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| April 12, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Older we get, the less respect we get I agree with the general idea. The most disrespect I have seen is by the umps in ASA events. I think they are used to umping the younger guys. I have found many to be disrespectful from the opening coin toss. I have had "3" tell me, when I noted that a certain thing is allowed in senior ball, that it might be OK in SSWC but not in this tourney. This is after we were told that we would play under SSWC rules. I have also feel the older the ump, the more respect they have for the teams playing. Heck, I play for the Chicago Classics at the 60 level. Several years back, I tried to talk to some guys from our own organizations 50s team and they blew me off like I had the plague. We have batled the same 5 or 6 basic teams over the last five years for national titles. We may not like each other, but I think there is mutual respect for each other and that is enough for me. |
| April 7, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: outfielder placement My philosophy has always been if you have a shortstop and a left center fielder, you have a team. |
| March 27, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Entering SPA national tournments Thanks for the tips. The rules showed you have to enter one for AAA and Major. You have to enter "2" to get into the AA tourney. |
| March 27, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Need motel help for Eastern Nationals-Raleigh, NC That should be 15 minute Drive |
| March 27, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Need motel help for Eastern Nationals-Raleigh, NC Can't seem to get a return call from that booking outfit. Can any of you NC guys recommend some motels within a 15 drive of the Walnut Creek Softball Complex??? |
| March 27, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Need motel help for SPA-Dalton, Ga. We had 5 injuries just before Dalton and had to cancel last year. Can any of you recommend some reasonably priced, yet nice, motels for a financially challenged team??? |
| March 26, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Entering SPA national tournments I can't seem to find the SPA website. My question is: If my team can't make it to a SPA qualifer, can we still enter and play in the Dalton Nationals using our SSWC team rating. For example 60AA. |
| March 26, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: oppinion senior game hitting or fielding Another thought. From my 45 years playing 12" and 16", all the defensive positions are important. However, I have noticed that if you have a left center fielder with speed and a good glove shortstop with an arm, you have a team that will be very hard to beat. |
| March 24, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: oppinion senior game hitting or fielding I believe it is a hitters game. However, we try and stress just make the routine plays that we are supposed to make. Cut away at the 21 outs each team gets in a game. |
| March 24, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Bats Discussion: Ultra II break in period? I would take about 20 EASY swings in BP rotating the bat a quarter turn after each hit and that's it. Don't hit wet or heavy balls. I have 2 29s. I use one in prelims and the other in champiopnship play. I must be very lucky so far. I hit with a lot of pwer and bat head speed. I play about 12 or so tournies a year and one bat is entering its' 5th season and the other its' fourth. I am convinced that the heavier the bat, the less breakage. |
| March 21, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: lasik I had it done two weeks ago. The left eye came out 20/20 for disatance. They over shot on the right and I went from farsighted to nearsighted. That makes it the mono vision. I can read without glasses. It is not what I wanted. Cheeters to read don't bother me. So, I am going back on 4/18 to get the right enhanced to 20/20. Can't wait to play without having glasses that fog up. |
| March 16, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Screen to protect the pitcher Your comment about using a screen is interesting. However, I hope it never is used in regular senior softball. It would provide "total" safety for pitchers and we wouldn't want that. It would also take away about 1/2 the post talk on this site and it would eventually cause the site to fold! |
| Feb. 28, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Super Mjor Softball-The way the game was meant to be played If you read the lines and also in between the lines, it openly admits that there are a lot of super major players ringing into the AAA levels. Why don't you guys just go for this full time and you will probably have a lot of teams make moves to this format. Once a super major-stay there. It is very disconcerning to me that I might be playing against some guys in Phoenix this year at the AAA level and who banged out 15 or 20 Hrs in your tourney. I am not against your proposal, it is needed. I can see that where this division and format could become the largest in terms of team entries. If this takes off it would help cut down on teams that enter quietly into the big ones at AAA levels with 9 major/major + players. |
| Feb. 28, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: The "TOC" make it a more major and fair event. With the TOC still being in its' infancy, the same questions and concerns are repeating already. Lack of teams, should play in the same year and using next years roster for some teams and others having to use this year's rosters. Simply have the Worlds in October, Winter nationals in November and the TOC the 1st week in December. NO, NO NO, this will not interfere with Thanksgiving or Christmas. This also means that you can't use next year's roster in the Winter Nationals. Play all tournies in the same calendar year. Also, my big objection is to spend the time and $ to go to Florida for a 2 or 3 team tourney. Gurantee an attempt for an"8" team tourney in each disision. Invite all Champs. Then extend an invite to 2nd place finishers until "8" are secured. No, the 2nd place teams did not win but there is usually only a single hit or two difference between the champ of a tourney and the 2nd team. It would make for a highly competitive/talented tourney with no weak opponents. Having the TOC in the same year would also make it a more level playing field for the 1000s of potential teams from the Northern USA who come in FEB and havn't swung a bat for 2-3 months due to weather. |
| Feb. 15, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Borders and snow birds Maybe you could post on this website the need for players. If you still can't put together a team, Terry and Ridge should have the power to extend your search to states in a larger region. Both have extended special rulings in extreme cases. It certainly is not fair to exclude anyone from playing. |
| Feb. 8, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Maybe a dumb question on the new strike mat The new rule says a rectangular mat that will be placed over home plate and aligned at the front edge. Does this mean you will not see the white home plate. If it covers the plate does that mean a batter will not have to defend as large a landing area and will the pitcher actually have less area to land a strike on???? |
| Feb. 2, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: pitch to yourself!!! There is a never ending discussion as to bats, balls-hitting middle-safety etc. Real simple. Allow a 5th infielder and let the team at bat pitch to themselves. The pitcher will still be very important to his team as he must throw strikes. Let each batter have "3" pitches from his own pitcher and he must hit one of the 3 otherwise he is out. If the pitcher is hit by a ball from his own guys, it is dead and an out. How many are going to hit at his own pitcher???? Some will say it's not traditional, but think about it. It would cut back about 50% of the posts on this site. I once, many years ago, played in a small bar tournament that did this and it was great. NO balls or strikes and the umps only had to call outs. Lots of hits and all the teams had nothing but positive comments. |
| Feb. 2, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: hitting the pitcher Sorry you got hit---BUT!!!!! With the 6' extended box and when you throw a 10' to 12' arc, you have time to back up an additional 6' to 8', it should give all plenty of time and distance to defend themselves. If you can't,try catcher. Another choice would be to allow a 5th infielder for all age groups. The 11th player must be positioned in the infield and allows for another team member to play. Very few will hit the middle with a defender behind the pitcher. Most of those who play against me know that I pull to avoid hitting the middle. As a result, many opponents play their shortstop in a strong pull position. I have often been given little choice but to hit the middle when I see a 60+' gap between the SS and 2nd baseman. |
| Jan. 17, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: Associations Discussion: Too many sub classifications I have played at the 50, 55 and now 60 level. There is a huge difference. As you move up, the big fat guys are less and less. They have no knees or are dead! I have noticed that as teams are formed at the older levels, the teams who place rings ahead of friendship, dump friends, and reach out to more states. Often drawing from 5 states to put together an all star team. As those teams change team names and hide big time players, less and less teams want to go to big tournies, and pay the money just to get pounded. You need a AA. I would suggest NO Hrs and if you hit one, you are out of that game. You might keep the AAA level more balanced by limiting the roster to your home state and maybe other players from only one other state. I think this would force more guys to form teams. The 3rd level would be an Major division. Put together a team and come play. No boundries. No single player would ever get shut out due to home town. You might find 15-20 teams show up if they could draw from anywhere and show up with guys who would huff and puff and hit the ball to never land. No Hr limits. |
| Jan. 7, 2008 Gary Heifner | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: What would you change in Senior Softball? I would vote for the 1-1 count. I kept track over several seasons and you get about an additional 11 minutes per game which translates to at least one more inning. I would also like to see a 6 to 10 foot arc. Most umps could judge a 10 footer pretty well. There isn't an ump in the known free world who knows what a 12 foot arc is. Also, under the current rules a player who stays in great shape, works out and exceeds at a very high level gets pushed up to major plus is screwed. There should be NO boundries on major plus players. They deseve a right to play. |
