Fell Victim to the Chinese Change Up

Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch

Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,312
113
Florida
But they did not call the pitch illegal. I was there and saw it happen. Our batter was out as it was the third strike. And I saw her pitch it the day before. Why wasn't it called illegal then?

Because weird situations in the rules that no one sees regularly are not often in your weekend amateur umpires knowledge base. The vast majority of people in the game (players, coaches, umpires, parents, etc) don't hang around in forums such as this or do research and study etc, etc...

So in the end, the same reason your coach didn't protest and get the UIC over to make a ruling.
 
Aug 19, 2015
1,118
113
Atlanta, GA
And that TikTok is exactly what it looked like. From the front, it looked like it was going to hit the ground like it was a mistake. It is definitely designed to deceive. I'm just confused as to how she's been able to pitch it so many times. Read the news Article I posted; she mentions it there.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
And that TikTok is exactly what it looked like. From the front, it looked like it was going to hit the ground like it was a mistake. It is definitely designed to deceive. I'm just confused as to how she's been able to pitch it so many times. Read the news Article I posted; she mentions it there.

As @marriard said, weekend umpires and rarity. Though it will become more common since the interwebs are publishing it with incorrect information on why it is "legal". It will also be called more since umpiring resources are calling attention to it.

Also, like @McKeister1 pointed out, it isn't easy to immediately recognize when seeing it in real life. I showed the video to several umpires who didn't see it because they weren't looking for it. Once you point it out, slow it down, etc. it becomes obvious. But when it it the 200th pitch you are seeing coming at you on a 90 degree day ... I would imagine most people, including umpires, might recognize "there was something odd there" but wouldn't be able to say what it was when it happened.

When researching the legality or illegality of something, a common trap people fall into (even me!) is to read one rule and call it good. That is what is happening here. People claiming it is legal read the rule about pre-release motions, but did not continue to read about post-release motions.
 
Apr 12, 2015
792
93
But they did not call the pitch illegal. I was there and saw it happen. Our batter was out as it was the third strike. And I saw her pitch it the day before. Why wasn't it called illegal then?

Because the umpires didn't know the rules and the coaches didn't know enough to protest it.

That isn't even close to legal under any ruleset.
 
Sep 29, 2014
2,421
113
Hard to tell but it does not look like she pass her hip again or continues past a normal slingshot follow through looking legal from here...this is just a slingshot pitch...at first glance anyway
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
42,830
Messages
679,481
Members
21,445
Latest member
Bmac81802
Top