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Online now: 2 members: Bob Downs, Pete03; 17 anonymousDiscussion: The new ball
| Posted | Discussion |
| April 16 jimperry19 72 posts | Played in Vegas over the weekend, 60 M Precision Wolfpack, great tourney, well run, great competition, good umps, nice fields over at Cheyenne. One issue, the jacket of the new ball needs to be improved, very very hard to see once it is dirty and almost impossible to clean. Talked to numerous players with better eyes than me that agree. Played a night game on Friday, almost impossible to see after 3rd inning, was relieved when a new ball got thrown in. A coach of another team told me they intentionally don't put new balls in at night because of this. Don't waste time coming on here and saying the ball is just like the old one because its not (that is not directed at SSUSA, that is directed at people who say things like 'why do you need to know who won Worlds?' or 'I dont play for a trophy'. To me, this is a safety issue. SSUSA is the best association, with the best and biggest events, and probably more focus on player safety (see new bat rule) than others. Somebody is going to eat one of these Fires because they flat out could not see it. |
| April 16 BANDITOS180 Men's 55 59 posts | 100% agree with this post, this has been an issue with the Baden balls. Other complaints are they get extremely slippery when dirty. I have used antibacterial wipes to clean the balls and this has helped, but the not seeing the ball off the bat at dusk or night is a real safety issue and feel that this needs to be addressed for player safety. |
| April 16 DieselDan Men's 75 613 posts | Keep a magic sponge in a bag with some water and should clean up real easy. |
| April 16 AZBillyD Men's 60 36 posts | I agree with you too Jim. We were playing at Cheyenne at dusk and under the lights on Friday night and the ball was filthy and hard to see. I asked the umpire and he said the other team wasn’t interested in putting in a new ball. That’s their choice and it’s kinda tough to clean them for the other team. I was told last year that Baden was working on a new material for the cover. Maybe that’s true. Other than that issue, it’s a good ball. |
| April 18 JohnO28 Men's 50 154 posts | AZBilly, I and I think pretty much everyone agrees with you on this. I believe at one point SSUSA even agreed that the ball cover has an issue and they were the ones that posted on here that there is an issue with the cover as far as getting dirty and Baden was working to rectify it. IMO, over all the ball is pretty good but doesn't compare at all to the Stote balls we used prior to these. But at the end of the day we know that SSUSA made this their official ball and I'm sure ordered thousands of them to make sure they had them to use at tourneys so I would venture to say even if there is a new ball with a better cover we will never see it until each and every ball they already bought that have their stamp on them is gone. It will only be then that we see this new ball. |
| April 18 jimperry19 72 posts | Why would that be a problem? Even if there are 20,000 of the current ball sitting in a container ship off the coast of California, produce the same ball with a jacket that doesnt pick up every scrap of dirt and grass and make it damn near invisible after dark, and use the version 2.0 in the evening. Does this create some issues? Yep, but the safety of players should be a priority over what is viewed as an 'inconvenience' by umpires. Probably make the umps job easier easier also, much easier to call a guy safe or out when you can see the ball. |
| April 18 Bob21 47 posts | We played in Phoenix in November. Other team's ball dirty as hell. Part of their "strategy" Was easily countered by having our pitcher spit on the ball and wipe it fairly clean on his pants. Obviously not the solution but it worked for us. |
