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Online now: 1 member: Manjoe; 13 anonymousDiscussion: Has this been happening to you?
| Posted | Discussion |
| Aug. 7 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | I played for my Wednesday, in town, ASA 35 and over league where we are not allowed to use any composite bats and 44 x 375 Worth Gold dots. I almost pitched a shut-out over 7 innings against last year's champs. The game was over in 55 minutes and only balls hit very hard made it out of the infield. Suffice to say a good time was not had by all. I made a commitment to the team which I'll fulfill but this will be our last league appearance if bat/ball conditions don't improve. |
| Aug. 7 Lecak Men's 60 1026 posts | Joe I played in an open league all age groups all skills mix of open young men majors, A, B and lots of C players 5 HR limit and there were times when both teams left HR's on the table. They were mush balls and the heat here in Vegas made it worse. Some of the seniors were hitting a couple of weeks ago and we found some of the league balls in the garbage cans. One of the balls couldn't have been hit more than a couple of times and it was egg shaped. It was like hitting a wad of bubblegum just stuck to the bats. The ball was something called a champro 90 ASA approved. |
| Aug. 7 Funk 66 posts | Mr. Einstein with your incredible skills you can hit wooden balls with beepers installed inside of them with a platic bat and still be productive. Arizona ( G. ) |
| Aug. 7 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey George, Great to hear from you. Email me at joerinaldi56@yahoo.com so we can talk about upcoming events. Hey Joe, Lopsided balls. Now, that sounds painful. |
| Aug. 8 tattooball 774 posts | So I take it that new balls that perform better in ASA is not needed. I thought you said you would never play ASA. |
| Aug. 8 Bob50 Men's 60 242 posts | This has been the biggest gripe in our ASA league for the past few years. We play in Naperville, Illinois. The balls simply do not perform like they used to in hot weather. We are down to a total of 70 teams. We had 80 teams last year. Our team has won the city championship in 9 out of the last 10 years. We used to play unlimited home runs but my team dominated so they reduced it about 6 years ago to 6 home runs. This season our team hit a total of 20 home runs and 15 were before the weather warmed up. Most of the home runs hit in hot weather was with the wind blowing out. Half our team are A and B players in their 30's. Although some have complained about the balls used at the ISA in St. Louis I found it far superior to what has been used in both leagues in which I play in Illinois. Since I have been playing in Naperville for so long the director has taken my advice on a number of matters and incorporated them into our league rules. I have been bending his ear about the balls all year. He explained that they request a bid each year about this time for the following year with 100 other cities using a spec of 44/375 and the lowest bid is the ball they buy. I explained that if we simply used the lowest bid we always received in our business we wouldn't be around very long. The ball that was used in St. Louis was a Trump Stote 44/375. Our players (Travelodge) felt it was a good ball and I have recommended it now to Naperville. |
| Aug. 8 Dirty Men's 50 1371 posts | Funk makes a very legitimate comment. |
| Aug. 8 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey Kevin, San Francisco is an ASA city. My ASA team is my local guys I've been with for close to a decade now and the commitment to them has been strong enough to weather a bunch of storms. When we started we were using Blue Dot 47x 525 balls and single wall bats which was thoroughly enjoyable and it's only lately they've decided to take away good bats AND the balls. After this year, I won't play if it doesn't improve. Most of my teammates feel the same way. Remember, in NorCal we dictate to the tournament directors all over the Bay Area, ASA or USSSA the bat/ball combinations WE want or we don't play. Just ask Pete, or Gary Tryhorn or A/C and we are close to launching our own California League/Tournaments to be able to do just that. However, I spoke with 4x4 Pete and Bobby Davis since last we posted and both of them did have some good things to say about the ball you've been developing. Trying to kill the messenger will never destroy the message. Keep it from being personal and we can always talk. |
| Aug. 8 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | i hear ya joe,when the park supplies the balls,its the cheapest they can get.90% of leagues and tourney's we play in here in tejas are supply your own ball to their spec.its the 10% that gets me and i can understand where your coming from.we just had one of our towns go to usssa. :):) i'm now learning to try and to be able to cut the ball also,this is gonna be a process :):):) with an old dog.got a couple of tips from b walker, that is helping.prolly only into it a 100 swings. funk when you gonna learn to cut(you an your upper cutter) :):) whats up george,doing ok here in tejas. |
| Aug. 8 Dirty Men's 50 1371 posts | But in this case it won't hurt. |
| Aug. 8 Funk 66 posts | Thanx Dirty, it is a rarity for me to get a legitimate comment out without getting into trouble but anything concerning my main mosaine einstien is easy to not screw up !!!! Mad Dog you Monster you should know I was born to upper cut...The real question is how do I ever get to your level man...It is always great hearing from you Mad Dog. G. |
| Aug. 9 pressguy33 39 posts | Joe, What balls are they bringing to the game? Gold dots that are pretty bad? E |
| Aug. 9 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey E, Who you playing with this year? We got demoted to B because there was only 2 teams left in A. I guess we could ask Steve to buy a better 44x375 ball but it's the direction that all this seems to be going in that's most disturbing that is, worser bats AND worser balls. It used to be one or the other and they're coming out with a ball that won't even hit well with the good to very good bats. You can email me at joerinaldi56@yahoo.com if you really want to talk. |
| Aug. 10 Ken Men's 55 462 posts | Einstein, stay the course and keep ignoring him. |
| Aug. 10 Walk 192 posts | Joe, My son has to use those balls in his Sunday afternoon ASA league. Well to make a long story short I went to watch him play today and it was hot and the balls were not good. Everyone complained so much that the umpire got very upset. I suggested they use some of the new softballs Kevin sent me for their second game. The umpire and both teams agreed and in the end everyone was very pleased with the ball and the game. There were two homeruns hit, good defense, and many base hits. The game ended with my sons team losing 15-13 and while they won the first game 9-8 they said they enjoyed the second game more. Walk |
| Aug. 10 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Last time I saw you, Walk, you were playing with the Mavericks in DesMoines and went yard, very yard every at bat. I was very impressed because your performance obviously had nothing to do with luck or the wind. I began trying to copy certain aspects of your swing from that performance, ever since. It must be great to watch your son play. Better balls is a comparative term. Better than what one must ask. Most everyone I've spoke with, Walk, seniors, that is, don't want to hit with a lesser bat/ball combination then we are using today at most senior events (good 375 x 44 balls with 1.2 bats) and a lot would like a better combination like the balls used in USSSA events when the weather gets hot. There's no way around this. We seniors are speaking and we WILL be heard. As I've said a bunch of times that thanks to the leadership of Gary Tryhorn, we, at NCSSA, dictate to the Northern California tournament directors the bat and ball combination we will use and right now that's 375 x 44 Lexum or Baden caliber balls with 1.2 bats. Kevin's ball is a better ball. OK. Better than what. Better than using a 1.2 bat with a Lexum or Dudley or Trump 44x375 ball? Not from what I've heard. Now, we have heard that tournament directors want to restrict home runs in Senior events to: -save on balls, -keep tournaments running on time, -meaningfully protect the pitchers, -keep run scoring down to provide more opportunities to win for teams with less power hitters Yes, we have and as they may think that going to this new ball will solve all their problems, too. I say, slow down. If guys like me and most of the seniors I've talked with cannot hit or drive a ball satisfactorily, a fundamental enjoyment found in Senior Softball today will no longer be possible and threaten the investments we've already made and want to continue to make in Senior softball going forward. I'm glad Kevin's ball helped your son's game become more like the softball we've all come to enjoy and expect. But is it, will it be good enough to satisfy we seniors? Not this one. Not yet. |
| Aug. 11 Walk 192 posts | Joe, Des Moines was a fun tournament and thanks for the kind words. Watching my sons play and before the knee surgery playing with them was and is amazing. As for the balls I have be able to test the new USSSA 40/325 softballs and these crappy ASA softballs and I can tell you Kevins new softball puts these balls to shame. With his softballs you still get the distance but the batted ball speed through the infield is safe. With these other softballs you get nothing but crap as you experienced. The seniors are not going change as far as I know but if they are considering a change down the road I hope they go with Kevins new ball instead of the Worth Gold Dots or those 40/325 softballs. Here in the midwest the heat kills those softballs and has little affect on Kevins new ball. Honestly I hope the seniors never change their rules as they are right now. |
| Aug. 11 Dirty Men's 50 1371 posts | If guys like me and most of the seniors I've talked with cannot hit or drive a ball satisfactorily, a fundamental enjoyment found in Senior Softball today will no longer be possible and threaten the investments we've already made and want to continue to make in Senior softball going forward. Good Lord, quit your whining. By all accounts you are a very good hitter, so why the insistence on someone else's R & D to artifically enhance what you can do on your own? |
| Aug. 11 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey Walk, Thanks for the senior endorsement to keep the bat/ball combination from getting worse. When Mike Kelly told me he was trying to get you to join our first Kelly's team I was rooting for you, all the way. I wish Kevin all the luck in getting his new ball approved for any and every association where it will solve important problems and make the bat/ball combination better but not worse. We don't have such severe problems in senior ball and will only approve same or better bat/ball combos than what is standard, today. |
