She had to color in her yellow laces

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May 7, 2008
8,506
48
Tucson
Last night, pitching in Phoenix, in a JV game. The PU, declared that my pitching students glove was a distraction. It is the black Wilson with the yellow laces.

She borrowed another glove, while her mom colored in the laces.

She has used the glove all season. I don't have a federation rule book, but are laces considered a distraction in HS ball?
 
Jun 24, 2013
1,059
36
In Il. HS it is a rule. I think organizations have different rules that change occasionally so you are better off not having yellow on your glove. Even if you are right it is not worth fighting. Umpires jump organization to organization so you almost need to keep a copy of the rule on you if it is legal.

(It is a Fed Rule:

.. Softball glove/mitt not be entirely optic yellow and that they do not have an optic yellow markings on the outside or inside of the glove/mitt resembling the appearance of a softball.)
 
Last edited:
Mar 13, 2010
960
0
Columbus, Ohio
Here is the current NFHS/high school rule:


ART. 1 . . . Gloves/mitts shall:

a. Be a maximum of two colors excluding lacing and manufacturer's logo colors. Lacing shall not be the color of the ball.

b. Not be entirely optic in color.

c. Not have an optic-colored marking on the outside or inside that gives the appearance of the ball.

d. Be permitted to have one American flag not to exceed 2 inches by 3 inches.

e. Not be judged as distracting by the umpire.



Personal opinion here...I think that some of the glove color requirements are silly. There always seems to be this huge concern that some little patch of color on a glove will cause a big distraction for the batter. I just don't see that happening. I was never bothered by this as a player and I'm not now as an umpire.

But...the rule is the rule and if an umpire is working a game under those rules he is bound to enforce it. So we get to be the "bad guys"- the rule Nazi's, if you will- and enforce these silly sorts of rules.
 
Jun 22, 2008
3,731
113
^ This. She is the one that threw a perfect game in Phoenix last week. She was back in Phoenix, again.

At least he had the rule right. Believe me, the umpires my daughter has been getting dont know any of the rules and make them up as they go along. She told me in her last game the umpire decided to call the game from behind the pitcher "because he called better from there". She said he never moved from that position the entire game, stood behind the circle, called balls and strikes and every out including a close tag play at the plate from behind the circle.
 
Aug 6, 2013
303
0
We have an ump a few years ago that made our pitcher color in the gold Nike Swoosh on her glove for just this reason.
Mind you it was almost an inch long and very easily could be mistaken for the ball... (If batter was Magoo level myopic)

Actually; if I recall it may have been the umpire who was Magoo level myopic
 
Mar 2, 2013
444
0
Here is the current NFHS/high school rule:


ART. 1 . . . Gloves/mitts shall:

a. Be a maximum of two colors excluding lacing and manufacturer's logo colors. Lacing shall not be the color of the ball.

b. Not be entirely optic in color.

c. Not have an optic-colored marking on the outside or inside that gives the appearance of the ball.

d. Be permitted to have one American flag not to exceed 2 inches by 3 inches.

e. Not be judged as distracting by the umpire.



Personal opinion here...I think that some of the glove color requirements are silly. There always seems to be this huge concern that some little patch of color on a glove will cause a big distraction for the batter. I just don't see that happening. I was never bothered by this as a player and I'm not now as an umpire.

But...the rule is the rule and if an umpire is working a game under those rules he is bound to enforce it. So we get to be the "bad guys"- the rule Nazi's, if you will- and enforce these silly sorts of rules.

Yeah, but it was enforced improperly here. The idea is that they can't have round circles (especially filled in ones) on the glove. Not that "Wilson" is yellow or that the lace is yellow.

These rules nazis are the reason the NCAA had to go and specifically write that these are not violations.
 

MTR

Jun 22, 2008
3,438
48
We have an ump a few years ago that made our pitcher color in the gold Nike Swoosh on her glove for just this reason.
Mind you it was almost an inch long and very easily could be mistaken for the ball... (If batter was Magoo level myopic)

Actually; if I recall it may have been the umpire who was Magoo level myopic

As Bretman noted, some of the rules are silly, but guess where they came from? I wasn't the umpires It was from coach's perspective that anything that can be a distraction is and will be used to any advantage that can be gained.

Do you really believe an umpire gives a damn about the color of the glove? In ASA & NFHS, umpires have minimal input into rules and usually are addressed as more of a sounding board on how they are applied and/or the ramifications of such applications.
 

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