Spikes

[Guest Fatcity]

Fed.  Someone asked me if metal spikes are allowed in HS, was sure that it is legal but cannot find any reference to shoes in Rule 1 or 

elsewhere.  Seems like there was a time when cleats had to be rubber, 70s/80s ?

Thanks

[Senor Azul]

You’re right, Mr. Fatcity. There is next to nothing in rule 1 about cleats. Here’s all I could find--

Rule 1 section 4 ART. 1. . . Uniforms of all team members should be of the same color and style.  Caps and shoes are required equipment (no track spikes allowed). When a player is required to wear a head protector, it replaces the cap as mandatory equipment.

Yes, everything I have ever seen is that wearing metal cleats in high school baseball is both allowed and encouraged. The reason they are not allowed in lower levels of youth baseball is for safety precautions, but that is not a concern with high school athletes where enhancing performance is a greater concern.

It’s funny--in FED rule 10-2-1 they are equally vague about what the plate umpire should wear to protect his feet. There is just a short reference to plate shoes.

[Senor Azul]

Someone named Nic at baseballscouter.com wrote the following about major leaguers who are reversing the progression and have gone back to plastic cleats.

San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey switched to plastic cleats after his horrific injury in 2011. The website suggests that Posey actually switched to plastic because he wanted to downgrade in traction in order to limit the risk of reinjuring his knee.

Most big leaguers who have switched to plastic cleats have done so for health reasons. However, all typically recognize that they lose a little torque when running and changing direction with the plastic spikes, but they are prioritizing their longevity over performance.

And if it is any consolation to you, the pro rules are only slightly more helpful. In its rule 3.03i it tells us that pointed spikes such as on golf or track shoes is prohibited. The MiLBUM interpretation manual only adds the following—excessive or distracting flaps on shoes, particularly those on pitchers, will not be allowed. Players may not call time to change shoes upon becoming a base runner.

[Velho]

What's not expressly disallowed is allowed.  

Little League (Majors and below) explicitly prohibits metal cleats. Other than that, the field ground rules are the only time I've seen or could think of when metal would be disallowed, e.g. most turf fields prohibit metal (tangent: even further, our local multi-field complex disallows mold cleats on the temporary mounds)

[BLWizzRanger]

8 hours ago, Velho said:

What's not expressly disallowed is allowed.  

Little League (Majors and below) explicitly prohibits metal cleats. Other than that, the field ground rules are the only time I've seen or could think of when metal would be disallowed, e.g. most turf fields prohibit metal (tangent: even further, our local multi-field complex disallows mold cleats on the temporary mounds)

Two, maybe three pairs of shoes...  so much for making it cheaper for families....

[BLarson]

We play mostly on non-turf fields...and last year as 13's a lot of tournaments required non-metal cleats on their pitching mounds.

[Rich Ives]

Back in the day our men's softball league prohibited metal spikes (grass field) so I used turf shoes. Not quite as good as metal but worked reasonably well - better than the molded cleats I tried first. Metal spikes are the best.

[Badger]

On 1/31/2022 at 8:59 PM, Velho said:

What's not expressly disallowed is allowed.  

Little League (Majors and below) explicitly prohibits metal cleats. Other than that, the field ground rules are the only time I've seen or could think of when metal would be disallowed, e.g. most turf fields prohibit metal (tangent: even further, our local multi-field complex disallows mold cleats on the temporary mounds)

When I played LL Seniors (28 years ago) while also playing High School, I remember having to have a set of cleats for LL (plastic/rubber)and metal spikes for High School. Do they allow spikes in Senior/Big League now? (I only work High School).

[Senor Azul]

2020 Little League rule 1.11

h) Shoes with metal spikes or cleats are not permitted. Shoes with molded cleats are permissible. [Baseball:  Intermediate (50-70) Division/Junior/Senior League: shoes with metal spikes or cleats are permitted. Softball:  Junior/Senior League: Shoes with metal spikes or cleats are permitted.

INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS:

➔ Intermediate (50-70) Division/Junior/Senior League Baseball and Junior/Senior/League Softball allows metal spikes or cleats. No other division of Little League Baseball or Softball permits the use of metal cleats. No agreement can be made to alter or ignore this rule.

I was going to tell you exactly when they legalized metal cleats but I wasn’t able to pinpoint that. I have a 1999 LL rule book and metal spikes or cleats were not permitted by rule then. I also have a 2005 edition and by then metal cleats had been legalized for Junior/Senior/Big divisions. I do not have the years 2000-2004 so I cannot tell you exactly when the rule changed. Perhaps our very own Mr. Rich Ives remembers when metal spikes were legalized.