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Online now: 2 members: Pablo14, scottflodin; 11 anonymousDiscussion: Baden Senior Softball
| Posted | Discussion |
| June 21 NYGNYY 215 posts | I like the performance of this ball since its adoption by SSUSA. Is there going to be any chance for changes down the road? The cover gets very slick and dirty in a few innings. As noted above the performance is good, just asking for improvements on the cover. Thanks |
| June 21 JohnO28 Men's 50 107 posts | Outside of Vegas I haven't seen these being used anywhere which is odd considering it's supposed to be the official ball of SSUSA... |
| June 22 DaveDowell Men's 70 4321 posts | The Baden Fire Senior ball has been THE ball for at least 14 of the 15 T.O.C. qualifier events (and the T.O.C. itself) this season ... It may well be 15 for 15, depending on whether or not they used it in the Bill Miller Memorial Can-Am event in Ontario, Canada last month ... Independent T.D.'s may be "doing their own thing" on softballs at lesser events on the calendar ... |
| June 22 Rob64 Men's 50 209 posts | I haven't used a Baden Senior Softball all year so they must be a lot of "doing their own thing" which isn't odd. |
| June 22 JohnO28 Men's 50 107 posts | As you've stated in other posts about smaller tourneys that aren't organized by SSUSA the smaller directors don't always follow protocols set in place by SSUSA. But when it comes to the ball why isn't the official ball of SSUSA used at all tourneys? One Nation uses strictly One Nation balls, NSA uses strictly NSA balls, ISSA uses ISSA balls, ISA uses ISA balls. So why is it that SSUSA the largest Senior softball organization in the world sets the standard of what their ball is but doesn't make the directors use the ball at all tourneys that come under the SSUSA umbrella? It's not like they aren't in stock and unavailable and are more expensive. They're at the same price point as all other top Senior balls on the market. |
| June 22 titanhd Men's 60 639 posts | I agree with both ROB^$ and John0208. Espically when the spec of the ball isn't what is called out as well. 400 core USSSA Classic M ball is used at Michigan events and the Baden ball has never been used by this Director |
| June 22 TimMcElroy 942 posts | While I've used nothing but the Baden balls at my senior events this year it was nearly impossible to get the "official" ball in the two prior seasons. I used a number different makes & models in that time, paid through the nose for them, and frequently over-purchased so that I'd have something (anything) to use for the next event. I came into the 2023 season with about 60 dozen non-Baden balls. Fortunately, I've been able to use those balls at my young men's tournaments. I share to raise this my story to raise a point- The Michigan director probably hasn't gone rogue. He's retired and not independently wealthy, so he's probably trying to solve a post-pandemic inventory issue. Tim |
| June 23 NYGNYY 215 posts | This post has gone sideways. All I asked was if Baden was looking into a different skin for this softball. Before this ball was adopted by SSUSA there was a player who tested its performance etc. Once again all I am asking from Baden and SSUSA is there any future plans for improving it |
| June 23 tattooball 774 posts | As the new balls have been shipped in there has been cover changes |
| June 30 JohnO28 Men's 50 107 posts | Tattooball, I know the spinnerz are lighter and are designed to cause less damage to bats and fly well. My question is have you done actual testing to see if they fly better or worse than the regular tourney balls we play with? |
| July 2 Bruce M Men's 55 122 posts | NYGNYY: It appears that Tattooball answered your question. @Tattooball - (sorry, don't know your real name), are you a representative from the manufacturer of the Baden Fire Senior Ball? Are you also the person who created the original A.D. Starr Spinner? What problems were the changes to the cover designed to address? When were these changes made? Thank you. Bruce |
| July 3 mck71 Men's 60 344 posts | Bruce - His name is Kevin, assume he will be on here at some point but I can help a little based on reading what he wrote (and knowing Kevin). Your answers are: he has been helping Baden with their design; yes; original covers were synthetic, sadly hit ok but picked up dirt quickly making them harder to see; (answered this question last year) Dave the one's you are hitting are synthetic, they are always a little behind composite like the Tattoo. I will say all of our testing is still right there. We do have composites coming soon. So basically he said above that all new balls when ordered would have the new composite cover but now there is a question of the existing supply of balls from last year that can't be "sent back". And for future reference, you can click on a person's name in BOLD and will bring you to all of their comments (how I found exactly when he answered Dave). Hopefully this helps. Happy 4th to all! |
| July 3 Bruce M Men's 55 122 posts | Mck71 Thank you! Off the subject of this post...do you know what kinds of materials make a "composite" cover vs a "synthetic" cover? Just curious. Second, is Kevin both the creator of the A.D. Spinner as well as a contributor to the Baden Senior Fire? Thx. |
| July 3 mck71 Men's 60 344 posts | Sorry, don't know that info Bruce. And yes, Kevin both the creator of the A.D. Spinner (I mean he is going by "tattooball" lol) as well as a contributor to the Baden Senior Fire. |
| July 5 tattooball 774 posts | Bruce my number is 845 532 2668 I am available if I answer if mot I will call back. So I started in the bat side of the industry way back when, took over Trump in 2001, when the company was sold went to A.D.STARR. At these companies I developed the balls. Spinners was just one of the projects. I have a new bp ball coming soon. When Dick's bought AD I was offered a job back in the bat side of the industry. I have been friends with Rusty Tredau for over 20 years while doing business on opposite sides of the field. He wanted me to get involved with Baden and it seemed like it would be fun so I accepted consulting position with the ball side of his company. So to answer some questions. Synthetic materials are difficult to get a good feeling and durability since they banned us from using P3. We all use coatings to help with that. Testing was done coating applied and on certain fields they get dirty as hell. So we have change coatings and continue to refine that. SSUSA contract calls for synthetic balls. We are making Composite balls that are for sale to the general public and they will be in soon. You can call I don't yell to much. |
| July 5 Bruce M Men's 55 122 posts | Thanks Kevin: aka Tattooball! I will call you. Thank you for finally answering the mystery (in my mind at least) of the origin of the Trump and the Spinners. To be honest, I wrote multiple emails to A.D. Star as well as Dicks. Nobody could tell me anything about you....or the journey of the softballs. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond. |
| July 6 lb16 Men's 60 196 posts | Kevin, So am I reading this right Baden is going back to synthetic covers as opposed to composite if so this is what made the SPA Baden ball absolute garbage! Just trying to understand what is going on with the ball for sure. Thanks! |
| July 7 tattooball 774 posts | SSUSA has always used synthetic balls since way back to the Trump when I made them 20 plus years ago. Now they are using Baden synthetic. Only time I know that they used Composite was worlds at Vegas. As for the SPA Baden I think you are referring to 5 or more years ago? This is an entirely new ball. |
| July 9 bkb555 301 posts | Just finished the Northeast Championships in Syracuse using the Baden Fire ball...it performs great on the field but it does get dirty looking very quickly...as for performance, it is right up there with all the other high performing balls from other tourneys non-SSUSA....I did notice that on some of the Fire balls, some had a SSUSA logo boldly stamped on it while the other ones were identical except for the definitive SSUSA logo NOT on them...it had the cor and compression 44/375 stamped and country of manufacture but no logo |
