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Online now: 2 members: TABLE SETTER 11, softball4b; 109 anonymousDiscussion: Old stories of bat doctoring
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| June 1, 2015 rpaulas 3 posts | Old stories of bat doctoring Hey group, I'm a writer, and I'm writing a piece for SB Nation Longform about old methods that softball players used to use in order to cheat. Back in the day, when rules weren't as official. Was there scuffing of the ball? Messing around with the bat? I heard one story of someone putting the softball in the freezer so they'd get harder overnight. Is this accurate? Any and all stories will do. Feel free to shoot me an email/text when you get a chance and we'll hopefully connect. Best, Rick Paulas rickpaulas@gmail.com/310-467-0608 |
| June 2, 2015 Garocket Men's 55 259 posts | We had a player on our team that worked in an aluminum fabrication shop. He took the knob off put an air valve in the end of the bat put 70lbs of air pressure in the bat and sealed the knob back on. That worked about as well as hitting with a wet noodle/ We had a team from the next league over that was well know for cutting the handle and adding about a two inch piece onto the handle to make the bat longer. |
| June 2, 2015 softball4b Men's 70 1248 posts | I picked up a bat when playing against _______ Martinez. It was at least 4 inches longer than any bat out there. Worth Blue Dot - one minute submerged, 30 seconds in the microwave. Seams rise and spread like I do after going to a buffet. You could drop it on concrete and the ball bounce higher than your head. |
| June 2, 2015 Home Plate 35 posts | I don't believe it!!! SENIORS DOCTORING BATS AND ALTERING BALLS??? SAY IT AIN'T SO..... :( |
| June 2, 2015 TexasTransplant Men's 70 516 posts | Playing in Sapulpa, OK one night, a big guy hits a monster HR. Our catcher picks up the bat and it's four inches longer than anything else in the dugout. Catcher points it out to the umpire who immediately disallows the HR and calls the batter out. Guy was really PO'd, starts talking about getting his gun, see him after the game, yada yada yada, but nothing came of it. |
| June 2, 2015 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Garocket, "that was well known for cutting the handle and adding about a two inch piece onto the handle to make the bat longer" Porky Bagwell?? |
| June 3, 2015 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | I heard of teams that microwaved the old balls believing they traveled farther. I'm not sure it really worked, but with the T4000 or Hot dots, or TN-Poly balls, it didn't matter. Mike, was that guy with the long bat 'cruzin?' I think I remember him. I also remember picking up one bat one time that I know was well over 38 oz. It took a man to swing that one! I've been working on my new P413 GSC bat and I haven't found a way to doctor it yet!!!LOL Seems pretty hot. |
| June 3, 2015 Perl 212 posts | One of my team mates had a bat that had 2" added. He sold the bat to another buddy of ours. We were playing in the Mullet and the guy who bought the bat gets up and hits a HR. We called him on it and he was called out. Funny now, not so funny back then. Another team mate experimented with adding foam insulation, tennis balls and super balls to his bats. Nothing seemed to enhance performance that was noticeable. |
| June 3, 2015 4Four4 Men's 60 87 posts | Had a Louisville Slgr TPS Titanium -5 baseball bat with a nitrogen bladder in the head back in the 90's that was stupid hot. Glad we went to wood bats... |
| June 3, 2015 stacks59 Men's 60 35 posts | Back, while playing 16" in Chicago, you could pretty much bring anything to the plate that you could swing--as long as it was the correct length. Wood bats in a quart of oil would make for a nice 40oz endload! |
| June 5, 2015 DOERBAUM Men's 55 86 posts | BACK IN THE DAYS BEFORE CU31 ALUMINUM I PLAYED AGAINST A FELLOW THAT WAS IN HIS 50'S AND HIT THE BALL A TON. FOUND OUT YEARS LATER HE OWNED A CAR REPAIR SHOP AND WOULD CUT THE END OFF OF HIS BATS AND USE A CYLINDER HONE ON THE BARREL, TIG THE END BACK ON AND COLOR MATCH THE PAINT SO YOU NEVER KNEW THE DIFFERENCE. BY THE TIME THE FIRST EDITION DEMARINI DOUBLE WALLS CAME OUT (THE ONES THAT NEVER WERE SANCTIONED, AND STILL THE HOTTEST BAT I HAVE EVER SWUNG), HE WAS IN HIS 60'S AND STILL PLAYING WITH US YOUNG BUCKS. IF YOU LOOKED AT THE BAT YOU WOULD SWEAR IT WAS A TPS BLACK AND GOLD (HIS CUSTOM PAINTING SKILLS WERE LEGENDARY) UNTILL YOU HEARD THAT DISTINCTIVE "DEMARINI SOUND". HE GOT IN TROUBLE ONCE OR TWICE IN TOURNAMENTS, BUT BY THAT TIME THE SANCTIONED BATS WERE ALMOST AS GOOD AS HIS "FRANKENBATS", SO NOBODY REALLY WORRIED ABOUT IT. |
| June 5, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | In a tournament in West Newton, a guy swung his aluminum bat, hit the ball, and tennis balls came flying out of the end. |
| June 5, 2015 Player 86 posts | Nancy Allen is correct. Tennis balls in the aluminum bats were the fix of the day. I mean, so I heard!!! I read a lot of books! |
| June 5, 2015 garyheifner 649 posts | Nancy is right on. Guys would cut off the end cap, ram tennis balls or superballs in and have metal workers weld it back and finish it so you could not tell. Had guys back in my u-trip days who said they could have it done for me for $$$. I can honestly say, I never went there. In a big Midwest u-trip tourney long ago, noticed the opponents had two bats in the rack about 2 inches longer. I protested before the game, bats ejected. I was informed I would get my ass kicked in the parking lot later. I was more than ready but when the others observed the size of the guys backing men up, they departed. Guys would check in their bats in big u-trip events and the TD would spray paint the knob with a color to indicate bat approved. Players would then go out to their cars, open the trunk, pull out the loaded bats, match the color with one of the dozen or so cans of spray paint they carried around and return to play with the altered ones. I believe U-trip now keeps the bats at ck in and the ump brings them to the field. You want to hear something really nuts. I went to watch a u-trip event last June. Watched the bat ck in for a while. 6 or 7 guys walked up, took the wrapper off brand new $300 bats and the bats failed the test. There were some pretty pissed of players. What I could never understand is that most of the guys we knew were cheating were big time A-B players who could hit 350 plus easily with legal bats. I am still for banning for life any senior player who is caught with an altered bat. We can use the greatest bats ever made. I can't figure out why guys have to cheat. |
| June 5, 2015 Wayne 37 Men's 65 773 posts | The early aluminum bats were spot welded down at the handle. They would come off, and some used to put super balls in that end. There were no end caps then. Simply get a little weld job to put the handle back on. |
| June 6, 2015 rpaulas 3 posts | Hey all, thanks so much for the help. I don't know if anyone lives in the Bay Area and would allow me to check out the process of how a bat is shaved/doctored... but if there is, I'd love to meet and see how it works. Rick Paulas rickpaulas@gmail.com / 310-467-0608 |
| June 6, 2015 Snot Nose Kid 67 posts | YouTube has Bat Shaving & Bat Rolling Videos |
| June 7, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Rpaulas, it is too bad you are not in Indy. There is a guy that does it in the back of his van during big tournaments. He is never at Midwest or Metro but shows up regularly at another park. He has even been busted by some of the associations but keeps coming back. The guy with the tennis balls is glad that I did not call him out here. It is more fun to still heckle him all these years later. This is not CSI Softball. |
| June 8, 2015 rpaulas 3 posts | Hey Nancy, Thanks for the info. You don't happen to have any contact information, do you? Feel free to email me: rickpaulas@gmail.com. |
| June 9, 2015 tattooball 774 posts | You ought to do a story about all of the cheaters in senior softball today and publish all of their names. |
| June 9, 2015 Nancy Allen Men's 55 1438 posts | Rpaulas, I do not; I have never spoken with the man. Oddly enough 2 years ago during a tournament a couple of NSA directors went out there with bats, and he did them on the spot before they told him who they were. He was still back the next tournament. Tattoball, you know the 40s and over have been after me every night to hit your Nightmare before the games. Hey, if that is how I get them into senior softball, more power to us; they love that bat. I already have gotten 3 from the park (Charney aka Oren Alexander) addicted to playing 50 and over tournaments. When we had our last senior league at Midwest, there were only 3 teams in the competitive league; so they were not going to be able to have it. I told them since our guys were older that we would be the fourth team if we could have no more than 2 45 - 47 year olds. I had a total of 4 guys that I used, no more than 2 at a time, and I am happy to report that they all got addicted and play senior tournaments. I know that I told you this, but the one guy took a 3/4 swing, and it went over the trees and the railroad tracks. He handed it to me and said, "Please take it away. This must be what addictive drugs feel like." I was rolling, too young for Nightmares. |
