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Online now: 2 members: Van025, scottflodin; 5 anonymousDiscussion: Softballs Used at Raleigh, NC
| Posted | Discussion |
| Sept. 26 Jack #8 Men's 70 8 posts | Can anyone explain the reason the softballs in Raleigh NC did not carry worth a damn. We could have played on little league fields the way they were carrying. They had a "thud" sound when you hit them and they didn't carry at all. Anyone else notice this? |
| Sept. 26 SSUSA Staff 3491 posts | The Eastern National's used the same ball as is always used for SSUSA administered events. Principal factors which may have affected your perception of the flight characteristics of the softballs in Raleigh this year were: • Extremely high temperatures (high 90's and low 100's); • Very high humidity atmospheric conditions; • Heavy rains Friday night into Saturday morning, causing damp/wet fields; and • Heavy air, foggy/misty conditions. The Directors stored the softballs indoors, out of direct sunlight, in an air conditioned storage area, as instrusted by the ball manufacturer. |
| Sept. 26 Foothills Men's 55 95 posts | The problems described by the SSUSSA staff member are easily cured by using the X-Rock softball and they know it . It is the specified 44/375 , BUT ! it stays that way in heat and humidity . Unlike any other ball . Why the won`t make them the defacto ball is beyond me . |
| Sept. 26 Duke Men's 65 908 posts | SSUSA Staff, The 44 core is not always used. Maybe 97% of the time, but not always. I remember about 5 years ago in the second Reno tournament, they used an absolutely crappy ball. It was finally removed after several complaints. Also, this year in the January Menifee tournament, a 375/40 core ball was being used. I noticed it did not feel right when batting. In the second game during warmups, I took a look at the ball ratings, and was surprised to see what I saw, but that was the ball being used that weekend. Andy Smith, 55 Major/60 Major Plus |
| Sept. 27 Smokey20 Men's 55 102 posts | Jack#8, Quess that would be a no vote on the 52/275 ball some are pushing? |
| Sept. 27 #19 Men's 70 302 posts | Too many of us are just not happy unless we are hitting those "techno-homers". |
| Sept. 27 Foothills Men's 55 95 posts | If the ball senior softball specs is 44/375 , then #19 , how can using a ball that is 44/375 in the heat be considered a techno homerun ?? All the X-Rock does is make sure you are hitting a spec ball in the heat ? |
| Sept. 27 #19 Men's 70 302 posts | Foothills ... Still all boils down to the same thing ... If we aren't hitting rockets, we don't seem to be satisfied. |
| Sept. 27 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | If the balls were the same for all teams there was no "problem". Jesus guys, does this ever end? |
| Sept. 27 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | What does a ball have to be or do to make everyone happy? Foothills, the techno homeruns Gary is talking about are in reference to the bats. |
| Sept. 27 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | foothills-no matter what 44-375 poly core ball used,the heat will effect it.the only one that it doesn't effect is the MCT ball,which is actually a higher comp ball,but was able to get around the comp test (test is compress the ball to 1/4" and read the lbs to do so)with its soft outer layer it got around this test.it is the reason the MCT is no longer allowed by ASA. |
| Sept. 27 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Come on #19, I like those 'techno-homers'. I don't have to run or slide into bases, I don't pull hamstrings hitting them, and I am much less sore at the end of the tournament. Techno-homers forever!!! Einstein must be rolling over in his M/B techno-grave. |
| Sept. 28 #19 Men's 70 302 posts | Webbie ... Any time I hit a ball over a fence, fair, foul, or otherwise, it's a mistake! ... I have "suffered through" 4 mistakes so far this year! |
| Sept. 29 Jack #8 Men's 70 8 posts | For the cost of entering the tournaments($600.00+), the ball should be what they advertise and not a cheaper replacement. We'll see in Phoenix, Ft. Myers, and Las Vegas....... |
| Sept. 29 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | ssusa uses the trump stote in every tourney i have seen or played in.rock-n-reno the weather never got above 70 and they were flying,week later i played in the texas state championship and it was in the 100's and the ball didn't do a whole lot.like staff says,the weather effects them a lot. |
| Sept. 30 JBTexas Men's 70 434 posts | MD,Don't forget the difference in altitude between Reno and dallas beside temperature. |
| Sept. 30 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | JBT the altitude made no difference in this case/example.it was the temps that was the real deciding factor.i have hit balls out in dallas before,no prol,but once that heat got to the balls that was it,it was like hitting cantaloupes,thats all i'm saying.......will say ball was ok first day of the tourney in the morning,but steadily declined in the heat thru out the weekend. |
| Sept. 30 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | Were the balls in Dallas the same for both teams? |
| Sept. 30 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | MD-you sure it wasn't your knowledge of ball compression that convinced your subconscious that it was losing lots of compression in the heat (5 lbs per degree over 72) and with the apparent temperature radiating off of the astroturf at 148 degrees you knew you had -5 compression and it worked on your mind? I think it was all in your head. decompression factor! |
| Sept. 30 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | Because the ball being used is affected by the heat and air, which at the time was 86.75 degrees with 82% humidity, along with 12 million parts of hydrogen and a hint of benzene in the air from a overflow from someone filling their gas tank at the local gas station. Can effect the air flight of the ball. Under normal conditions, an average ball hit with Miken II will travel 350'. Under these conditions, only 335'. I hope this helps!! LOL |
| Sept. 30 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | Same ball for everyone, boys! |
| Sept. 30 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | Keep singing your song, Gary. Normally in northern California, the balls hold up well the whole tourney (Baden Fireball, low humidity, usually in 80s or lower, etc.) and the response of the ball doesn't fluctuate much—wind is the factor to be considered. But in one tournament this year, it was not the Baden. Even in the morning games it became apparent that long balls were going to die in the outfielder's glove. So our team changed strategy. I didn't try once to hit past the outfielders and had a successful, high average tourney. We didn't win it all, but the balls were the same for both teams, and it was our defense that let us down. |
| Sept. 30 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Defense?? there's a word you would think was gone from our game listening to some people here! lol It sure plays a big part in our games. |
| Sept. 30 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | It would play a bigger part without the special bats. |
| Sept. 30 Omar Khayyam 1357 posts | "Special bats"—there's the chorus to Gary's song. :=) Webbie, it isn't so much that we were missing great defense, it was that even with the catchable fly balls, they weren't all caught! Nor were all routine ground balls made routine. Nor did our pitcher (me) do his best, instead assuming the deader ball would result in catchable flies and fieldable grounders, and so too many were just plain hits! |
| Sept. 30 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | It probably is, but when we are the ONLY group allowed to use them there is little else to call them but special. |
| Sept. 30 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | well yeah you are right about both teams using the same ball,but i don't think that question was the one asked.jack wanted to know why the ball was different in the heat and such so i explained it for him,which you would rather not do,but instead just run you trap about nothing connected to it. educate yourself about softball and maybe you can find a team to play with,dipty...... |
| Sept. 30 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | MD, I believe your out of line here! gary submits a response regarding the question and you take it to a personal level. My question to you is, why is it so important to understand all this BS about the ball? What is it going to do for someone to have this knowledge? Will it make someone a better hitter with this knowledge? If so why? Please don't defensive in regards to my question, because this is no attack on you as a person. I really don't see any relavence to this making a difference the game. |
| Sept. 30 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | NO HE DIDN'T,HIS ANSWER WAS NOT EVEN REMOTELY IN LINE WITH THE QUESTION ASKED.THE QUESTION ASKED WAS WHY WERE THE BALLS DIFFERENT,AND NOT PERFORMING THE WAY THAT THE POSTER WANTED THEM TO.I JUST ANSWERED THE POSTER'S QUESTION THATS ALL,AND FOR THE OTHERS WHO ASKED ABOUT IT.GARY DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE ABOUT THE OG QUESTION,JUST ANOTHER ATTEMPT OF PUTTING DOWN SENIOR SOFTBALL.HE DOESN'T PLAY THE GAME OF SENIOR BALL,REALLY CAN'T SEE WHY HE WOULD EVEN COME ON THIS BOARD WITH HIS NEGATIVE ATTITUDE ALL THE TIME,BEING HE DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY THE GAME.TO ME,ITS LIKE THE HUNTER WHO GOES ON THE FISHING BOARD AND TELL THEM THEIR SPORT SUCKS,WHEN HE DOESN'T EVEN PARTICIPATE IN IT. |
| Sept. 30 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | Gary's responses are below. He was responding to a statement that followed up after the original question. I can read between the lines as well as anybody on here. There is nothing wrong with his tongue and cheek statements. It's a message board and it's working the way they want it to. INFORMATION, good or bad means it's working. For the record, is anything he mentioned below incorrect? 1) If the balls were the same for all teams there was no "problem". Jesus guys, does this ever end? 2) Were the balls in Dallas the same for both teams? 3) Same ball for everyone, boys! 4) It would play a bigger part without the special bats. 5) It probably is, but when we are the ONLY group allowed to use them there is little else to call them but special. |
| Oct. 1 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Pricer gets it. I agree, I don't need or want to know all the BS about the ball. I just want to watch it perform and adapt my game to it. If it is flying, hit it out. If it is not, hit base hits. My gosh, we have all had those games going either way on that one. It ain't rocket science. Hit what they give you. Mad dog-I would have thought you would be happy with balls hitting like cantaloupes. It had to be safer. Are you SURE that's what you want? DOH, ROTFSAGLMAO |
| Oct. 1 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | and this is what the post thread starter asked Can anyone explain the reason the softballs in Raleigh NC did not carry worth a damn. We could have played on little league fields the way they were carrying. They had a "thud" sound when you hit them and they didn't carry at all. Anyone else notice this? and it is was i answered to.if ya don't care what balls are used so what,he didn't ask that.he didn't ask about whether both teams or even one team was using the same balls.he wanted to know why the ball didn't perform very well.................so please stay on topic |
| Oct. 1 Al33 Men's 55 183 posts | Who said anything about home runs or techno home runs or bats or anything else??? Jack #8 just wanted to know if anyone else noticed that the balls didn't carry and had a thud sound when hit at the Raleigh tournament. Jack just represents another senior softballer who wants to play with good equipment. Staff: Perception is reality. We all know that all 44x375 balls are not the same. They even vary from lot to lot and from manufacturer to manufacturer. The 44x375 is merely a maximum allowed characteristic. Omar: Save your breath. Some of these guys can't hear what your saying or don't want to. Pricer: Gary19 didn't respond to the question. I don't usually agree with mad dog on many issues but, in this case he's right on the money. Gary's continued negativity and sarcasm about senior softball is something we don't need. |
| Oct. 1 Pricer Men's 50 621 posts | Who did answer the question directly, other that SSUSA? MD first response was to answer foothills question. "foothills-no matter what 44-375 poly core ball used,the heat will effect it.the only one that it doesn't effect is the MCT ball,which is actually a higher comp ball,but was able to get around the comp test (test is compress the ball to 1/4" and read the lbs to do so)with its soft outer layer it got around this test.it is the reason the MCT is no longer allowed by ASA."Gary just responded with another question. "If the balls were the same for all teams there was no "problem"." |
| Oct. 1 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | jack asked why they didn't perform well i answered it,just like you reposted for me,so what are you trying to make a point of......?????i was on topic of why balls would not perform.....are you ?????? |
| Oct. 1 Webbie25 Men's 70 2414 posts | Maybe the only way to have an even playing field on this would be to invent an MBTACCSC (Mobile Ball Temperature And Compression Controlled Storage Container) to be used at all events. Balls not in use would be required to be kept in one of these at all times. Umpires could carry a PSTACVD (Pocket Softball Temperature And Compression Verification Device) and after each inning would check ball temperature and compression. Any ball not within specifications of the OSTAC (Optimum Softball Temperature And Compression) would forthwith be returned to the MBTCSC for regulation. The OSTAC will be calibrated every day on an MOSTAC (Master OSTAC). All for the integrity of the game!! |
| Oct. 1 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | webbie that is a great idea,maybe we should contact the colo rockies for their set-up.actually,your not off target even tho i know your pulling a leg,hell the mfg'ers even put on the boxes to not put the balls in the heat,and store them at 72 degree's if possible,wouldn't it be nice tho if they didn't jump all over the place in performance b/c of the weather. |
| Oct. 1 Gary19 Men's 50 2609 posts | Webbie, as long as the ball was the same for both teams (and I am assuming it was) it already was an even playing field. Nothing more need be done. |
| Oct. 1 mad dog Men's 65 4191 posts | and again what has that to do with the question jack asked,he didn't say their team was the only one to have to hit the ball,he asked why it didn't perform like he thought it should. |
