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Online now: 2 members: 3_SoftballFreak, TABLE SETTER 11; 112 anonymousDiscussion: Phoenix 60's Major Plus
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| Oct. 18, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Phoenix 60's Major Plus Just finished the 60's major plus tournament in Phoenix. It was won by a very deserving GSF team over a very game and courageous MTC club having played so many games coming back from the losers bracket in 95 + degree heat. Great game both teams. Congrats to Woody and Conway, Ron, Corky, Danny Mac, Billy and Chuck and to Larry Campbell, coach of MTC and Steve Owens who showed his elite power hitting credentials pounding a poorly performing ball through the wind and high heat for 2 line drive home runs in the final game. Franny was there and she was/is great and a great administrator for us and our game with her beautiful green eyes and her generously gracious manner. The ball, the Trump Stote ball is less a ball than I remember or want to remember. I feel it's been getting dumbed down since a couple of years ago and a lot of players have noticed it and say the same thing. Compared to Vegas this ball is a dog and not acceptable to most. Balls were whistling through and to the middle because guys couldn't hit the ball confidently and well enough to try and get on base rendering the PPR and home runs as outs useless in deterring middle hit balls. Jim Carey says the balls being shitty is the direct result of TD's or Associations wanting dumbed down balls that won't be lost or chased after. That's not what Ridge said about the balls he uses in SPA or what Dave and Fran say about the balls they want to use in SSUSA. Hmmmmmm. Here we go again. Someone is driving and wanting to drive the liveliness of balls down for some reason and blaming in on the tournament directors and asociations??? Who could or would want the caliber of balls being driven down that we use and why? How or why would this help ball manufacturers or in particular one ball manufacturer? What's happened to all the good balls that used to be around. Diamonds, Deckers, Dudleys, NRG's even Baden's used to be good and Worth, too. What's happened to all of them in just the last couple of years and has anyone come into the market place with a plan and means to capture/corner the market place to their own ends??? These are some terrific questions which produce very specific and telling answers when asked to and about the right people and just add a sprinkling of "Follow the money", connect some dots and Voila what's really going down. I don't care who's balls we use as long as they're good ones. The balls in Vegas were good. The balls or caliber of balls we used in Phoenix are not good. Single wall bats and Blue Dot balls is the yardstick we want in Senior ball. Intrinsic enjoyment and even safety will be compromised if we don't get/hit with good bats and balls. Kevin can make ALL |
| Oct. 18, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | (Con't) the bats and balls. I really don't care as long as they're good ones. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 turn2 489 posts | Congratulations to Bob and Conway from GSF for there big win. If we would have known all those teams from Ca. and all over were coming we would have tried to make it there. Maybe next year. Later, Donnie Turn Two |
| Oct. 19, 2009 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | Joe, I think the manufacturers are tinkering with you mind just to be mean. It's working. Kind a like what the economy is doing with the players pocket books. Correct me if I'm wrong but, didn't SF restrict bats to SW's, but don't use blue dots now either? |
| Oct. 19, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | The balls in Phoenix weren't fun to play with like the balls in Vegas. Pure and simple. They don't react well in the heat if they are even the same ball we used last year. Being so close to Vegas it was easy to tell the difference and the smiles were gone, too. We need a good bat/ball combo We don't care whose bats and balls we use as long as they're good enough. These balls did NOT perform well enough was the majority opinion. Even Jim Carey said so. Listen. We don't care specs from shinola. We don't care whose balls we use. We want to hit good balls. Vegas caliber balls were good enough. Phoenix caliber balls were not. It's going to be cooler this coming weekend in Phoenix up to Sunday I was told and that should help the balls perform a little better. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 Wes Men's 65 335 posts | einstein--if you are still here I'm looking to buy 3 doz DP balls-I was looking at the new, I think they are new,DP balls that are orange & white--they say they go easy on the new bats---I have you used them??? how long do they last---I try a hit 100-150 each weekend. Wes |
| Oct. 19, 2009 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Joe, It was good to see you with the Old A's in Phoenix! I certainly share your impressions about the Trump Stote. If you were "lucky" enough to play the 8:00 or 9:30 AM games, the balls performed much better than in the high 90s afternoon. The few homeruns we hit (3 as a team in Majors) were hit in the earlier games. I suspect these balls were used rather than the Trump Rock which was used in Vegas and is a very good ball is $$. I understand the Rocks are considerably more expensive than the Stotes so it comes down to budget $$ for balls. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Wes, I hit balls I've had for years in BP, but I don't swing any game bats during BP. I'm not the one to ask. There's other guys on here who will know better about good BP balls like Joe Lecak or Bruce Fairchild or Stoneman. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 Dirty Men's 50 1371 posts | Maybe I am confused, but if the "Balls were whistling through and to the middle" how bad could they have been? Doesn't it take at least a decent ball to "whistle"? |
| Oct. 19, 2009 DoubleL10 Men's 70 907 posts | Wes, I, like Joe normally use old balls for BP. However, when I played with the Old A's last year, Gary Tryhorn had some of the Orange/White balls. They are made by Evil and are less than $40/dozen. They do not damage composite bats and they react well for the purpose of BP - just to get some swings and work on hand/eye coordination prior to games. Just MHO. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | It was good seeing you, too, Larry. I know Joe Lecak hit with those orange and white ones and Stoneman has/had some of them, also. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 sliplayer Men's 60 70 posts | Congratulations to GSF for winning the Senior Softball 60 Major Plus tournament. Excellent field of teams who all played hard and competitively, well run tournament with a few needed tweaks for next year. Great games on Sunday, in the heat with not so great balls (because of the heat) and the sun in our eyes in the final innings of Championship game (both teams no excuses), playing the game the way it is suppose to be played. I would hope in the future the management team would make sure championship games would be played on fields that the sun would not be a factor (we had opened fields). GSF great ballplayers and even better individuals who play hard and fair and are very deserving this week end, good job Bob and Spider. Class Act!!!! SLi MTC |
| Oct. 19, 2009 CRUSADERVB Men's 70 275 posts | THANKS STEVE....THE SUN WAS HORRIBLE IN THE FINAL GAME, AS YOU STATED, THEY COULD HAVE MOVED US TO ONE OF THE 2 VACANT FIELDS. BACK AT YOU BROTHER, SEE YOU IN VEGAS. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Einstein, in Bogie's dvd Kevin uses the orange and white bp balls. I've never used them. I do have some of their 50/125 (if I remember right) bp balls. They fly about 70 feet shorter than regular balls but don't pick up any water when the grass is wet and won't harm bats as much as 44/375's. One more thing, you don't lose as many! They're much like the 52/275's, you have to hit them just right to hit it over 300'. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 the wood Men's 65 1123 posts | Joe, Donnie & Steve: Thanks for your kind words... we were blessed with a good seeding draw, a fortunate bye (less games in the heat), etc... Steve, we concur with all that you stated about the tourney. The choice of fields for the final game was less than sterling. The balls were not lively but we knew that the heat would compromise them. They could be stored in ways that would lessen this effect. Having said this, there were many more positives than negatives... good field of teams, field conditions were excellent (they were drug and watered frequently), plenty of pre-tourney info, very few PPR incidents (in our games), the schedule was fairly well maintained (very few lags). There were 7 teams in our division... they had about 14 guys each... this means that over 80 guys our age were out there battling it out in the heat... there were a couple of cardiac issues and I'm told that both were handled well. No one battled more than MTC... they had to win 4-5 games to get back to the finals... they were short a few guys and had a tourney-ending injury to another... but they were in the other dugout in the championship game. I also was impressed with the Rickers team... they won a couple of games in the last inning and barely lost another on a walk off HR. One thing is for certain about that ball and the heat... there were no cheap HRs... only the guys with true power hit them... we played 5 games and only hit 8 of them. We also won every one of games by 4 runs or less... good parity among the 7 teams. The difference between this year and last (60 M+) is huge... more teams, better field conditions... the HRs were about the same... IMO, it boiled down to timely hitting and reliable defense. BW |
| Oct. 19, 2009 Dbax Men's 65 2100 posts | "One thing is for certain about that ball and the heat... there were no cheap HRs... only the guys with true power hit them" Exactly how it should be. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 Gekle BUilders Men's 50 204 posts | Congradulations Woody,Sounds like you had your hands full and won some tight games.Good job Wood,I will be in Phoenix Thursday,first game against Mavs.3:30 Friday. Ray |
| Oct. 19, 2009 BMoney 37 posts | I don't post here much,part of it is the constant griping and complaining about balls and the hi-jacking of the entire message board by these posts. I also am really tired of reading the attacks on Trump ball even if he is not mentioned by name. He does not need me to defend him,he does pretty good himself. If this is all that posters can think to say on this board; I will even quit reading it. Senior softball is fun and these negative poster are not going to ruin it for me. Money |
| Oct. 19, 2009 the wood Men's 65 1123 posts | DBAX: I'm ok with confining HRs to the real HR hitters... my ideal set of circumstances would be somewhere between the conditions of the LVSSA and this one... I like the thought of defense playing a big part. Ray: Thanks... perhaps it will be a little cooler for you guys... but having seen your guys (and the Mavs), you'll hit a lot more out than our division did regardless of the weather. BMoney: just exactly who are you referring to? BW |
| Oct. 19, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Las Vegas was a blast, Woody. We don't need rocket balls but we need good balls, better than the Trump Stote balls we used in Phoenix. They go soft in the heat. So, Bax, if I hit some home runs in Phoenix then I've got real power? Even with a bad leg and out of shape? Thanks for the complement. |
| Oct. 19, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | And Woody, why capitulate when there's no evidence that softball is more dangerous with Ultra 2's and good balls than at any other period in recent softball history. Terry Hennesey actually did a survey/study to find out if there were more injuries with the Ultra 2 and he found out there weren't. They've got us thinking something is wrong with our game because we love hitting balls fast and hard. I'm really sorry you don't see the man behind the curtain in all of this Woody, but he's still there, blowin' smoke, counting his money. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 BruceinGa Men's 70 3233 posts | Congrats to Woody and GSF! It sounds like we missed a good tournament. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 armiho211 Men's 70 449 posts | the final game for the championship between GSF and MTC was played with the sun directly in the batters eyes. i dont understand why the TD or the umpires didnt accommodate both teams and move them to a different field, ( there were 2 fields that were perfect for most positions not to affected by the sun). i really would like to know from SSUSA why the field change was not made. both teams were not able to display the full hitting potential both teams possess . we spend a lot of money going to these tournaments, we need to be accommodated as much as possible, is it too much to ask ? PS: THE BALLS " SUCKED". |
| Oct. 20, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Marketers who were quantum leaped by the Ultra 2 and lost huge ground were staggered by their plight, losing following, huge dollars and brand to an upstart entrepreneur. So what happened? Withing 2 months, the bats were banned and everything began slowing down given the 'old boys" and some new boys some breathing room to try to figure out a response. Testing, retesting, new testing and safety committees and if we can't beat them in the bat business we can take out their ankles in the ball business. We, the seniors, and me in particular are frustrated, and fed up victims of this economic phenomenon and want someone to man up and be accountable and stop so we can have our game back. Things are in the wind to help us come all the way back I can't speak of right now. Help is on the way but there's nothing wrong and a lot right in wanting to express the feelings most of us have about shitty balls over the last couple of years to those most responsible. We're being used, slam-boozled if you will and mind-frucked to believe it's US and our game that's to blame. That wanting to hit and play with good bats and balls which marks us as players since the sand lot is now wrong and selfish and inappropriate and even laughable. Well the 60's taught me a lot about power structures and money and mind-bleeping and I can still figure it out when someone's or small powerful group is colluding to take away something that truly belongs to me. We will have very good, lively bats/balls to hit and play with because it's fun and we deserve it because there's nothing but a powerful, exploitative, self seeking few are trying to take us and our game away from ourselves. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 Dirty Men's 50 1371 posts | "Things are in the wind to help us come all the way back I can't speak of right now." Please, stop trying to flatter your windbag self. If you were a teacher I am assuming it wasn't English, as clarity, conciseness, grammar, and punctuality are always so lacking. If you don't like the game, leave it. Yes this is America and you are free to express your opinions (ad nauseum in your case), but free enterprise is NOT a democracy. They can do as they wish, and you can vote by withholding your money. So please just do so, for the sake of this board. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 the wood Men's 65 1123 posts | Joe, I'm not sure when I capitulated but I'll be in confession before long... I liked parts of both scenarios (LVSSA and SSUSA). When 270' routine fly balls are blowing out of the yard or off the screen, I believe the game is impaired. On the flip side, when a HR hitter 'gets all of it' and the ball is caught 15' from the fence, there is something wrong (wind notwithstanding). This is one reason that USSSA uses more than one type/level of ball (I'm not a big fan of USSSA overall). GSF can live with it when the games are 20-17 or when they're 34-32... but we don't like 9-6 or 45- 42 games. Don't hold me to these scores as they're meant conceptually. Our leading HR hitter in AZ only had 4 but they were an important 4. In LV, our leader had 11 and some were close to 400'. One other guy hit one out in LV and he hadn't hit one in 2 years. In my view, both events were near the extremes. We recognize that good teams need to be able to play under whatever conditions are present at the time. Still, we have our preferences. If this is capitulating then I'm guilty as charged and will accept full responsibility for it. BW |
| Oct. 20, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Thanks, Woody for a great response. And help is on the way. You'll be hearing about it shortly. Great job in Phoenix. I think it's easy to argue that it's hard for the winner GSF to not have a good time having won a significant championship in the Phoenix sun but you'd have to admit that more players had a better time in Vegas with their balls, conditions and rules. Wind aided balls which carry from 270 to the fence are a product are an effect of nature and the wind and shouldn't in my estimation factor primarily into the caliber of balls we find appropriate as it is a constant. It's nice to have a lively ball that won't compromise true home run power when the wind is blowing in isn't it. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | well let me say,ya can't please everyone all the time.maybe ss-usa should do what usssa does now,trump stote(or similar type ball) for cold weather(85 degrees and below) and MCT for hot weather. also if miken hadn't found a way around bat testing proceedures(back with the ultra's when they first came out),then maybe we wouldn't be having all this problem's.also what i'm reading here is that none of ya's ever played ball before the hot bats came out.now i know that is a lie as all of us here are at least 50 yrs old.did you all complain about balls and bats back in the 70's,80's,don't think so,we played and had fun back then(also had some defense back then).nothing but cry babies about this"we need the hottest equipment around or its no fun",with no regard to player safety.even one person getting seriously injured or even killed is one to many. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 tattooball 774 posts | A .44/375 comp ball at 95 degrees is around 215 comp, this to is a product of nature. As long as the game has been played true home run hitters battled the wind, most lost. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | There's absolutely NO REASON why we can't have lively bats and balls to play with. It makes the game more fun for MORE players of all levels and skill. But when market forces take effect and our game becomes dictated by the power battle for dollars and cents we hear all the stuff about what's dangerous and what's not, who's gonna get sued, and why we we're wrong to demand what we rightfully want and need. Even Jim Carey commented last weekend it's all about money and he was right. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | isn't jim(amongst a couple other's,myself included)that you ranted about trying to ruin the game with thier money hungry tactics.oh yeah i remember the rant you had about me when i suggested using the MCT ball(MUST BE SCHILLING FOR JIM AND KEVIN),about it not being up to YOUR specs b/c of feel and not good to throw and sound of it when hit.damn your worse than any politician in your wavering. COME ON MAN |
| Oct. 20, 2009 cliff21 Men's 60 7 posts | Woody, you couldn't have put it any better. Sunday in Phoenix was as challenging as it gets (could've done without the sun factor). Weren't many homers but dammit they were huge and with the soft ball and sun so was defense huge. Little guys playing their roles getting on base, the big boys driving in the big runs, good defense by both teams......the way it was supposed to be? Do ya think? Congratulations to MTC on a great effort in the heat and all... great tournament. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 lectricman 8 posts | mr einstein had the pleasure of watching you play for the first time on this past saturday in phoenix. i'm player coach for baystate bombers heard glowing reports from players around the field of what a good player you are,and i must say all were accurate. my problem here is i saw you hit 2 bombs that went between 375 and 400 feet how far do you want to hit them i guess with a good ball they will go 450 to 500 a hr is a hr |
| Oct. 20, 2009 tattooball 774 posts | Cliff, Great post, players doing their part as a team to win a world championship what a concept. Defense rarely ever spoken here, it's always about inept players wanting to hit home runs no matter what the temps and wind conditions are. I will agree that a .44/375 ball in that kind of heat is not a great ball but if you read my comments back in 2003 I said the same thing. A .44/375 ball is to tempeture dependent, a higher cor lower comp ball is not depentdent on the tempeture. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 JohnBob Men's 65 256 posts | I can not understand why the championship game was not moved to a open field. In our 60 Major semi-finals of loser bracket game TD let us move to another field due to the Sun. I know Saturday we played the 2 pm game on that field and it was very bad. As for the Balls,last year each team was given a dozen with the option to buy more and a new one could be put in game at any time. I was at Mgr's meeting and did not hear this brought up. Wonder why the change? I know after a few inning some of the balls put in by Umps were beat up real bad. To me the 44/375 is a good ball if hit on sweet spot it will go 300+ feet but no cheap HR's. I know we hit 4 in 9 games all in am but the biggest thing I like was that in those 9 games at 3rd base I had about 30 balls hit to me that I had a chance to make a play on. |
| Oct. 20, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | Hey Kevin, That higher cor lower compression ball would push us toward that sock 52x275 ball you said was never meant for seniors. You know, the one that Terry agreed to test a couple of times this year with seniors to see if they'd like it. The one that 90 per cent of the players in Oakdale California said stunk. Electricman thanks for the complements. And yes, rumors of my demise as a hitter are greatly exaggerated I'm happy to report. We, most seniors and there I go speaking for the majority again want a ball that hits consistently well. We don't care who makes it as long as we get to hit it and enjoy ourselves and not be sold snake oil about our ailing and pathetic game and a "bill of goods" by self interested reps trying to sell us their stuff. |
| Oct. 22, 2009 jim16 Men's 65 180 posts | I don't want to hi jack this thread and was looking for somewhere to give my opinions on the 60 major plus tournament and this is certainly the place to do it. GSF won the tournament with DEFENSE. I was amazed at the level of defense I witnessed by all of the teams in the final games. Offense was neutralized by heat that was OFFICIALLY 104 degrees. The offensive strategy was substantually changed by the heat on the ball. GSF adjusted and won with what I feel was incredible defensive play. Because the ball wasnt going out, hitters were consistently attacking the middle as its the easiest hit in softball. Wood put Conway in to pitch and to plug the middle. The final 3 outs were all hit to Conway to end the game. GSF adjusted to the conditions and won because of recognizing limitations and enhancing their chances of winning. Many times I have been quoted as saying " managers cannot win games but they sure can lose games". In this case, quote me, "The manager won the game". This tournament proved to me that the Major Plus teams also have the best defensive teams. Defense played that sunday by 60 year olds was the best I have ever witnessed. I have already been quoted previously in this thread and the quote was taken out of context. Our game, as well as almost all business, is about the money. SS-USA cannot run a quality program like they do if they cannot make a profit. I want them to make as big a profit as they can because it will reflect in the quality of the program. They MUST run every financial aspect of their program to the max, touch every base in order to continue to give us the best product they can put on the field. If we do not buy their product, something is wrong. We are buying their program and even in hard times it is expanding. They must be doing most things right. |
| Oct. 22, 2009 jim16 Men's 65 180 posts | Now a small Hi Jack in this thread, the ball. I will try my best to explain a bit about the balls mentioned previously in this thread. The balls used in Las Vegas and the balls used in Phoenix were both 44 375 and both are made by TRUMP. Why was their such a difference in the way the ball performed? I will try my best to explain. 44 COR is basically a measure of bounce and the 375 is a measure of hardness. After the manufacturing process is finished, both balls have the same bounce (Co efficient of restitution) and hardness (375 pounds of pressure to squeeze them by 1/4 of an inch). This where the likeness of the balls ends. The Las Vegas ball has a layer of insulation wrapped around it under the cover. The substance is like the substance used on the space shuttle to insulate it from external heat. The Las Vegas ball also has a winding around the polycore to keep out all moisture. Because of the thickness of the insulation and moisture barrier, the polycore obviously has to be smaller in diameter in order for the final product to be the same size. The polycore also has to have slightly different mixture in order for the final product to have identical bounce and hardness. The Phoenix ball has no insulation and no moisture barrier but still has the same bounce and hardness. Since the Las Vegas ball will not react to heat and moisture, it will stay cool in the center and outperform the Phoexix ball in any heated atmosphere. Phoenix was way hotter than Las Vegas and therefore there was a substantial difference in the way the ball flew. Here's another interesting fact. If the temperature was 40 degrees, the Vegas ball would stay warmer and softer and the Phoenix ball would be harder and fly off of composites better. Now lets talk cost. Obviously the ball with the insulation, moisture barrier and leather cover will cost more to produce than the synthetic non insulated and non moisture proof ball. However, they have the same bounce and same hardness as a final product when tested at the same temperature. When Trump puts 375 44 COR on a ball, you can be sure it IS 44 375. There are a couple of un named manufacturers who have cheated and confused some of you. In the past some of those balls were used in the Las Vegas SSA program. They were incorrectly labeled on purpose. Interestingly enough, the Microcell Technology ball (used in Vegas) was sent to SS USA players and it was turned down because a few rather uninformed individuals didnt like how it felt soft to the touch. It feels soft to the touch because of the layer of insulation beneath the cover. This surely isnt a total picture of the difference in the balls but I hope its enough info for most of you to understand why one ball outperformed the other for distance. Durability is another subject |
| Oct. 22, 2009 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | thanks jim on the explaination,kinda thought something was up with the MCT in cold weather,as it didn't seem any better than a regular ball in our fall and winter leagues around here (anything under 65 degrees).it still hit ok tho. |
| Oct. 23, 2009 the wood Men's 65 1123 posts | Jim16: I cannot take credit for the win as it was the players that made it happen. As a manager/co-manager, similar decisions have been many times in the past that didn't capture the anticipated results... the LVSSA comes to mind as some of those moments. I believe that it comes down to execution, which is mostly a player function. Also, the biggest factor at that time was the sun and how a pitcher could use it to his team's advantage. Nonetheless, I do appreciate the kudos. But I totally agree with you regarding the defense played in our division. It was there all weekend for us and for most of the teams that we played. This is an element that the game has missed in some time, for the most part. GSF has always strived to have solid defensive players with the expectation that they won't 'let in more runs than they can drive in'. BW |
| Oct. 23, 2009 JohnBob Men's 65 256 posts | Right on BW,I'm player/manager also and wether to walk a hitter intentionally because 1st base is open can be big in a close game,along with changing Pitchers. I agree that the ball that we hit last weekend was fine and infield defense was hugh. Sometimes with the senior bats and hot ball infielders don't have time to react to alot of balls drilled,plus the Pitcher is a lot safer PPR called 1 time in our 9 games. Thanks for the diet-coke may see you in FL in Feb are you all going to TOC? |
| Oct. 23, 2009 The Pro 81 posts | Jim, just want to clarify your statement that the balls previously used in a LVSSA tournamnet were "incorrectly labled on purpose". Those were Decker Sharks and I am the one who ordered them. I want to make it perfectly clear that if those balls were as you have stated not accurately stamped it was not at the request of LVSSA or me. We ordered 44/375 and that's what we got from them. As a matter of fact the balls were actually ordered through a third party distrbutor. Glad to hear from you, That was a great explanation of the difference between the Micro Cell and the regular Trump. |
| Oct. 23, 2009 tattooball 774 posts | Pro, I don't believe he meant that you had the ball mis-marked. A couple of companies purposly mis-marked balls when the change to.44/375 was made in order to get a leg up on the competiton. They got caught and some suspened from play until they manufactured new softballs that passed the test. Decker was banned from ISA years ago. |
| Oct. 23, 2009 curveball Men's 65 705 posts | "Woodman" great job by you and the guys, well deserved win. Way to beat the elements and be the last team standing. Good to see you, catch you along the trail soon................. Felt bad for my friend Charle Waible, (2nd baseman for Ruth), went down during 1st seeding game Friday with a heart attack, surgery Friday evening, buts seems to be doing very well. We never know. We all wish him a speedy recovery and a speedy return to the game. |
| Oct. 23, 2009 jim16 Men's 65 180 posts | The Pro, Kevin is exactly right. I didnt mean that LVSSA or YOU did anything wrong. Those balls were made and circulated long before LVSSA used them. We play "hit your own ball" in Texas and those balls were being used all over the state because teams wanted to win and didnt care if they were using balls that were mis stamped. My hat is actually off to LVSSA because when I go to their association, I know ahead of time that they will use the best balls they can get regardless of price. I very much enjoyed this years LVSSA event with the MCT balls. Sorry I hijacked this thread. Its supposed to be about SS-USA and GSF |
| Oct. 24, 2009 einstein Men's 50 3112 posts | First, I haven't seen such much snow blown since the 60's in the Haight/Ashbury...we must have really hit a nerve. First, Jim, you and I were watching the same game and Conway made one spectacular play and a bunch of much easier plays as "the over come by heat" balls and the desire to hit through the box instead of flying out to outfielders kept guys from their normal swings. It was lack of offense that created the result we saw Jim and not the caliber of defense suggesting that a slower game is a better game which is poppycock to us seniors. I can't believe the way you guys wanna spin this stuff. Oh, actually I do but I can't really get how you can expect us not to get what's going on. We want good balls and bats and we don't care who controls or throws their weight around the bat/ball industry as long as we get to play our game. Good bats and balls. It's the way that the greatest number of seniors experience and will experience a good time, fun, gratifying experience at senior tournaments. Remember this. Only a few teams feel good with winning their divisions. The great majority of players need to know that they had fun, accomplished something, did well, and this comes from how well they hit/played. Good bats and balls insures the greater majority of players have a good time good enough to invest and want to come back and of this there is no doubt. We're not buying our game is too dangerous or not competitive enough. That's ignorant BS and shows the presence of those who want to re-engineer our game to their ends for profit. Jim Carey WAS right. It's all about money and I know what he meant. |
| Oct. 27, 2009 Webbie25 Men's 70 2413 posts | I just found this site. Great discussions. I just got back from Phoenix and played 50AAA. We had the sun in our eyes hitting in 2 games. One was 9-9 after 6 and then a few guys hit for a 16-13 8 inning score, but there were about 5 K's. The game after us was 4-3.The other game it affected the lefties the most. Then for the last 2 games the sun was in the eyes of the left and leftcenter fielders. At the request of Los Vatos Viejos and CJ&S they did move the championship game to another field. That is just part of the game, but I would ask that they consider the sun when scheduling fields for later games when there are fields available. They did run a great tournament. It was 90-92 degrees and the balls did soften, but still went out if you hit them. We (Desperados) only got our 3 dingers 3 times in the tournament. One thing in the ball discussion that I did not see was the effect of altitude. We play a 5500 feet in Albuquerque. That's just too much fun on a cool night!!!! Mark Weber-Desperados |
