I don't Get It

[Umpire in Chief]

I'm not a fan of the check, but since were told to do it, I'll do it

I agree that the responsibility should be off of us as soon as we ask if the players are legally, properly & safely equipped.

A umpire's place is not in the dugouts, and there is a reason why the NCAA stopped sending us into the dugouts; we don't belong there.

Regardless of my opinion I'm going to do as I'm told in the situation.

[HokieUmp]

Regardless of my opinion I'm going to do as I'm told in the situation.

Of course, as we're in the same association, I don't disagree.

But it still stinks, and it took just 4 innings this year to prove the point I made earlier in the thread - players and coaches lie, almost without fail. First game of the season, at [school redacted]. My partner and I, as a team, check all the bats that are lined up on the fence - thankfully, the schools must have 'gotten the memo,' so we didn't have to go hunting. All the bats THAT WE SAW were fine.

Until the 4th. Home batter hits a ball that sounded wonky, and made it to first. My partner looks at the bat, and calls me in. The kid starts protesting it's part composite, part aluminum. Thing is, the stupid damn bat only said "Composite" on it, and we weren't fans of the way the barrel felt when we rapped against it***. Our boy was about to get the Virginia Hammer O' Doomâ„¢ - aka, VHOD - dropped on him when the opposing coach pointed to the phrase "Half + Half" on the barrel, AND my partner noticed a chip near the top. The area surrounding the chipped spot looked to be metallic, so that help us determine it was fine. At the same time, though, that chip gave us 'the out' to make sure the bat stayed out of the game.

Opposing coach just wanted an out, minus the other parts of the VHOD - ejection and 2-game suspension - until we determined it was an aluminum/alloy barrel. Home coach wasn't happy, but not for what you'd think - he was pissed the kid put the bat in there, because "I told to get their bats out there."

My point? Guess which bat WASN'T lined up by the dugout prior to the game. That very bat, and we know, because neither of us recognized the design.

So yes, they lie and cheat.

(Sidebar - in case you're wondering why we were worried about the bat being composite. Virginia decided to cut through some of the bullcrap - "this bat is good this year; that bat isn't UNTIL next year; these bats are actually illegal, but the company paid us enough under the table to give them waivers; etc, etc. - and declared that composite bats are only good if they have BBCOR on them. Since the bat in my story clearly had a BESR stamp on it, it was now up to us to figure out the barrel composition.)

***For those of you who can tell much more easily than I the difference between an aluminum/alloy barrel and a composite one, feel free to PM your alchemy to me. Or, as the latest phrase to sweep the forum states: Show Your Work.

[mstaylor]

Half and half bats mean they are half composite and half alloy. Every one I have seen says composite on the handle. They would be legal.