Crowhopping, Barnhill, and Confessions of an Umpire

[jryan15]

The problem is enforcement, not the rule.

Meanwhile, girls who follow the rules continue to lose spots and scholarships to players who replant. A friend's DD was recently granted a scholarship at a local D1. She clearly replants every pitch. How is it that she has been allowed to continue through the years of gold level ball and now into college as a replanter? The umps refuse to force these girls to comply (thanks OP for your honesty, I completely understand)... The problem has only got worse and will continue as Barnhill becomes a role model and a standard to many more youth and PC's.

Aside from replanting, you have Monica Abbott and a zillion other college pitchers allowing there drive plant to separate from the rubber before pushing off. Is this an acceptable rule to look over? My kid occassionally does the same thing and gets called for it instantly. Again another selectively enforced rule. It seems as if you are a very high caliber player you get the extra advantage of being able to "two step" and/or replant, but if you are playing B / low A level ball, you HAVE to comply with the rules.

It has gone on too long and is too deep to rewind. I'm sick of watching HS coaches spend countless innings complaining to umpires just to try and get a timely IP call to screw up some average pitcher just to gain a small hitting advantage (or advance runners) while she recalibrates.

For crying out loud just change the rule and we can all just move on! High level players can keep cheating and low level players can stop paying the price.

This is not a new problem. The administering associations should be ashamed of themselves for letting this go on so long.

 

[riseball]

Meanwhile, girls who follow the rules continue to lose spots and scholarships to players who replant. A friend's DD was recently granted a scholarship at a local D1. She clearly replants every pitch. How is it that she has been allowed to continue through the years of gold level ball and now into college as a replanter? The umps refuse to force these girls to comply (thanks OP for your honesty, I completely understand)... The problem has only got worse and will continue as Barnhill becomes a role model and a standard to many more youth and PC's.

Aside from replanting, you have Monica Abbott and a zillion other college pitchers allowing there drive plant to separate from the rubber before pushing off. Is this an acceptable rule to look over? My kid occassionally does the same thing and gets called for it instantly. Again another selectively enforced rule. It seems as if you are a very high caliber player you get the extra advantage of being able to "two step" and/or replant, but if you are playing B / low A level ball, you HAVE to comply with the rules.

It has gone on too long and is too deep to rewind. I'm sick of watching HS coaches spend countless innings complaining to umpires just to try and get a timely IP call to screw up some average pitcher just to gain a small hitting advantage (or advance runners) while she recalibrates.

For crying out loud just change the rule and we can all just move on! High level players can keep cheating and low level players can stop paying the price.

This is not a new problem. The administering associations should be ashamed of themselves for letting this go on so long.

Ok, so they change the rule and you mitigate the symptom. So what is your plan to fix the actual problem?

Will you change the rule down so slappers are not held accountable for their footwork? After all that rule is largely ignored.

What about the ongoing recruiting violations that never see the light of day? Do you advocate changing those rules?

The list is long and only getting longer.

 

[jryan15]

Ok, so they change the rule and you mitigate the symptom. So what is your plan to fix the actual problem?

Will you change the rule down so slappers are not held accountable for their footwork? After all that rule is largely ignored.

What about the ongoing recruiting violations that never see the light of day? Do you advocate changing those rules?

The list is long and only getting longer.

I guess my point is that this particular problem rests more with the rules committee for specifying a rule that is too difficult to enforce properly and consistently.

FWIW I hate the rule breaking that you've mention, A LOT. But more so I disdain the rules committees for letting an entire generation of cheaters propagate through the system. The fact that the top collegieate pitcher and the highest paid professional pitchers both regularly break the rules is disgusting.

I would hope the rules committee would to a full self-examination. Why was the rule implemented? What purpose did it serve? Was it necessary? Was it successful? Did it lead to derivative problems? Were other rules created or adapted as a result? How has the rule affected the game?

 

[Rocketech1]

I guess my point is that this particular problem rests more with the rules committee for specifying a rule that is too difficult to enforce properly and consistently.

FWIW I hate the rule breaking that you've mention, A LOT. But more so I disdain the rules committees for letting an entire generation of cheaters propagate through the system. The fact that the top collegieate pitcher and the highest paid professional pitchers both regularly break the rules is disgusting.

I would hope the rules committee would to a full self-examination. Why was the rule implemented? What purpose did it serve? Was it necessary? Was it successful? Did it lead to derivative problems? Were other rules created or adapted as a result? How has the rule affected the game?

I think you bring up some very good questions that should be asked and evaluated. Just maybe it was a bad pitching requirement that has little to no useful value to the game.....difficult for most pitchers to comply on every pitch and close to impossible to enforce, especially when most games at the lower levels have 1 umpire.

 

[riseball]

Ok, so they change the rule and you mitigate the symptom. So what is your plan to fix the actual problem?

Will you change the rule down so slappers are not held accountable for their footwork? After all that rule is largely ignored.

What about the ongoing recruiting violations that never see the light of day? Do you advocate changing those rules?

The list is long and only getting longer.

I guess my point is that this particular problem rests more with the rules committee for specifying a rule that is too difficult to enforce properly and consistently.

FWIW I hate the rule breaking that you've mention, A LOT. But more so I disdain the rules committees for letting an entire generation of cheaters propagate through the system. The fact that the top collegieate pitcher and the highest paid professional pitchers both regularly break the rules is disgusting.

I would hope the rules committee would to a full self-examination. Why was the rule implemented? What purpose did it serve? Was it necessary? Was it successful? Did it lead to derivative problems? Were other rules created or adapted as a result? How has the rule affected the game?

Again, what is your plan to fix the actual problem? Are you suggesting we just kick the can down the road?

What about holding slappers accountable for their footwork? That is actually a bigger issue with a larger impact on the game. Kick that one down the road also?

What about the ongoing recruiting violations that never see the light of day? Do you advocate changing those rules? Or do we continue to look the other way?

At what point do you say enough and enforce the rules of the game? Or are they all negotiable?

 

[Greenmonsters]

Building a wall to keep slappers in the box might work

 

[jryan15]

Again, what is your plan to fix the actual problem? Are you suggesting we just kick the can down the road?

What about holding slappers accountable for their footwork? That is actually a bigger issue with a larger impact on the game. Kick that one down the road also?

What about the ongoing recruiting violations that never see the light of day? Do you advocate changing those rules? Or do we continue to look the other way?

At what point do you say enough and enforce the rules of the game? Or are they all negotiable?

As I stated, I think the first step is to re-evaluate the rule(s). If upon further review the rules are found to not be merrited or necessary, once eliminated or replaced, the problem is resolved. The other rules that you bring up are different situations and IMO some do deserve the same reconsideration that I've mentioned about the pitching rules. However I think that adding rule upon rule starts to take away from the game. They add complexity, confusion, anger, jealousy, and lots of other emotions that should be left primarily for game play.

 

[jryan15]

Building a wall to keep slappers in the box might work

Lol, I like the idea of a short one that they'd trip over .

 

[sluggers]

The enforcement problem is that usually are only two umpires on the field during the regular season. When the playoffs start, and the number of umpires increases, the IPs increase.

My proposal to fix the problem: Allow leaping, but keep the ban on crow hopping (i.e., replanting). Then, tell the umpires to enforce it.

 

[knightsb]