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Aug. 16, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: SSUSA Staff-Masters format in Vegas Texas T You will have "5" games for sure. 2 Seeds and you can lose your 1st 2 championship bracket games and you go into a bottom/low bracket and could come all the way back to win it all. I don't think anyone has done that and it would be one hell of a journey but you will get your "5" for sure.
Aug. 15, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Bats Discussion: Ambush Review Once again the uninformed-non-tournament players are spouting off. The senior bats do not equal automatic Hrs. The vast majority of senior players can't even hit the warning track. The HR discussions are for the elite power hitters of which there are only 2 or 3 on any given team. I have a goodly number of friends who play at different levels will say they rarely use up their allotted # of Hrs. My team is really fast in the outfield and they are really good at running down 290 foot fly balls by guys who think a senior bat means an Hr. We hope our opponents keep blasting away fooled by the notion anyone can hit one.
Aug. 14, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: SSUSA Staff-Masters format in Vegas I am sure you are working on the format for the different age groups for Vegas. Last year in Phoenix, the 65 AAAs had 11 teams and played "4" prelim games. That was far to many. There were teams physically spent before the bracket play even started and some just going through the motions the last several games. Saw a lot guys limping to the parking lot after the "4". I and I am sure others would rather see the normal 2 seeding games and let's get on with it. I can speak for my team that we would like to play for the championship with a few less strained muscles and more energy.
Aug. 12, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Product review Discussion: New Combat AMBUSH break in tips (and other senior bats) Not to dispell any of the above but: A guy on my team is a bat junkie. His pole barn wall has a line up of bats covered in dust that were suppose to be the next best thing. Is the above true or just salesmen hype to sell several thousand bats before the real word gets out????
Aug. 10, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Need HR rules clarification by 9:30 Saturday Thanks for the reply
Aug. 10, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Need HR rules clarification by 9:30 Saturday 2 65 AAA teams are playing. Both have their alloted 3 Hrs in 1st 3 innings. Playing on a short 275' field. 1. Ump and TD says both can continue to hit more Hrs throughout the game as long as you only go 1 up. This means a AAA team could have 7 or more in a game. In 4 qualifers and 2 ring tournies this year, both us and opponents were stoped at "3" and not allowed more. Is this correct for AAA that Hrs are endless. 2. Now this is what happened today. We have 3 and they have 3 going into the 7th and we are up to bat. We could hit a 4th to go one up according to the TD. This means the opponents could hit one to tie and one more to win via point 3 below. We didn't hit one. So we are still tied at 3 each. I stopped to verify that the rule says you can't hit a walk off in the 7th if it puts you one up which it would have. The TD standing there said no. If they hit one it counts. Please correct me if I am wrong
Aug. 9, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Manassas, Va. Donnie I am not commenting on your situation because I don't know any of you. What I agree with you is age differences. My team is a 65 AAA with 2 guys who could be in 70s now and 5 more guys who could move up to 70s next year. Just playing at the AAA level, many of our opponents have had a majority of players 65-66 years old. Sorry guys, but they are faster, stronger and more athletic. We have competed OK at times but have had difficulty winning overall. To move down an entire age group or two is absurd. Some will not understand this until they are in your situation. The 5 year increment system works. From what we have experienced is that when you roll to a new (higher) age group, you better win in the the 1st 2/3 years because those last 2/3 years you will be playing younger teams who will be a lot better.
Aug. 7, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Open or Closed stance.. Went to an open stance 2 years ago. I feel like I see the ball better out of the pitchers hand and have less mis-hits or better stated feel like I hit the ball dead center more-result more and better line drives.
Aug. 5, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Throwing HJ--- I made an over the shoulder catch a few years back and hit my shoulder on a fence post. Lots of pain the rest of the year. Bought one of the weighted balls. Played catch over the winter just bouncing it off the basement wall. The one I got is kinda like a super ball-really bounces. Continued to use before every game the next season and my shoulder/arm not only recovered but got stronger. Don't throw it hard. Just play lob catch. Still use it.
Aug. 1, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: ISA Columbus,Indiana My team finished 2nd at the 65 AAA level. We received tee-shirts, 3 MVP medals and a nice plaque. We didn't go for awards. Went with the hope that it would be a great tourney. It was. Tough competition, good umps-2 per game-grounds crew keep the Lincoln Park diamonds in good shape and sportsmanship was the order of the day. Will definately return next year.
July 31, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: 5 run spot that allows 6 runs per inning to lower rated teams Gary 19 I believe I established that I am a whole lot smarter than you a while back. Each night I do my normal prayers and add a quick thank you that the good lord never gives you the urge to come out on tour and destroy, with your mere presence, what have been great tournies so far this year. I will admit that even though your posts are the rantings of an abnormal person, you are consistant. P.S. Your on going rant regarding the 5 run spots is meaningless to my team. We never take the 5 runs. A higher ranked team usually eats up those 5 in a few innings and the rout is on. Take the x-tra defender, push the SS towards the 5-6 hole and help defend the middle with the 11th defender. It takes a lot of good higher level hitters out of their normal hitting comfort zone and will give you a better chance of being competitive. Also, the rants seem to center only on hitting and runs scored. What we have noticed over recent years, being a AAA team, is that the Major teams we play are simply bigger, faster, stronger and play better defense than most of the AAA teams. Simply stated better over all athletes. Also, the 5 run or 11th defender is only used in qualifers or better stated practice tournaments. It does not come into play in the Ring tournaments as you are paired with equally ranked teams. So, Gary 19, really, what is the big deal? Yes, right, no big deal at all which negates your rants. Instead of wasting so much time on this site, you should be out practicing to make yourself a better player.
July 25, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: 5 run spot that allows 6 runs per inning to lower rated teams Don't argue with Gary 19 on this topic. He has ranted on this topic for a year or so. He is RIGHT. All you lesser teams need to go to the tournies, get your ass kicked for 7 innings, shake hands and tell each other that even though you fielded batting practice for 7 innings and got beat by 20+, you are now real men. After all, you are helping increase the self esteem of the superior team. They can go home and tell their Grand kids they killed a team by a bunch even though they probably don't tell the grand kids it was against a lowered rated team. You then hurry over to a nearby field, quickly practice and you might only get beat by 19 the next game against a higher rated team. Just hang in there until you get to play a team of equal rating and have a chance.
July 12, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: TOURNAMENT WINNER AUTO MOVEUP Crusher, you are correct. My AAA team is competitive at that level. When we play Ms or M+s, we basically field batting practice for 5 innings, shake hands, completely lie when when we say nice game to each opponent and get ready for the next butt kicking if it is a major/M+ team. Most teams, at our age levels, are not going to get significantly better by hard work and dedication. The majority of seniors players have been playing for up to 50+ years. Their abilities are pretty well established and are usually diminished by injury or health isuues. Many workout a bunch to just try and hold on to what they got. Teams will get significantly better by dumping the 2 ot 3 worse players on the team each year, even though they have been loyal, and replace them with hand picked talent. From my experience in the midwest, perinial power houses don't just come together. Individuals carefully recruit and hand pick the best they can find. When they win and get moved up, life is a bitch. You move up, give it your best shot, if you fail, you have a case for being moved back down and SSWC will do that as well as moving teams up.
July 11, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: need players for ISA tourney in Columbus Indiana The Chicago Classics Gray Sox 65AAAs had some guys drop out and we need several players for the big ISA tourney in Columbus, Ind. We have pitchers need infielders or outfielders. The 10 we have are solid players and we would like to have 12. Any who join us will hit in every game and we will switch around on defense. The tourney is F-S-S July 27-28-29. Best if you can run for yourself, should be of 65AAA rating/ability and live in a state touching Illinois. If interested call me at 630-347-7475. I believe there are still motels rooms available in Columbus or nearby. Gary Heifner
July 5, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Bats Discussion: what's the best senior bat, gave up on the gsc promises. HJ Question about your point # 2. I think Ray Dimarini's studies showed that hitters who kept up bat head speed or had the lowest drops in bat head speed after contact hit the ball futher. Not arguing with you, just curious. Just wondered if your study data debunked the Dimarini theory.
July 4, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Bats Discussion: what's the best senior bat, gave up on the gsc promises. I have developed a different or maybe strange philosophy on this bat and breaking issue. I sold my snowmobiles and rarely ski out west anymore. So my retirement hobbies are my Harley, golf and softball. I put a bunch of time and $ into softball because I am a junkie and love playing the game. If I break a bat, so what! I order a new one. I budget my softball habit into expenditures. Heck, I still know guys/players who will belly up to the bar, put down a $100 bill and buy until it'gone and blow money on ridiculous things. A few that even buy a new car every year. Why ??? So what's a $180 delivered for a softball junkie?????? Guys, you can't take it with you.
June 27, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: I have noticed many on here do it..... Just a simple inquiry: Is there a watch dog on this site that has counted the number of relevant and irrelevant posts, comments by Gary 19? What is the ratio? Is there a national data base for these numbers that can be proven? He indicated that he has been in Senior Softball since 2005. Has anyone actually ever seen him play an inning? Any answers must be able to hold up with provable facts. What team or teams has he played for? Local or on the tour. Answer must be true and can be proven. What bats does he use if he actually plays? God, I hope it's not a senior bat. I saw a post, a while back, that indicated his Gary 19 is a new name and that he has been on this site under other name (names). Is that true and can that be proven beyond reasonable doubt? Just a simple inquiry. It shouldn't cause any problems with a defensive old guy. PS I kinda keep track of hits on a U2 so I use the real old ones that are sounding/feeling funky for the Qualifiers. I use the newer, broken in ones, for the ring tournies. I hit the new ones in the wrapper in batting practice for about 15 hits-rotating as I go. Then never in batting practice again or in cold weather. Have experienced long life out of all of them. I take ones with cracks and wrap them with 4 or 5 rounds of Duct Tape and use them for "BATTING" practice until they totally break.
June 22, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Is winning the most important thing? Webbie 25 You are correct. My team has evolved far past winning being the only goal. We are like family. Don't criticize and rip into each others play. Wives come along. We share good news and bad news. Joy and tragedy. Sickness, surgeries and death. Eat together. Sit by the pool and tell stories and jokes. Car pool and share expenses. Several of our celebration parties have been as much fun as winning the ring in competition. I feel bad for seniors I see storming to the parking lot after a tourney, swearing, cussing and slamming ball bags around. They just don't get it. P.S. Just because a person is trying to be honest and truthful, it doesn't mean he is right.
June 20, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: MN SSUSA QUALIFIER RESULTS Steve-congrats on your turnout. I just got back from the tourney in the Quad cities. That's on the Iowa-Illinois border for you who don't play on the circuit. We played Tu and today. Six of the best midwest 65 AAA teams battled. We got in 6 games before being eliminated. Tourney was still going when we left. Great time, competition and sportsmanship as usual.
June 12, 2012 garyheifner	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Moving to Major Plus Webbie 25 I can only comment on what I have seen in the midwest surronding the greater Chicago area since 2001. As you jump upward, the total makeup of the teams are simply better. More pop, more speed, better arms. Most of the higher level teams have been carefully crafted with the best around and in a few cases were flat out all-star teams. I have also seen countless teams drop 2 or 3 players who were loyal warriors and good players simply being told they were no longer needed at the next level. That sent those guys scrambling for a team. I also saw instances where managers, moving up, boldly walked right up to teams and tried to talk their 1 or 2 best players into walking away and move up. It has broken up several teams. I think the current rules allow a team to get players from their state and any touching state. Maybe if the rule gave you the managers state and only one more, maybe all this would balance out better and maybe more teams would form up. The only other thing I can think of is: for example, at Vegas stagger the say 60s events. Have the M+ play a 2 day tourney and allow the Ms or even AAAs to enter/play with no penalty if they do well. Let the Ms have their tourney the next 2 days and let the AAAs try at no penaly and then the AAAs have their 3 days. Hey, its' a week of softball for some. What could be better?? That might sound crazy but at least the M+s and even Ms could have a bigger field and not play the same teams over and over. It would give some teams the chance to see where they are at as they would play with the rules of the HIGHER team. No penalty means that tourney. If a AAA beats the M+s, they will probably be a moving next year. Just something to maybe get the wheels turning and find a way to help out the M+s and Ms find more competition.

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