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Many of you know I'm always interested in suggestions
for how to make the league better.
I am always learning, and know things can always change.
What I have put together here is suggestions I received
at the end of this past season (2002), by different players.
Below is a description of 4 possible rule modifications.
Please contact me if you have suggestions, or even if you just like/dislike
any of these rules.
One more thing. This is all just
me looking for opinions. It is to see what people would suggest in
order to make this league better. There is always room for improvement,
and I realize this.
1. Fastball to Slowpitch
Possibly the most controversial
rule change, this was brought to me by approximately 6-8 players at the
tournament. Slowpitch defined, would be underhand pitching only,
but probably any speed you could manage that way.
Pros: -Female or male pitching would
not be an issue. Since it is hard to have a full supply of female pitchers,
no team would be at a significant advantage with this in place.
-All batters would have the same opportunity to hit the ball, whether a
weak player or a strong player.
-Probably one umpire could handle the game, and there would be less controversial
balls/strike calls.
-Games are generally quicker because players put the ball into play, as
opposed to walking
-Anyone can be catcher, since pass-balls are not an issue (no stealing)
Cons: -This is really the last fastball
league in existence in this area. Players who want to play fastpitch have
nowhere
to go. There are plenty of other slowpitch leagues if someone does not
like fast pitch.
-No stealing, since pitches aren't coming in fast.
-More homeruns. Powerful hitters will hit more out of the park. I believe
a "homerun per inning" rule would have to be put in effect.
**Overall, we would probably be able to gain inexperienced players with Slowpitch because batting is the hardest part (in my opinion). On the other hand, we are not expanding more than 4 teams anyway, so I don't know if this point matters. So....let me know what you think.
2. Pitching Rule
After a controversial, yet clever
strategy in this year's 'A' Final, this rule was discussed with Team Cochrane,
and Team Gilmour.
Assuming fastball is kept, the
rule would be as follows: Once a pitcher comes out in an inning, they can
not come back in until the next inning. This would go for both female and
male pitchers. The main objective of this is to prevent the female pitcher
from pitching to females, and then a male pitching to a male. I understand
this is a strategy, BUT the purpose of this rule in the first place was
to give batters a variety of male and female pitching.
Pros: -Male batters face female
pitchers, and female batters face male pitchers.
-This rule would keep the game moving. Pitchers switching back and forth
wastes time.
Cons: -Male batters face female
pitchers, and female batters face male pitchers.
-This was a valid strategy. Maybe just a loop through the rule. Therefore,
they should be allowed to.
**Overall, it is a matter of opinion whether it is a good thing to force females to pitch to males. The problem is, if this rule is allowed, it may be over-used, making for really slow games!
3. Modified Batting Orders
This rule may make things more
equal, no matter how many girls or guys the team has. The rule would be
that the batting order must alternate male and female, no matter how many
of each gender your team has. Ex: If your team has 4 males, 6 females,
the batting order would go like this: Female 1 (F1), Male 1 (M1), F2, M2,
F3, M3, F4, M4, F5, M1, F6, M2, F1, and so on....It may look confusing,
but it's not really. It's basically a male batting order and a female batting
order, and always alternating. It's the way co-ed slowpitch usually works,
if that helps explain it.
Pros: -Makes both teams equal when
batting, no matter how many males and females your team has
-Balances out lineup so all males (or females) aren't batting back to back.
Cons: -Batting team can't necessarily
make a strong middle of the lineup, since the order is always changing.
-If a team only has a few males in a game, and they are all strong hitters,
it actually benefits them this way because they will come up more often,
and the fielding team will have a harder time dealing with them
**This rule can really benefit, or hurt a team on a game by game basis, depending on how many strong players show up. With a few strong players, they will come up more often (possibly) with this rule. It seems to work effectively in slowpitch though, as the defensive team can rely on an alternating lineup.
4. No Requirement to Have
a Female Pitcher
This is also because strong female
pitchers are hard to find. This year I'd say every team kind of had one
main female pitcher they relied on. Team Gilmour had two I think. The rule
would benefit though when this female is unable to make it. Using last
year as an example again, Team Roundell struggled several games because
there was no female wanting to pitch if Julianna and Stef weren't there.
Taking out this rule would allow these teams to pitch a male all the time.
Pros: -No worries for a team with
no female pitcher. Therefore the draft at the beginning is not as critical,
per se.
-Anyone can pitch, and no team is worried about fulfilling their two innings
by a female pitcher.
Cons: -This may discourage female
pitchers. Females who are not necessarily fast, but enjoy pitching would
no longer get to pitch! Although we don't like to think that, that is reality!!!
This is made as houseleague, which means equal. It is not competitive,
so any should be able to have an opportunity to pitch.
-There are several strong male pitchers in the league. With this rule,
it could be feared it would become a pitcher's duel, rather than a hitting
game. Again, being houseleague, we want hitting, less strikeouts, and less
walks.
-Guys seem to lob or underhand pitches in for the females. If a female
never pitches, female batters will never face a fast pitch, namely from
Stef Hall, or Cassandra Carpenter, but really from any pitcher.
**This rule could be useful, but
would need some definate guidelines. My suggestion would be a limit of
outs/innings any individual pitcher can pitch in a game (i.e. 12 outs,
4 innings). I am afraid females would not get to pitch, and females batting
would get frustrated as well.
This is all the ones I can think of right now. Any other suggestions, OR more pros & cons are much appreciated. Email them to me, or contact me any other way. Thank you, and the season will start soon!