zone is gonna be about 1/4 of the size you're used to. Are the stats inflated some, yes. are they the best hitters on earth, yes.
The War by the Shore is on tonight at 8 PM eastern time
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Sloth91
Active Member
agreed. i think helmer spoke about that and was in the same boat. no reason to use the hardest ball possible. there are a few balls between mush and stadiums, believe it or not
I've played with cork. I don't even consider the classic plus/asa ball mush.
TWmccoy
3DX Connoisseur
I agree. Classic Ms are too weather sensitive. In the cold you get an ice ball that destroys bats and goes 400' with relative ease. In very hot weather you get a dead pillow with no bounce at all.
I won't necessarily call the .52 300 the perfect ball, but its a lot closer to what should be used on 300' fields than a classic M is.
The main problem with classic Ms is that the ball is a dead, useless turd. It basically becomes a battle of who has the hottest bat. Unlike the .52 300, a classic M has zero bounce and will not propel itself. I would think that classic Ms ushered in the era of bat shaving.
Oh, and having hit ZN classic Ms at USSSA worlds in Orlando on multiple occasions, I'd be completely open to using a .52 ball at worlds. During the day in FL a ZN turns into a pillow. You can squeeze the ball easily in your hand and it flies nowhere off the bat.
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jhitman
Well-Known Member
I agree. He didn't look like the same hitter that won the Mens Major World Series HR Derby last Fall.
huzzdog
retired
that's not a technology issue. it was his first bad weekend in 5 years in any condition. i consider him to be the hardest out in the game still, he just laid an egg.
http://v10.usssa.com/slowpitch/PlayerLocker/#/?gdSport=17&PlaID=2657650
see how many bad weekends he's had
jhitman
Well-Known Member
Question, if that's the case that it was his first bad weekend in 5 years, were the other tournaments played with the 52 cor 300 comp softballs?
huzzdog
retired
vegas and houston
vegas stats with that ball
3/31/2017 Sin City CUSSSA Men's Major 9 45-49 39 1 1 14 38 4 0.918
he went 45 for 49 with only 14homers and hit .918.. i'd say that's decent against major competition
jhitman
Well-Known Member
Wow, that's really impressive. Even the top guys have one off tournament. He's got ridiculous power like Harvey.
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
What size were the fences that weekend ?
legend4130
Addicted to Softballfans
Sin City BLD is mostly like every other BLD. 300ft all around. From what I remember, there’s one field where LC is 325ish. Not sure about Houston though.
ddoubler
Addicted to Softballfans
Hitting a 52 out on a 300 field is quite different (easier) than hitting one out at space coast
oppotaco13
Active Member
I liked the series. The 52s leveled the playing field. Hope something like this comes back next year.
legend4130
Addicted to Softballfans
Yeah and just image those guys hitting Classic M’s or stadiums at BLD’s with 16 HR’s to hit or whatever it is. Lol......That’s why I mentioned in an earlier post that these guy’s stats are inflated more than they really should be.
Rooster210
P-Pumpah #1
what do you mean leveled the playing field? none are league ballers and both sides won their championships in the associations they play.
Hiltz
Built for comfort
The games were more about defense, timely hitting, and smart baserunning. With the harder balls it's more about which team has the bigger, harder swinging dudes.
Eg. Kyle Pearson had a rough series with a bunch of pop-ups. With Stadium balls, he would've mis-hit several homeruns.
Dude only hit 14 homeruns out of 45 hits with those balls on a 300' fence though. The shorter fences means less ground for the ofers to cover and less room to get it down without being a homeruns as well. Almost more impressive to me.
This is it exactly. They were mis hits, but you don't really know that with current equipment. Even with classic Ms all of his mis hits that I saw still go out. There are way too many mis hit homeruns in today's game imo.
oppotaco13
Active Member
Yeah, I tried to say all that, but in a short sentence.
And I love watching the games with classic m balls and non stop home runs, this was a nice change.
Hiltz
Built for comfort
The thing I always notice about the games in the stadiums is the size of the OF gaps. I couldn't sniff the fence on those fields, but it looks so easy to hit between the outfielders. The fact that guys that hit a lot harder than me can't always do it makes me appreciate how fast some of those outfielders are.
I don't know if I'm more impressed by the big guys that can move our the thin guys that can just fly. They are crazy fast in person too.
I don't mind watching those games occasionally, but I don't enjoy playing in them. I enjoy playing defense and I miss it.
huzzdog
retired
I've played in the smokey mtn. classic a few times and in the stadium at disney. i've also played in rock hill in a major when it was 115 degrees and homeruns were a rarity. I must say playing unlimited with good balls on big fields is far more fun. I played infield and pitched in both spots... defense is still hugely important.. you just have to make all the plays you have the opportunity on. as far as watching.. i felt the war by the shore was not a great exhibition
Country469
Well-Known Member
shut up
TWmccoy
3DX Connoisseur
I agree, but I think they should use a better .52 ball. Hot Dots aren't very good performers. I've never hit one in the heat/humidity of FL, but I can't imagine they'd perform well at all.
On a side note, I just played in Albuquerque, NM on their brand new turf field complex. Full sized baseball fields. 330' to the lines and 390' to CF. Ball was flying out pretty well and I saw quite a few long HRs being hit.
It was bring your own ball, classic Ms. Most teams hit X Rocks while others used ZNs. Oh, and it was bat provided by Worth/Miken. Let's put it this way... 400' shots weren't a rarity. I hit a few of them myself. The ball absolutely SOARS at that altitude. The bats started getting very loose (broken in) and cracking late on Sunday too. The Freak 23 was the hottest one I swung. In 70 degrees with classic Ms I was mis hitting balls 360' with it.
With the temps and wind conditions they could have used classic + balls and there still would have been HRs.
The harder it is to play defense the more important it becomes. I didn't say I was good at it. I said I enjoyed playing it.
Some things are similar between your level and mine but this isn't one of them. I'm pretty confident in saying that the difference between your glove and my glove is greater than the difference between our possible bbs. I'm not saying I can hit like you because I don't and bbs isn't everything, but the speeds I'm expected to field with today's equipment is just wrong to me.
I wouldn't mind a compromise. I don't hate the 44/375, but the classic m is horrible. I don't like how it behaves or comes off the bat or anything. And it's a truck in the cold and poop in the heat. It's just stupid.