Resin Bag

[SouthernGirls]

DD pitching on 12u fall ball team takes her resin bag with her to the pitching circle. Umpire says nothing to her during her pitching. After the third out of the inning DD picks up her resin bag and brings it into the dugout with her. Plate umpire comes over to our coaches at the fence and says that she can not take her resin bag off the field because it is an "unfair advantage for her to use it and not leave it there for the other team to use it also". Umpire states that "it becomes part of the field once it is in the pitching circle and can not be removed during the game." Is this a rule in NSA?

 

[Coach Al]

Sounds like he made up a rule. Couldn't find anything but the usual one for the pitcher may use powered resin to dry hands. Interested in what other people have to say.

 

[Lozza]

What a load of crap. Do I need to lend brand new DeMarini bat to the other team because it's better than their old Black Max? No.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

In baseball, the rosin bag must be left on the field.

 

[Coach JV]

Bretman? Sounds like a load of HOOIE to me

 

[BretMan]

As screwy as this ruling sounds, it's not the first time I've heard of an umpire trying to enforce this "rule"- or had a coach try to get one to enforce it.

Chalk this one up as a "rule myth"- one of those "rules" that, no matter how wrong it is, gets repeated enough that some people somewhere think it's an actual rule. As with other rule myths, there might be some tiny grain of truth behind it, but the actual rule is being misinterpreted.

Yes, some rule books will go so far as to state that the resin bag must be left on the ground. That seems to be incorrectly interpreted as meaning "throughout the entire game, for both pitchers to use". That simply isn't the case. That rule means that the pitcher actually using it during that half-inning must leave it on the ground while she is pitching. There's no requirement for her to share it with the other team and once the half-inning ends she may take it with her to her dugout.

Yes, the resin bag lying on the field is treated as "part of the playing field", with respect to the rules covering loose equipment on the playing field and equipment on the field not being used in the game. It's the same distinction as the bat the batter just used to hit the ball lying on the field (it's part of the playing field) versus bats lying out in front of the dugout or in the on-deck circle (equipment not being used in the game) when it comes to a live ball contacting them. Again, that does not mean that the resin bag has to remain where it is for the entire game.

So, you do have a couple of rules that cover the use of the resin bag, but those rules are not interpreted the way this umpire thinks they are. This is the classic recipe for concocting a rule myth! Start out with a couple of rules that kind of fit the situation, add a few people misinterpreting those rules, have some umpires call it the wrong way a few times in a game, then mix in a dash of "word of mouth" and a rule myth is born!

 

[starsnuffer]

It's not a real rule, but which is the more offensive behavior, having the head coach take up valuable game time and stir emotions in an argument over a rosin bag or just saying "okay blue" and leaving the damn thing in the circle?

-W

 

[SouthernGirls]

To BretMan thank you for the explanation to the rules.

 

[SouthernGirls]

To starsnuffer there was no argument at all. DD left the bag in the circle and the game went on. But she did want to know after the game why she had to leave it there since she has always been taught to bring it off the field with her. I was just trying to get some explanation and see if we all had missed something along the way.

 

[Goobie]

It's not a real rule, but which is the more offensive behavior, having the head coach take up valuable game time and stir emotions in an argument over a rosin bag or just saying "okay blue" and leaving the damn thing in the circle?-W

In baseball the mound is raised and the rosin bag is usually left "behind the bump" so the chance of a grounder hitting it is minimized. In softball there is no mound. Personally I wouldn't want another team's rosin bag left inside the circle. One less thing to create a bad hop for my infield... so yes I would probably argue to have it removed.

One other issue, since only specific rosin bags are allowed by the rules, if the pitcher brings it back to the dugout and back out to the circle each inning, does the ump now have to check it each and every inning to make certain it is still a legal rosin bag?