Softball in JAPAN informative read

[RADcatcher]

I liked the K-masters I only played with them a hand full of times. I did however play with the NAFA softballs a lot which were very similar in stitching but they always felt so damn heavy. My all time favorite ball was the Debeer 212. It would usually lose its shape after a game or two but I could make that thing dance like a wiffle ball!! Never played with a Mizuno ball, hell I don't think I've ever seen one to be honest.

As for ball flight I agree with RAD use a low flight ball instead of moving fences back. It will put an end to the check swing homeruns for sure!

'an end to the check swing homeruns for sure'


Add this
Since the rocketball IS in use,
defensive mask should become mandatory!

I mean the fact that girls are throwing as hard as they are now with a 400 compression ball is insane. My daughter pitched in college without a mask. It scared the shirt out of me because I knew just how hard that ball she was pitching with is and how quickly things could go wrong.....

Seems people don't really follow the compression of the ball that much.
* except for the technical people that want to keep an eye on things

 

[daywalkerdad]

I am so happy to see the number of college pitchers wearing masks.

I would prefer deeper outfield, to create space in front of and between. A softer ball may have some of that effect. Some outfields really cut the gap down to being almost non existent.

 

[Hillhouse]

I was on the Executive Committee of the ISC for about 12 years. The ISC (International Softball Congress) is a male only fastpitch organization. Nothing but male fastpitch softball. And it's the pinnacle of the sport. Many USA players put that championship above winning or even playing for the USA team. There has been times when Pan Am games and ISC championships would conflict and many guys would pick ISC due to getting paid big money from sponsors. A sad truth. I'm grateful I never had to make the choice.

In the ISC we had to deal with the ball issue many times. Including the aforementioned times where bats were breaking like crazy. The ball Core and Compression are 2 very different things, and both matter. The balls RAD and I used when younger were cork center with low compression which is why they softened and went out of shape at times. Also why games were usually 1-0 and 20 innings. I think I told this before but the 1981 ISC World tournament had a 34 inning game between Madison WI and Midland MI. The same 2 pitchers threw every inning. Midland won 2-1. 106 strikeouts between the 2 pitchers in that game. One of the pitchers is now a coach at BYU. The very next game on the same field went 20 innings between Tulsa OK and Ashland OH. These are examples of why your kids today play with 1 hr time limits like it or not. (Ironically, to this very day the ISC has never used the tie breaker with a runner on 2. They like the game to be played won/lost naturally).

High compression with POLYcore center is a recipe for disaster.

I can tell you this, the softball bodies won't do much except tell people to wear masks. They make too much money in sponsorships from ball and bat companies. And the ball companies blame the bats for the problem, the bat companies blame the ball. And when you have a company like Worth that makes both, they often contradict each other and no 2 people in the company will have the same answers. It's sickening that it's necessary for pitchers to wear masks. And now it's common to see infielders doing it too. While I don't blame them one bit, it's a sad reality.

 

[bsbs]

The ball companies can make poly cores at lower compression. They are just making the softballs to whater specs the leagues are wanting.

 

[Hillhouse]

Unfortunately I could not find the exact video I was thinking of. All I remember is the guy could throw this curveball with both his right and left hand, and the ball had a tremendous amount of curve to it. He was an older gentleman, it was not in a game setting. The video was more like he was giving a pitching lesson to a female type setting. Really looked effortless in the video.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!! I know exactly what you mean. Mike Piecknik. That video was taken by Lori Baird Cook (or Cook Baird??) while they were playing catch. Peaches (his nickname) is from Victoria BC Canada and is in every HoF imaginable and one incredible human being. I love the guy. He is a lefty and they some how flipped the video around making it look like he did both hands but, I can assure you they didn't. They did that to show it from both sides for visual learners. It can be hard for a lefty to learn from a RHP, and vice versa. So, when she posted the video she flipped it somehow.

In his day, and I pitched against him more towards the end of his career, he was not only one of the fastest in the game but also one of the most dominant. And, he didn't have a major crow hop like most today. There's a few games on YouTube of him pitching. One game was him vs. Mike White for the World title final, it was broken into 5 separate videos for the entire game, with announcers and replays. To see Peaches vs. White look up "I992 ISC Final NHCD vs. Payless" you'll find it. That year, Peaches' team lost their first game and went through the losers bracket of a 48 team tournament and made the final, losing to Sioux City and Mike White in the final. Sioux City could best be described as the Oklahoma team of men's fastpitch. There's not enough words to say how good they were, pitching and hitting. Peaches pitched the team all the way through the loser's bracket, including a 1-0 win over yours truly on a passed ball. That was 1992, my first World tournament at 20 yrs old, and truth be told... we could STILL be playing that game and wouldn't have won. I think we had 1 or 2 hits. We weren't scoring off him. There's another game on YouTube: NHCD (Sioux City again) vs. Payless where the 2 teams met earlier in the year in Vancouver. I won't spoil the results for you if you wanna watch them.

 

[RADcatcher]

I can understand the usefulness of international tiebreaker. Particularly when games have equal competition and it's hard to get a runner on base.

What is weird though (to me anyway)
is how much games are out of balance and the run rule is applied.
Not that there shouldn't be a run rule just how much it is a necessity to be applied.
Non- competitive games.

 

[Hillhouse]

The ball companies can make poly cores at lower compression. They are just making the softballs to whater specs the leagues are wanting.

While there's SOME truth in that, it's not 100%. While they do make balls in varying core and compressions, it's not at the desire of a league or organization. For them to set up the machines and make only a few hundred, even a few hundred dozen balls isn't financially feasible. Especially not when shipping from China. As I said previously, Worth told the ISC they were eliminating the white ball despite the fact that nearly every men's league, tournament and championship used it. That's 10's of 1000's of balls annually. They would make the white ball one day per year, with the same specs as the yellow. But it wasn't worth it to them to continue. The men's FP numbers were declining and it's not as though those numbers were ever going to go up again. It's mindboggling to think of how many softballs are made and purchased every year worldwide.

As RAD eluded to, most people don't understand core/compression. But what they do know is $$$$. And the tougher the ball, the longer it lasts. You no longer have to throw away a ball after 7 innings due to softness. The same ball will go for years and years. Maybe forever.

Most people have accepted the pitcher (and fielders) wearing masks and think nothing of it. "that's how they make the ball now" is the thought process for many. They don't know or do research that there options.

 

[Hillhouse]

I can understand the usefulness of international tiebreaker. Particularly when games have equal competition and it's hard to get a runner on base.

What is weird though (to me anyway)
is how much games are out of balance and the run rule is applied.
Not that there shouldn't be a run rule just how much it is a necessity to be applied.
Non- competitive games.

I understand the tiebreaker in a regular weekend tournament to keep things going. But I don't think it should ever be used in a world or national final. that's just my opinion. I want to win or lose the old fashioned way. And lest we forget, the rule was only changed a few years ago but prior to that, that runner starting on 2 was an EARNED run!!!!

I respect how the run rules have been modified in years. 8 after 5. 10 after 4. 15 after 3. Etc. Again this was a time factor for tournaments more than it was about the integrity of the game, in my opinion. Most coaches don't care about running up the score on teams. Bunting, stealing with a 10 run lead would lead to a bench clear in the old days. I'm a bit more liberal on this but, I think when you have the lead by the run rule margin, bunting and stealing are off limits. Others take a more conservative view and will start throwing at batters if they bunt, steal leading by 6 after 5. "If you wanna win that badly, you're REALLY going to earn it!". I've been on both sides of those. It's not fun for anyone.

 

[RADcatcher]

In the line of 4,
One beat ucla, the other beat fullerton.
wcws title owners yep game trophies!

The two in the back I did a comparison bounce test right now...cuz ya know
Dropping from a height of about 55 inches onto cement. Clearly the yellow rocketball bounced noticeably higher about 30% higher with a perky bounce and continued bouncing as the white ball slowed and stopped.
DeBeer versus bownet.
Amazingly this still has the texture can feel the leather fuzzy on it.

 

[Northball]

In the line of 4,
One beat ucla, the other beat fullerton.
wcws title owners yep game trophies!
View attachment 29178
The two in the back I did a comparison bounce test right now...cuz ya know
Dropping from a height of about 55 inches onto cement. Clearly the yellow rocketball bounced noticeably higher about 30% higher with a perky bounce and continued bouncing as the white ball slowed and stopped.
DeBeer versus bownet.View attachment 29179
Amazingly this still has the texture can feel the leather fuzzy on it.

There's only one ball on your table we wouldn't lose in the snow drifts of early April around here...