Tagged With "rubber"

We have very good batters boxes they are very hard and we take care of them routinely to keep them in shape. The last 3 games we have had at home the opposing team has dug them out when they got in the box, after the last team visiting we had to fill in 2 holes that were about 6 inches deep and their pitcher destroyed our mound by digging it out. Anyway we have some rubber mats left over from our weight room that are usually in our dugout and I am thinking of burying one of them our RH...

A high school-level pitching question about addressing the pitching rubber. Runner on third (R3) and our RHP is on the mound, but off the rubber. While standing behind the pitching rubber, he decides he'll pitch from the wind-up position. He steps forward with his left foot, then with his right. Field umpire calls a balk. R3 scores. I ask for an explanation and ask if it was his hands or motion that was deceptive. Like, "did he start and stop". He tells me it is how he is "addressing the...

On a related note, our high school does a good job of maintaining the pitcher's mound filling in any ruts with a "special" mix, then tamping down. I think it is just slightly moistened clay (kept in airtight pail) but never wanted to ask the coach directly. Also, are there any rules which restrict or prohibit messing up the box or the mound or any restrictions about mid-game "repairs"? I can't believe an ump would allow a 6 inch rut to be dug out. We've got a turf box so no such problems.

If you are using the right clay mix (or clay bricks), moisture and tamping, you should be able to create a base that is very difficult to dig too far into. Frequent re-application is necessary. Regarding your idea of rubber mats, there are actually products sold that are, I believe, rubber that are designed for just what you are talking about. It is not solid, though. I think it is like a honeycomb grid configuration where dirt fills in the openings throughout. I couldn't find on a quick...

Why would anyone want to bat out of a 6" deep hole?

One of the locations where we played in a spring break tourney was formerly a D1 college stadium, now run by the city. The setting and grass conditions were very good and from a distance, everything looked ideal. But they did not use any clay for mound or plate. Holes were enormous and it had a significant effect on pitchers and hitters.

NBC, Just get a bigger drill bit and drill a ton of holes in your mat before installig.Its just about the draingage.

Thanks for the info. From what I have noticed the teams that are digging the holes are the same teams whose fields are in less than great shape, so maybe that's what they are use to doing. Either way to me it's ridiculous, I don't know why they would want to dig and hit out of a hole.

http://beaconathletics.com/sto...er-batters-box-mats/ http://www.hooverfence.com/spo...softball/infield.htm

Those mats look like a great product. What we did back in the late 50’s and 60’s was use bricks on both the mounds and batter’s boxes. In fact, we just set up a mound with bricks last year and it’s held up magnificently. One of the biggest mistakes is filling in the holes and then trying to pack it. It will pack, but not very tightly. In order to do get it to pack well, the soil has to be moistened.

Be careful that the mat is deep enough that a player can't catch his cleat in it. My son's batting coach has always been careful of cleats on mats. He has seen players catch a cleat when they go to turn their foot and tear something. As least dirt gives.

At our HS the booster club paid for and installed a circular mat that was about the diameter of the home plate area. Similar to the Jox Box mats MidAtlanticDad post links for. The mat is buried about 6" deep. No problems with any batter digging for China.

Teach your hitters never to stand in the same place as the previous hitters. Teach you hitters if the right side is below grade to move dirt from the back of the box to fill the hole. A good smart hitter needs the "Back side" higher than the front. This will prevent a "premature" upper cut. This is one of the 6 Tools and discussions with Eric Davis and Edgar Martinez. Bob < www.goodwillseries.org >

I think the umpire must have taken the requirements to disengage the rubber and mistakenly applied them to taking the rubber. As described, the umpire was wrong. And, while this *might* have contributed to a run scoring (the umpire didn't put the runner on third to begin with, and we don't know what would have happened if the umpire hadn't ruled a balk), the umpire didn't "cost" you the game.

What about this sequence. RHP "engages" with rubber with his left foot by stepping forward, pauses with hands together (ball in right hand - ball/hand in glove), then steps forward with his right foot. Could it have been interpreted that his initial step started the motion - which he then stopped. Should not matter that he just happened to start the motion with the "wrong" foot. This would be compared to the RHP hving the ball in glove and right hand by his side stepping up with his left...

OBR 8.05(g) - The pitcher makes any motion naturally associated with his pitch while he is not touching his pitching plate. Since RHP tend to place their right foot on the rubber first and deliver by moving their left foot first I suppose that could be interpreted as a natural pitching motion. If this is the thinking the umpire may have poorly explained that this was his rational. Without seeing the play it sounds like a reach - but it is the most plausible thing I could see in the rules.

After growing up and maturing some I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit this but when I played in college we had a "pick off" move that according to the rule above was a balk but we were NEVER called on it. Runner on first or second and RHP totally ignores the runner after getting ball and walking around mound once. Gets onto the rubber right foot then left foot. Takes the sign and still hasn't looked at the runner. He "starts" his deliver by raising his hands up and stepping back with...

Coach, I had the same thing happen to me in a JV game in my first year of umpiring high school ball. The pitcher raised his hand up in the air and kind of wiped his chin with his shoulder as his arms came up and stepped off with his right foot at the same time. The runner from first broke and was picked off. I did not call a balk but the play haunts me to this day. It has never happened again since but I always watch for it. He got me. The offensive team coach never said a word.

I've seen that move used as low as 11u. Some umpires call it a balk and some do not. If the umpire seems inexperienced some kids will do it.

Maybe its something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnx4vFQWO-I