" Thumb Rings"

[Guest Fatcity]

Franklin Shok-Sorbs:  this product is advertised to reduce sting to the batter's hands and IMPROVE GRIP............. this does not sound kosher.  Does Fed have any

specific comments regarding this device?  Thanks

[ElkOil]

7 minutes ago, Guest Fatcity said:

Franklin Shok-Sorbs:  this product is advertised to reduce sting to the batter's hands and IMPROVE GRIP............. this does not sound kosher.  Does Fed have any

specific comments regarding this device?  Thanks

No.

The thinking behind these, from what I've read in the past, is that the rings alter how the bat sets in the batter's hands, moving them into a more preferable position, thus improving THE grip -- while not necessarily improving GRIP, or how well the bat stays in the hands... and reducing shock. I don't recall ever seeing a HS player use them now that you mention it.

[Richvee]

Applicable rule would be 1-3-2a(2)

a. Each legal wood, aluminum or composite bat shall:....

....2. Not have exposed attachments, rivets, pins, rough or sharp edges or any form of exterior fastener that would present a potential hazard.

 

We were told at our pre season interpretation meeting to not allow the bat speed readers like these attached to the bat. This would be considered a potential hazard.

I don't see a rubber ring on a thumb as a potential hazard. 

[Tborze]

Like this?

http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/2018 Baseball Bulletin II(1).pdf

Never heard of a thumb ring. Must mean it's legal. 

[maven]

41 minutes ago, Tborze said:

Never heard of a thumb ring. Must mean it's legal. 

That's the opposite of the logic you want: FED requires new equipment to be approved before it's legal.

1-5-11: "Non-traditional playing equipment must be reviewed by the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee before it will be permitted to be used."

Until FED rules on these, they're illegal for FED baseball. AFAIK, FED has not ruled on them.

[umpstu]

After looking at a picture of one it looks like something catchers have been wearing on their catching thumb for years.

[Richvee]

45 minutes ago, maven said:

That's the opposite of the logic you want: FED requires new equipment to be approved before it's legal.

1-5-11: "Non-traditional playing equipment must be reviewed by the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee before it will be permitted to be used."

Until FED rules on these, they're illegal for FED baseball. AFAIK, FED has not ruled on them.

I can counter with 1-5-10

Any questions regarding legality of a player's equipment shall be resolved by the umpire-in-chief.

[ElkOil]

1 hour ago, maven said:

That's the opposite of the logic you want: FED requires new equipment to be approved before it's legal.

1-5-11: "Non-traditional playing equipment must be reviewed by the NFHS Baseball Rules Committee before it will be permitted to be used."

Until FED rules on these, they're illegal for FED baseball. AFAIK, FED has not ruled on them.

So is the definition of what's non-traditional up to the umpire? I've seen loads of players at other levels wear the thumb things. Seems pretty traditional by now. Like sweat bands.

This isn't something I'd care to make an issue out of on the field.

[maven]

7 hours ago, ElkOil said:

So is the definition of what's non-traditional up to the umpire? I've seen loads of players at other levels wear the thumb things. Seems pretty traditional by now. Like sweat bands.

This isn't something I'd care to make an issue out of on the field.

One approach to delimiting 'traditional' would be to give it a time frame, one sufficient for FED (which is slow) to rule on it. Five years? Something like that.

I've never seen them on the field, but you may work more games and levels than I.

[maven]

8 hours ago, Richvee said:

I can counter with 1-5-10

Any questions regarding legality of a player's equipment shall be resolved by the umpire-in-chief.

Prohibitions always trump permissions in cases of conflict.

However, given 1-5-11, there should be no question here for the UIC to resolve, and so no conflict between rules.

And, in general, FED did not intend this rule to promote UIC's above themselves to rule on equipment safety.

[MadMax]

14 hours ago, Guest Fatcity said:

Franklin Shok-Sorbs:  this product is advertised to reduce sting to the batter's hands and IMPROVE GRIP............. this does not sound kosher.  Does Fed have any

specific comments regarding this device?  Thanks

Oh good grief. Why would they not be "kosher"?

Let's show what these potentially egregious little devils look like...

These have been around for quite some time, in one form or another. In my day, we made our own out of kitchen sponges. These "hand buzzer" killers are no different than these:

... for use by fielders (what fielder needs one of these?? wimps) and catchers (oh yes please, thankyouverymuch!). These "thumb rings" DO NOT ATTACH TO THE BAT, thus, they don't make the bat illegal. These rubber rings are accomplishing what batting gloves fall short in doing – dampening vibration. Oh sure, there are batting gloves that have padding in them, but at the cost of reduced feel, grip, and transfer of power through the hands to the bat. And last I checked, the Fed doesn't have a (s)hitlist of illegal batting gloves.

What 1-5-11 is prohibiting is the use of one of these attachable devices:

Obviously, there are safety concerns about an item attached to a bat, but combined with that (and not exclusive or separate) is the purpose these devices serve. If there's a rubber ring on the knob of the bat so as to dampen the vibration, who cares? If there's a silicone and circuitry collar on the knob of the bat so as to relay bat telemetry... now we're cracking the lid on Pandora's Box (at least how it relates to sports in-competition). Do we allow ear pieces (non hearing aid) to be worn by catchers? Do we allow the 1BC to have a transducer "puck" on him, or at his feet, to link to a diode or an armband on his leadoff hitter, so he can tell / learn what the player's 90-ft. speed is beyond what a stopwatch can tell?

A $4 piece of rubber (and that's overpriced!) on a batter's thumb is a non-issue, and not worth worrying about.