Crowhopping, Barnhill, and Confessions of an Umpire

[Greenmonsters]

Is there anyone that believes this is NOT a replant?

Wait, this isn't a video clip of the winner of the NCAA triple jump finals?!

 

[Rocketech1]

Its not too difficult to enforce. The Blue needs to call it when they see it. Are they not trained high level umpires? Im a low life SB dad and can see an illegal replant.


The idea of the rule was to limit what the pitcher can do with her mechanics. It was designed to keep the competition more level between offense and defense. I dont feel its out dated.

Imo its opening a can o worms to eliminate the rule. Just enforce the rule thats there.

Had a co worker call out my boss one day because he was making rules for rules he already had but didn't enforce so he had to make more new rules.... boss wasnt happy being called out but once he enforced the current rules, he didnt need to make new ones.

To me it seems very simple. Enforce the rules for all across each conference, as they are written.

Most illegal leaping is more subtle than Barnhills' leap, but still illegal. When DD was younger and played rec/all-stars from 8U - 12U the majority of the time they only had 1 umpire, who has to watch for balls/strikes; runners leaving base early, etc. Unless a pitcher is really leaping sideways like Barnhill, very difficult to make the call that the pitcher has illegally "leaped" Combine that with the rule that leaping is ok when a hole is in front of home plate as long as you drag the level of the ground, etc. and you see why it is rarely called and inconsistently enforced. That little bit of leaping becomes ingrained in these young pitchers and they continue to pitch that way as "no harm, no foul". I truly believe that almost all pitchers who leap, are doing it on accident as the process of dragging the foot along the ground is about as unnatural of a move in athletics as there is. If it was more efficient and natural, you would hardly ever see a leaper in the circle. But some form of leaping has reached epidemic proportions in the softball pitching world, at all levels from youth to adult. There is more to this issue that just a few select pitchers purposely cheating to gain an advantage...it's just too wide spread and systemic to be a few pitchers going rogue...

The other bolded point, rules in sports change all of the time to give or takeaway an advantage for the offense or defense. Case in point. At one time, pitchers could only sling shot. Taking a step or leaping was illegal. Batters were at an advantage so they gave some advantage back to pitchers to allow a step, then a windmill, and eventually a leap and drag. It's time to progress to the next logical move which is allow for the leap (like the men's game) especially as the technology of the bats and better conditioned athletes have made the game disproportionately in favor of the offense with more runs and a smaller strike zone. Lastly, you have the governing bodies unfairly not enforcing the rules, and it puts the pitchers who drag properly at a disadvantage. Allowing leaping for everyone will solve at least one of the problems with this broken game.

Maybe I'm just more practical than some of the purists around here.......but its just a game...if the rules are not working properly for the game...then reevalute their efficacy...

 

[4 girl's dad]

The rules enforcers are not working properly. The rules are fine.

 

[riseball]

Throughout softball history there have been illegal pitchers. However, Barhill, Carlson, and others have taken this to an extreme. They are not pitchers who happen to be illegal. Rather they are illegal by design in order to gain a competitive advantage. It is important to understand this difference. As I have said before comparing a pitcher who happens to be illegal with Barnhill or Carlson is like comparing a jaywalker to a serial killer. Unfortunately some people have character flaws and see nothing wrong with intentionally cheating and working outside the rules. If you do not consistently enforce the rules these type of people will attempt to get away with anything possible and their behavior becomes more and more egregious. It is the old adage of give them an inch and they will take a mile. That is what has happened in college fastpitch softball. I saw Barnhills first start as a Freshman and she was very close to legal. Now embolden by the lack of enforcement her behavior is beyond the pale. She is illegal on every pitch almost daring an umpire to make a call.

IP's are like speeding on the interstate. You do not need to catch every one, just enough to provide an incentive to modify human behavior. If you are actively calling some IP's very few IP's will occur. If you do not call any IP's then it becomes pervasive. If you only called a small percentage of the IP's pitchers would adjust immediately and would compete within the rules. I have no doubt that if at the onset of the SEC tournament umpires started doing their job and enforcing the rules, pitchers like Barhill and Carlson would adjust and there would be very little illegal pitching. Best of all it would level the playing field and restore a small amount of much needed integrity to the game.

 

[DNeeld]

and shes outside the pitching lane to boot.

But she jumps back in at the end. That makes it all good, right?

 

[grcsftbll]

I wonder what her pitching lessons were like.

 

[FastPitchCat]

Throughout softball history there have been illegal pitchers. However, Barhill, Carlson, and others have taken this to an extreme. They are not pitchers who happen to be illegal. Rather they are illegal by design in order to gain a competitive advantage. It is important to understand this difference. As I have said before comparing a pitcher who happens to be illegal with Barnhill or Carlson is like comparing a jaywalker to a serial killer. Unfortunately some people have character flaws and see nothing wrong with intentionally cheating and working outside the rules. If you do not consistently enforce the rules these type of people will attempt to get away with anything possible and their behavior becomes more and more egregious. It is the old adage of give them an inch and they will take a mile. That is what has happened in college fastpitch softball. I saw Barnhills first start as a Freshman and she was very close to legal. Now embolden by the lack of enforcement her behavior is beyond the pale. She is illegal on every pitch almost daring an umpire to make a call.

IP's are like speeding on the interstate. You do not need to catch every one, just enough to provide an incentive to modify human behavior. If you are actively calling some IP's very few IP's will occur. If you do not call any IP's then it becomes pervasive. If you only called a small percentage of the IP's pitchers would adjust immediately and would compete within the rules. I have no doubt that if at the onset of the SEC tournament umpires started doing their job and enforcing the rules, pitchers like Barhill and Carlson would adjust and there would be very little illegal pitching. Best of all it would level the playing field and restore a small amount of much needed integrity to the game.

remember Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry bonds HR chase? Sure, barry beat everyone, but he claimed he "didn't know" what he was taking was steroids.
it's against the rules, but he took them anyway. or should we just legalize steroid use so all athletes will be come superhuman?

do you think that Barnhill, Carlson, Silkwood et. al don't know that they pitch illegally? sure they do, but they do it anyway. no one to stop them. not parents, not coaches, not even blue.

the worst part about it is they're being glorified. that's an example i don't want to pass on to my DD.

 

[Rocketech1]

remember Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry bonds HR chase? Sure, barry beat everyone, but he claimed he "didn't know" what he was taking was steroids.
it's against the rules, but he took them anyway. or should we just legalize steroid use so all athletes will be come superhuman?

do you think that Barnhill, Carlson, Silkwood et. al don't know that they pitch illegally? sure they do, but they do it anyway. no one to stop them. not parents, not coaches, not even blue.

the worst part about it is they're being glorified. that's an example i don't want to pass on to my DD.

Very strange analogy.

PED Use = congressional hearings, federal grand jury indictments, banned from baseball, banned from Hall of Fame, season long suspensions, loss of $millions, even jail time

Crowhop = a ball is awarded to the batter

Maybe we need Congress to investigate fastpitch pitchers........

 

[riseball]

Actually [MENTION=9657]FastPitchCat[/MENTION] provides a great analogy. A cheat is a cheat and should never be glorified. If there was as much money at stake as there is in MLB or even College Football there would be all kinds of investigations.

The last desperate hope of and enabler is to minimize the impact.

It is only a game.
It is harmless.
It does not provide a competitive advantage.
Everyone is doing it.
It is an obsolete rule.

The list of rationalization goes on and on.

 

[Rocketech1]

Actually [MENTION=9657]FastPitchCat[/MENTION] provides a great analogy. A cheat is a cheat and should never be glorified. If there was as much money at stake as there is in MLB or even College Football there would be all kinds of investigations.

Not even close. All they would do is call an IP every pitch. No fastpitch pitchers are going to jail or a threat of indictment because their pivot foot is coming off the ground 2 inches. Let's put this "crime" into perspective for a minute....