illegal pitch story and question

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Nov 16, 2015
184
18
9th grade high school game. We are up 9-1 at the time. DD is on the mound. My DD does get a little air born at time, but doesnt replant. Its a work in progress.

Opposing coach is chirping from the dugout about illegal pitch. Ump calls it. DD's coach get mad because the rubber is elevated at least 2 inches above dirt and not flush with the ground. So i walk over to get a better angle. She was air born, but toes were down and seemed parallel to the ground. field ump says that he's going to call it if she is higher than the rubber. He called one more and honestly, she was quite illegal on that one. Now the opposing team has 3 coaches on the field complaining every pitch and now has every girl in the dugout complaining about illegal pitch. Its bad. This is what upset me the most, having 3 coaches and the team basically taunting the pitcher.

Our coach again tells there coach to fix the mound and make it legal. So as DD is warming up their coach goes out with the broom and sweeps away the dirt making the rubber even more elevated. Which made no sense to me. DD is beyond ticked now and if she had more of her father in her probably would have plunked someone but she is a better person than me. She can thank her mom for that. So she gets mad and is throwing absolute seeds. not sure i have seen her throw that hard, ever (probably bc she was illegal!). Struck out the last 6 girls. DD has a great changeup, but coach didnt call it once. it was straight heat with a smile on his face. By about the 5th k the coach figured out he awoke the beast.

We won 11-1. I wanted to tell the coach you just lost 11-1 and your team is not good. Maybe focus on your team a bit more, but i refrained.

Between the 9th and JV games (we play 3 in a row 9th, jv, var) coach goes to "rebuild his mound." took a broom cleaned out the dirt, added a bunch of clay and packed it down. 15 minutes of work to accomplish nothing as it looked the same. So his jv pitcher takes the field and throws 1 pitch and turns to the dugout and says "coach, what's this?" and cant throw out of the mud. Couldnt get her cleats cleaned. I thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

My question is do umpires typically factor in the rubber height when calling an illegal pitch? I often have umps talk to me about being parallel to the ground and they dont call that illegal.
 
Oct 11, 2010
8,337
113
Chicago, IL
Better example would be when there is a huge hole in front of plate, pitcher's foot is allowed to be in air to go over hole.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
This is another example of why enforcing the "leap" rules under the current regulations is a joke because you can leap off the ground if there is a hole in front of the rubber (which happens more often than not). What umpire is going to get his face at ground level to see if she is in fact leaping no higher than the level of the ground had the hole not been there???
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
It is a judgement call. No different than that strike zone thing. If it looks like she is doing then call it. Don't have to be perfect, just make the call and be consistent.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
It is a judgement call. No different than that strike zone thing. If it looks like she is doing then call it. Don't have to be perfect, just make the call and be consistent.

That's the problem, they can't see it (especially the way the rule is written "can leap the level of the ground if no hole was there") so they won't call it. The strike zone is a few feet from the umpire, the pitching plate is 43 feet away...big difference. Same issue with the replant and "second impetus". Most leap and replant is more subtle than say KB and much harder to definitively make the judgment call.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
That's the problem, they can't see it (especially the way the rule is written "can leap the level of the ground if no hole was there") so they won't call it. The strike zone is a few feet from the umpire, the pitching plate is 43 feet away...big difference. Same issue with the replant and "second impetus". Most leap and replant is more subtle than say KB and much harder to definitively make the judgment call.

There is always an excuse not to call an IP. It is not an impossible task. If you know what to look for you can spot it from the next field over. The hole makes it easier, not harder to make the call. If it looks like a leap, it is. Make the call. If people do not like it they can organize a work party, get some clay and fix it. People need to quit whining, making excuses and just follow the rules of the game.
 
Last edited:
Jun 11, 2013
2,619
113
The whole illegal pitch thing is the worst thing about softball. In baseball you have guys pitching from all sides of the rubber, sidearm, 3 quarters,etc. Let's move the mound back a foot and allow crow hopping or whatever it takes to keep that crap out of the game. Get rid of all the presentation rules and just play the game.

Hawkeyes, next time DD pitches take some video and show the group and they'll tell you if she is illegal or not. I assure you every time you play this team in the future they
will be calling for it every single pitch.
 

Top_Notch

Screwball
Dec 18, 2014
512
63
If a pitcher is leaping she's turning potential forward momentum into vertical momentum so mine as well keep your mouth shut. It's to the pitcher's disadvantage IMO.

Aside, played a State tournament this last weekend and in the 1/4 finals the opposing pitcher crow-hopped (bad). It was mentioned to the umpire, and he agreed, but nothing was called or done about it. To go with her terrible form - she wasn't overpowering or on command, so again, it was to our benefit (or at least not to our detriment other than adjusting to the timing of the pitches due to the replant). Our team let it go and scored off her but our defense let us down and we ended up losing.

So, I have to agree with Hawkeyes, worry about coaching your own team and keep your mouth shut.
 
Feb 17, 2014
7,152
113
Orlando, FL
The whole illegal pitch thing is the worst thing about softball. In baseball you have guys pitching from all sides of the rubber, sidearm, 3 quarters,etc. Let's move the mound back a foot and allow crow hopping or whatever it takes to keep that crap out of the game. Get rid of all the presentation rules and just play the game.

Hawkeyes, next time DD pitches take some video and show the group and they'll tell you if she is illegal or not. I assure you every time you play this team in the future they
will be calling for it every single pitch.

The mens game is all but gone. So let's model the womens game after the mens game so they can fade into obscurity together! Why not make it real simple and just let them throw overhand? If you are going to bastardize the game, might as well go all in. :)
 

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