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Online now: 1 member: Jt1152005; 62 anonymousDetails for DaveDowell
Real name:
Dave Dowell
Location:
Sacramento, CA
Division:
Men's 65
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| May 4, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Get rid of the 1-1 count OZscar ... The 65+ division doesn't have a horse in this race (YET), including you, since you're only 61 ... But nice phrasing, though, since tomorrow IS Kentucky Derby Day! ... And we'll probably not have to be "extolling" anything ... If the statistical reality continues, the data will adequately speak for itself ... Carry on! |
| May 4, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Get rid of the 1-1 count Meanwhile, back at Reality Central the empirical data continues to show the rate of games reaching the 7th inning at ≥ 98% for the divisions playing the "1-1" count ... |
| May 4, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Home plate mat size Imagination is proving unreliable here ... They were the official standard size of 34˝" deep by 19" wide ... Early on Tuesday (ONLY), BLD was unable to locate our mats, which we leave with them year-round ... The Maintenance Director was sick that day, but a phone call to him and a quick cruise to the maintenance shed revealed our mats and they were used for 5˝ of the 6 days ... |
| May 3, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Get rid of the 1-1 count k man ... Your question illustrates the perfect example of why we completely ignore message board commentary at the Rules Committee sessions ... We don't have a 55-minute game time component, never have ... But a random, anonymous and factually inaccurate assertion of same gets this thread off on a logically failed start! ... You have it right: 65 (+2 = 67) minutes for Seeding, 70 (+2 = 72) for Bracket, and 7-innings for Championship game(s) is correct ... The general theory is that if you can't get on the field and ready to play in two minutes from the end of the plate conference, that consumption of time is rightfully on the teams, and not us ... |
| May 3, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Get rid of the 1-1 count Neither ... It has been on the annual Rules Committee Agenda for about as long as I can remember, at least 10 years, and until the 2016 sessions, had failed implementation every time ... We have also done "member preference polling" on three occasions over the last 11 years, the most recent in December, 2017 ... In 2016, the "1-1" count was implemented for the 40-Masters (only) divisions on a one-year trial basis ... That trial-basis was made permanent for the 40-Masters divisions last fall, and was implemented for the 50+ thru 60+ Men and 50+ Women for the current season, based on TWO factors ... [1] The member preference polling in December resulted in those age/gender groups mentioned above favoring the "1-1" count by more than a 20% margin of votes ... That is generally described as a "mandate" in political terms ... The full results of that polling have been on this website for months ... Go to the Rules Committee Meeting Minutes post from January 9, 2018 and read the attachment ... It has the complete polling results by age, by gender and by geographic regions of the SSUSA ... The results were appropriately deemed by the Rules Committee to be compelling ... and [2] The results achieved in the 2017 Season for the 40-Masters in the context of the percentage of games reaching the 7th inning surprised even us, with the percentage being above 98% ... Simply, it worked ... So the answer to your question as to "who did it" is the membership, and a Rules Committee that was willing to give them what at least 60% of them asked for as their desired pitch count format ... You may well be in the (shrinking) minority on this, but I'm sure it will find its way back on the agenda in November ... |
| May 3, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Get rid of the 1-1 count Thanks marcster13 and Webbie25 ... This thread ought to be good for a 100 or so redundant "I like it" / "I don't" (or is it Dodn't?) posts! ... Nothing said here is going to result in any change, but maybe it's therapeutic to type about it! |
| May 3, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Oil City Classic Probably not ... This is an Independent Tourney Director event administered outside of the SSUSA Home Office ... Contact information for him is available on the event information page of this website ... |
| May 1, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner's right to the base Deafening silence thus far, interrupted only by the occasional chirp of the crickets ... |
| May 1, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Courtesy Runner on field before Time Out But you have to tip your cap to the 3B coach for buying into the concept of having his CR "ready to go" before the first pitch to the next batter! [grins] |
| April 30, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Stealing other teams Softballs Manny ... This moral issue is going to turn on the timing and overall circumstances, as several have mentioned ... It's totally a subjective matter as to when an "un-retrieved" ball becomes an "abandoned" ball ... But you can avoid the issue completely by returning softballs marked with another team's name to the Director table ... Maybe even make a deal with the Director that you can have any unclaimed softballs at the end of the tournament ... For me, I'm not interested in shipping them back to Sacramento and we would make that deal quickly! ... |
| April 29, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: New Softball for 2018 You're not 10% as frustrated by this as we are, so here's what we're going to do. When we have a shipment of the new ball ON SITE at a tournament, we'll make that announcement. Until then we'll not have any comment that, no matter what it is, will prove to be inaccurate. Our good faith reliance on what we have been told to date has not been rewarded. |
| April 29, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner's right to the base Wayne 37 ... As B.J. was so kind to report earlier, I'm going to give you SPECIFICALLY the information to prove your position on this wrong ... It's from the ASA (aka USA) Rules Supplement, which SSUSA defers to in the absence of specific coverage in our Rulebook, at paragraph 33 ... The [emphasis added] highlight is to re-focus your analysis to the relevant controlling language ... The umpire's judgment in ANY potential interference circumstance is two-fold ... [1] Did an act of interference occur? and [2] Did that act result in a defender being interfered with? ... The mere act of maintaining contact with the bag is NOT an act of interference because it is SPECIFICALLY excluded from being a hindrance, as you can see below ... Conversely, leaning into the defender, waving his arms, etc., could result in an interference call ... Your personal desire to ring up the base runner is based on your incorrect and faulty belief that the runner must vacate the base, or at a minimum engage in a softball version of the floor game "Twister", to assist a defender ... _____________ ASA RULES SUPPLEMENT §33 • INTERFERENCE c) A runner could be standing on a base and a defensive player bumps the runner while watching the flight of the ball. If the defensive player fails to make a catch on a ball that could have been caught, it is the umpire’s judgment whether or not interference should be called. The rule provides that a runner must vacate any space needed by a fielder to make a play on a batted ball, unless the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when the hindrance occurs. In this case, the runner should not be called out unless the hindrance is intentional. _____________ You appear to be another one of the "..gotta have the last word.." guys here ... And that's OK ... Go ahead and take that last word and then we'll be closing this thread ... It's really easy to understand this one if you just read the ASA Supplement carefully ... It's DIRECTLY ON POINT and compelling ... |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner's right to the base Wayne 37 ... B.J. and stick8 are correct ... Your entire argument falls apart with the phrase "..so I as the umpire, am going to make his mind up for him..", presumably to accommodate the fielder ... You have no umpire's right to impose an obligation on the runner to get out of the way when no such obligation is mandated or even present by rule ... Standing tall and motionless on the bag is not an act of interference and your personal preference that he move to create space is an abuse of your umpire's judgment ... That may be your call every time as an umpire, but overruling you would be my call as a Tournament Director every time, too ... I would not be reversing you on a judgment call but, rather, as a misapplication of a non-existent rule ... |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner can advance Plus the other three I mentioned, all of which you may be able to slide into one of your three generic descriptions! ... LOL! |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Whaaaat Happened ? Tommy ... ALL of the scores and bracket results for the Southwestern Championships (and the Tidewater Classic, too) are available from the links on the respective Tournament event pages of this website ... You maybe should have noticed when all of the "Let's slam SSUSA and/or Dave for not having the scores up immediately!" posts stopped ... LOL ! |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner can advance B.J ... And here's another correct answer to the question as asked ... On ANY fly ball hit with two outs ... The ˝-inning at bat ends if the ball is caught OR the runner(s) keep going if it isn't ... |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner can advance Agreed, B.J. ... But my answer is correct and completely responsive to the original specific question as asked ... That's part of the fun in these "stump the ump" exercises ... What happens next is usually a minor "tweak" to the question because either [1] it wasn't the exact question the poster intended or [2] it was overly vague to begin with, or both! ... |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner can advance We'll feed these one at a time to see if anyone else jumps in! ... Here's another: When a defensive player throws his glove (or other equipment) at a fly ball and it makes contact with the ball in the air, whether or not the ball is ultimately caught ... |
| April 28, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Runner can advance Infield fly rule (at runner's risk) |
| April 27, 2018 DaveDowell | Topic: Associations Discussion: sw tournament Pa ... Calling the office isn't going to result in a ratings discussion unless you are the manager, and even then, you'll be advised to put it in writing via email ... We don't do ratings over the phone ... Also, please re-read the "non-funny" parts of our response ... It's a very simple concept that winning a single event (other than any of the three National/World events we mentioned) does NOT trigger an automatic rating bump any more than going 0-5 triggers an automatic rating downgrade ... It's a "body of work" analysis over time ... This is the most common (by far) concept people fail to grasp ... Don't fear winning, even at the World Masters! ... Do the best you can, enjoy the game, play safely and let your accomplishments speak for you ... It's a lot more enjoyable that way! ... |
