How Many Bats in the Bag?

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May 6, 2015
2,397
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DD is catcher, so the whole shoes riding on bats is not a thing for her. she currently has 4 bats in her bag

31/21 LXT 2018 (generally used for cage work)
32/22 Ghost (not certain if it is considered 2019 or 2020, finally shipped this past July)
33/22 Easton (at least 3 years old), older DDs last bat, there just waiting to be next cage bat
30/17 aluminum for when it is too cold for composites (had this several years now, not certain brand or model, black with green lettering)
 
Feb 26, 2018
328
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Two, her 32/22 Prism and her 32/22 CFX. CFX is for sale since she hasn't touched it since she got her Prism in June.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Two identical bats. Because dd swings a bat that I can’t go to any old sporting goods store and buy one if she breaks it. For years, both dd’s often had one bat, and it was their cold weather, practice, machine ball, game bat. Oh No! Dimple balls! The HUMANITY! DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT? BUT THE WARRANTY!!! 50 DEGREES!!!!

Bats are sticks designed to hit hard objects moving at high velocity. They break sometimes. Yet they are hardly as fragile as everyone makes them out to be. You bought it so your kid will have the best chance to succeed. It doesn’t do her any good in the bag. Let it rip.

If/when dd swung -10’s, she always had one bat. If I got a chance to add a replacement bat that was identical, I did it. But honestly, even with 2 identical bats, what I see is players using one bat all the time because they “like” one bat more than the others.

It gives me absolute FITS to see a kid practice or warm up with a different size/weight/style bat.

People, your kid needs to adjust to the pitcher. Don’t do it with the bat. Its the wrong mindset. And it comes from the parent. Think about the message you are sending! “Suzy that pitcher is SO GOOD that you don’t have a prayer unless you switch to a bat you can swing faster”.

When you buy a bat, first of all, buy the right size for RIGHT NOW. Buy it with a Visa/MC that automatically doubles the manufacturer warranty. Put the receipt for the bat and the credit card statement for that purchase in a big Manila envelope with all of the important papers that you keep in that special safe place. Hit it like you stole it. She might break it. The world will not end.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
Must have at least 2. Cleats ride on the bats on the way to and from the park. Crocs ride on them otherwise!! DD always wants 2 because of this. If it is u-trip, we take the blue ghost out and put in a smaller LXT, just to put shoes on.

That is both my joke and my point ...

As a favor to the umpires ... if you are playing a tournament/game where they are checking equipment, please ... PLEASE ... only put out bats you are going to use. Keep the rest of them out of the dugout or, better yet, in the car.

If it is in your dugout, I have to check it. If it doesn’t pass, I have to take the prescribed actions for that tournament/complex. If you KNOW it isn’t going to be used, don’t waste time (yours and ours) having us check your shoe-hangers.
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
43
That is both my joke and my point ...

As a favor to the umpires ... if you are playing a tournament/game where they are checking equipment, please ... PLEASE ... only put out bats you are going to use. Keep the rest of them out of the dugout or, better yet, in the car.

If it is in your dugout, I have to check it. If it doesn’t pass, I have to take the prescribed actions for that tournament/complex. If you KNOW it isn’t going to be used, don’t waste time (yours and ours) having us check your shoe-hangers.

As a favor to the umpires, we took the ghost out and replaced it with a usssa legal bat. It's an LXT. Newer model. Just smaller than her gamer. It is being used. It's keeping me from buying more shoes when the are lost. Whether it is being used to carry shoes or to hit should not be of concern to the umpires.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
As a favor to the umpires, we took the ghost out and replaced it with a usssa legal bat. It's an LXT. Newer model. Just smaller than her gamer. It is being used. It's keeping me from buying more shoes when the are lost. Whether it is being used to carry shoes or to hit should not be of concern to the umpires.

Sorry if you misunderstood my intent ... I don’t care what you do with it. But if it is illegal for hitting balls, I have to do something since you brought it in the dugout. It doesn’t matter why you brought it in or what you tell me it is being used for.

I completely disagree with the notion of umpires doing equipment checks and wish every sanction would do away with it. However, there are places we are required to do it.

When we approach a dugout with 30 bats sitting in front of it and another 8 still in players’s bags ... When your game is 10 minutes late starting because of that ... When we have a garbage can stuffed full of bats (which nobody was ever going to use) in “bat jail” bats for teams to pick up later ... why? Why are we wasting this time?

Maybe it’s just a personal rant on my part because I am against having to touch a piece of your equipment and tell everybody that I deem it to be safe and adequate (with no training or qualification to do so).
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
43
I agree that you shouldn't be the one responsible for the check. Directors should either have someone checking as teams come in or not check them at all. Caught using an illegal bat, kid and coach is gone from the tournament. We shouldn't need to have bats policed by umpires before every game.
 
May 29, 2015
3,731
113
I agree that you shouldn't be the one responsible for the check. Directors should either have someone checking as teams come in or not check them at all. Caught using an illegal bat, kid and coach is gone from the tournament. We shouldn't need to have bats policed by umpires before every game.

I like the “check it at the door” policy. Unfortunately, some sanctioning bodies require umpires to do it on the field.

USA Softball does and makes it a point of emphasis around here.

NFHS softball required it for one or two years, then took it back out. As soon as they did that here, IESA baseball (middle school in Illinois, not high school) issued a memo instructing is to check.
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
43
I umpired for a few years after college. Everything from pitching machine baseball and softball to some high school playoffs in baseball and softball. Had to check bats before the game. Always thought that should be the coach's responsibility. If caught using something illegal, player and coach should be gone. Umpires have enough to deal with without being asked to check bats. Next will be the helmets. Then facemasks?? Saw where high school catchers in baseball are going to have to have tested chest protection. I believe evoshield is marketing something. Will they have to pull their shirt up and show the umpire?
 
May 6, 2015
2,397
113
Two identical bats. Because dd swings a bat that I can’t go to any old sporting goods store and buy one if she breaks it. For years, both dd’s often had one bat, and it was their cold weather, practice, machine ball, game bat. Oh No! Dimple balls! The HUMANITY! DID HE REALLY JUST SAY THAT? BUT THE WARRANTY!!! 50 DEGREES!!!!

Bats are sticks designed to hit hard objects moving at high velocity. They break sometimes. Yet they are hardly as fragile as everyone makes them out to be. You bought it so your kid will have the best chance to succeed. It doesn’t do her any good in the bag. Let it rip.

If/when dd swung -10’s, she always had one bat. If I got a chance to add a replacement bat that was identical, I did it. But honestly, even with 2 identical bats, what I see is players using one bat all the time because they “like” one bat more than the others.

It gives me absolute FITS to see a kid practice or warm up with a different size/weight/style bat.

People, your kid needs to adjust to the pitcher. Don’t do it with the bat. Its the wrong mindset. And it comes from the parent. Think about the message you are sending! “Suzy that pitcher is SO GOOD that you don’t have a prayer unless you switch to a bat you can swing faster”.

When you buy a bat, first of all, buy the right size for RIGHT NOW. Buy it with a Visa/MC that automatically doubles the manufacturer warranty. Put the receipt for the bat and the credit card statement for that purchase in a big Manila envelope with all of the important papers that you keep in that special safe place. Hit it like you stole it. She might break it. The world will not end.

DD only uses a different bat for cage because dimple balls are different, and a composite bat does only have a certain number of hits before it will start to deaden. I wish I could afford two identical bats each time she moves up, just not financially possible. so for dimple balls in cage, it is a different bat. otherwise, only if too cold for composite does she use something else. and I do not buy a bat unless it is for all sanctions, period, so I know she will never have an illegal bat (might get tossed if crack or other defect detected, but that is all).
 

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