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Online now: 4 members: Barney Rubble, FLD15, TABLE SETTER 11, dillydilly; 112 anonymousDiscussion: BullHead City
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| March 2, 2015 Jeffery Men's 55 20 posts | BullHead City Congratulations to AZ Elite this past weekend for winning the Tourney in Bull Head in less than ideal conditions. That wind was tough. Small little Tourney that has attracted the Best of the Best recently. At Least in the 50's division. Jeff #14 LAF |
| March 13, 2015 USMC21 122 posts | Those fields are horrendous and the guy has no idea, unless they have gotten someone else to run it, how to run a senior tournament. When we played he had no idea who was in what division and had majors + teams playing against AAA teams with no spot...we haven't been back since because of that, the wind, and the fields are terrible. Odie #23 PHXBD |
| March 13, 2015 BHC Rec-ing Crew 6 posts | Congrats indeed, Jeff. The teams in the "A" Division of the 2015 BHC Spring Senior Softball Tournament were some of the highest caliber we had ever hosted. We were honored by their choice to join us and we look forward to having them back every year. With the growth of this years event, we were able to break out the Major and Major+ teams into their own divisions so that the AAA, AA and Park Level teams could be more competitive against each other. As any experienced tournament administrator will tell you, growth in the early stages is painful and some team's ego's get bruised along the way. This years tournament nearly broke the 100 team mark. This may not seem like a lot in the grand scheme, but for a non-sanctioned home town tournament like ours, we are proud of this accomplishment. CLEARLY we are doing something right when we have more teams wanting to play than we can accommodate. We have received numerous compliments about our facilities over the past few years. In fact, we just broke ground on our new 3-plex facility to be located adjacent to our existing 4-plex. Those fields are going to have 400ft fence lines! It will be nice to be able to host more of the top rated teams from across America. The 7th Annual "Fall Classic" Senior Softball Tournament is scheduled for Friday, October 30th - Wednesday, November 4th. We are expecting to set another attendance record. If you have any questions, please call (928) 763-9400 Ext 306. Ry-Guy |
| March 13, 2015 Dbax Men's 65 2101 posts | USMC21, the Bullhead City tournament is better run than any tournament director RS runs in Arizona. |
| March 13, 2015 JDub Men's 60 206 posts | Good Job Ryan ! ! ! Regards, Jeff White #7 AZ Elite 50M+ |
| March 14, 2015 Benji4 Men's 55 289 posts | I wont dog the director from Bullhead but the stupid rule that if teams tie after 7 innings then the visiting team gets 1/2 a run and is deemed the winner is ridiculous. Stupidest rule I have ever heard of. This stupid rule was also used in the playoffs and there was no conflict with time restraints for fields. I can honestly say our team will never go back. The fields were okay but the umpires who worked the major+ games were probably in the top five worst umpires I have seen in my 30 years of playing softball. Inconsistent ego maniacs who thought people were there to watch umpire dramatics rather than the players. Whatever team yelled the loudest got the call. My two cents. Congrats to AZ Elite.. |
| March 15, 2015 curveball Men's 65 705 posts | BHC, What a novel way to trim the field well below the manageable level that you had this year! 400' fences!!!!!! Are you kidding? 400' fences will chase away a ton of teams. Have you ever played outfield as a senior with that many acres to cover? Have you ever chased a gapper back to a 400" fence? You are making a huge mistake, not sure where your research came from, or whose decision it is to go with a 400' foot fence, but in my mind, it's a huge screw up! Also, had all the teams been notified of the type of ball you were using, you would not have had near that many teams this year. Those balls are horrible. Players will put up with the wind, but the combination of the wind and "powder puff" balls in not acceptable. In addition, the combination of using those balls in future tournaments and adding 400' fields will cause your numbers to shrink drastically. |
| March 15, 2015 Dbax Men's 65 2101 posts | Curve, good point on the fences. |
| March 15, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | Bullhead City, welcome the the 21st century of softball equipment use. If one takes the time to search the post over many year back, I think you'll find dozens of them about shots well over the 300 foot fences and some stating way more. Given the vats now in use and even recent posts I think the 400' fences are a good thing. Anyone or team that has players able to reach that mark will really have some bragging rights. The only place I know of that has a field about like to that is Pioneer Park in Mesquite NV. The upper baseball field there which is usually always in use for tournaments. Teams with good hitters will show if not for the 400' challenge of a shot like that but then maybe for the gaps that will be there to place hit if you can. I know there are some good place hitters out there. Grow, Bullhead, Grow. |
| March 15, 2015 Dbax Men's 65 2101 posts | Not about the home runs. It's about us old guys covering that much area in the outfield! |
| March 15, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | Dbax, I understand that more that you know. At 65 you can have 11 man fielding so that should ease it up some what, but while I agree on the extra turf needed to cover, it's the same for all teams playing there. Make sure your players are in good shape. lol, though not a laughing matter when it comes down to it. Maybe play in a Lidi, Gault and maybe it was the Stockton or or the Turlock park off I-5 At least one of those parks has 265' or so fields. Which are still used and overkill for the new senior bats. But I wouldn't if I were traveling that far as you would need to do let alone 1\4 that for me. The Major and M+ teams shouldn't have a problem with it nor should the younger generation 40's up. |
| March 15, 2015 AJC Men's 60 218 posts | 400 foot fences? That's a great way to run the outfielders into the ground. I don't think there is many teams at any age who would want to play on fields this size. Any balls that make it thru the infield will be doubles. The difference of playing on 320 fields versus 300 are big enough . If your trying to elimanate homers, why not dumb down the bats. Making the fields bigger doesn't make much sense. You might want to re-think that idea. Imo. |
| March 16, 2015 ? 121 posts | It is possible that temporary plastic fences could be put up in the outfield at 300 feet.\ |
| March 16, 2015 ? 121 posts | On second thought.... I doubt plastic fences would hold up in all the strong winds that blow through the river valley.. Bad Idea! |
| March 16, 2015 Benji4 Men's 55 289 posts | Going to farther fences will only eliminate the 5 man and make the pitchers more of a target, besides wear out the outfielders. There is a limit on HR's so that's not a problem. I agree that the balls were horseshit and many teams would have not shown up if they knew they were using those crappy ASA balls. I won't even go back to how bad the umpiring was................ |
| March 16, 2015 J R 251 posts | We require the mask in Houston. Everyone got used to. The league pays the 1st. 25.00 dollars.Tournaments are age group. Leagues vary in ages so mask make sense.We as league members elect our fellow players to offices.They must answer to families,and the municipalties that give us the fields..The 1st thing asked after an accident will be why wasn't safety equipment required. |
| March 16, 2015 curveball Men's 65 705 posts | Taits, It's obvious you don't play the outfield. Do you realize the distance from foul pole to foul pole with 400' fences? There is no way Seniors can patrol that many acres, progressing even more difficult each time you age up. the older age groups would have no way to play on that size period. Bullhead is already using the shit ball that keep HR's from being a reality. With that ball in play, without the Bullhead City afternoon gale force winds, there is no way that the ball goes out at 400'. Plan and simple, Seniors don't want fences anywhere near that distance, they physically can't play that size of outfield. (It's not a matter of conditioning, you can't get in shape for that abuse.) IF, you played at 280', you'll have to run a minimum if 120' if it's straight over your head. Further if you angle to the gap. Think about it, the fence is 320' past where a 1st or 3rd baseman play. MLB kids aren't even subjected to those dimensions. We love going to that tourney, and the one in the fall also. But in listening to other players, the combination of the new fields and the existing ball, will keep lots of us home. For the less than 1% of Seniors who have ever hit a ball a legit 400+ feet, give us your thoughts. Singles hitters with the outfield back at 280-300, rejoice, then take 2. |
| March 16, 2015 BHC Rec-ing Crew 6 posts | At ease gentlemen. My point about the 400ft fields was that we would HAVE extra fields to play on. Of course we aren't going to stick the 65's out there and make them chase down balls through all that grass. We have temporary fences that would be brought in for the senior tournaments. The purpose for the 400ft fences is so that we COULD accommodate even upper level baseball leagues and tournaments when they choose to come to town. We are carefully weighing the decision to switch to the more commonly used Rock ball. As with any professionally run tournament circuit, the safety of our participants MUST be our top priority. As most of you know, we have a fairly liberal bat standards for these tournaments. To introduce a .44 Cor 375 compression ball in the mix could introduce an unstable element. We are however, researching the possibility. **As a Side Note** My staff and volunteer groups STILL had to chase down numerous home-run balls in the various age divisions, INCLUDING the 70's when they played on the 300ft fence fields. Benji, sorry to hear that you didn't approve of the officials this year. We have hired the best crews that work in St. George, Mesquite, the Winter Worlds, and numerous other high-profile Senior Tournament from around the country. I don't often get complaints about the staff, but I will look into it. Additionally, we aren't particularly fond of some of the 'time saver' rules that we are required to abide by, but we don't have sole domain over the facilities we use. We share them with several other groups in town and we have a drop-dead time frame that we must be off of the fields by each night. Perhaps with the addition of these new fields, we will not be under such stringent requirements. We understand that many players may not like the 1/2 run tie break or the 1-1 count, but we suspect that you would REALLY dislike the prospect of ending a game in the top of the 5th inning before you get to bat. |
| March 17, 2015 Benji4 Men's 55 289 posts | BHC Thanks for responding. Most directors would not. Game times for the playoffs were pushed up on Sunday morning because of chances of rain so therefore that sharing fields explanation doesn't fly. I have no problem in round robin games but as for playoffs losing on a tie is completely BS. 1-1 count is better in my opinion. As for your two umpires they were from Kingman both old as hell didn't hustle and one even complained his eyesight was bad. So that explanation of getting the best umpires isn't working for me either. I won't be back but I wish you luck with teams in the future considering your rules, umpires and crappy balls. |
| March 17, 2015 USMC21 122 posts | dbax....you got that right for sure on the RS tourneys! |
| March 17, 2015 Dbax Men's 65 2101 posts | USMC, We are tired of them! |
| March 17, 2015 taits Men's 65 4548 posts | curveball, Correct on OF, haven't dont that for 35 years but for one in Cal cup in Sac or maybe it was Western Natl's about 8\9 years ago played RF. I do\did P, 1st & 3rd. When the post was originally made it was about softball.... Then revised, maybe to appease the comments. Only think the 400's fence would be suitable for the major and m+ teams If they got it, then do it. But don't envy them for it. But since temp fences were mantioned, I think that would be good for all even if field actually made (layed out) for the baseball teams as they were mentioned in passing. |
