All captains and players were invited to attend an open meeting on Thursday, March 22. A small yet enthusiastic group of AASL captains and players met to discuss potential rule changes for the 2007 season. A series of proposals and recommendations came from this group and from proposals emailed before the meeting.

 

At the Captains’ Meeting on Thursday, April 5, 2007, you or a representative from your team are required to attend to discuss league business. Included will be a vote on these proposals. We recommend that captains include players’ opinions in your decision and solicit their feedback before the April 5 meeting.

 

 

Proposed Rule 1: Use “safety” second base and “safety” third base.

 

Description: Base runners are allowed to over-run second base and over-run third base similar to how runners are allowed to over-run first base. Runners may over-run the base and continue in a straight line to the outfield or to the third-base fence with no risk of being put out, however if the runner makes an attempt to advance, the runner is in jeopardy of being tagged out.

 

Intent: To avoid injuries to our (older) players due to improper sliding or sudden deceleration when reaching a base, this proposed rule will create an alternative method of protecting the runner.

 

A YES vote will accept this proposed change as part of AASL rules that vary from Amateur Softball Association (ASA) rules. Exact wording of the proposal will be worked on if accepted.

 

A NO vote makes no change to standard ASA base-running rules used AASL.

 

Proposed Rule 2: Use ASA umpires for all regular-season games.

 

Description: Use an official ASA-certified umpire for each regular-season AASL game. This will replace the AASL structure where the batting team provides a home plate umpire and base coaches with the responsibility to officiate half of each game.

 

Intent: Remove the responsibility and any bias from captains and players who umpire games involving their own team.

 

Notes: Greater Lowell Softball Umpires Association (GLSUA) provides ASA umpires for ASA-affiliated softball leagues. The cost of umpires is as follows: $25 per team for ASA affiliation, $32 per umpire per game, and $1 per game scheduling fee. This equals $4,360 per season, or roughly a maximum of $15 per player per season. Costs for this change would be an additional expense paid by players during the season as this change was not included in the 2007 AASL budget. Exact payment details would be worked out if this proposal is accepted.

 

A YES vote would support AASL scheduling ASA umpires for regular season games.

 

A NO vote would continue AASL self-umpiring.

 

Proposed Rule 2a: Use ASA umpires for two rounds of regular-season games.

 

This will be considered if Proposed Rule 2 does not pass.

 

Description: Use an official ASA-certified umpire for two games per team during the season. While AASL teams have experienced ASA-umpired games during playoff rounds, this proposal will allow teams to experience regular-season play with umpires as a trial for using ASA umpires in the 2008 season.

 

Intent: Remove the responsibility and any bias from captains and players who umpire games involving their own team.

 

Notes: The cost of this proposal is $528 (16 games at $32 per game plus $1 per game scheduling fee). This cost is no more than $2 per person for this trial period, and if possible some or all of this cost will be covered by AASL in its 2007 budget.

 

A YES vote would support AASL scheduling ASA umpires for two regular-season games per team (to be determined during AASL scheduling).

 

A NO vote would continue AASL self-umpiring.

 

Proposed Rule 3: Pitch an 11” softball to female batters and pitch a 12” softball to male batters.

 

Description: Male batters will be pitched the current 12” softball and female batters will be pitched an 11” softball. A female batter may request to be pitched the 12” softball.

 

Intent: This rule is intended to increase the success of female batters.

 

Notes: This proposal follows ASA Rule 3 Section 3 (“Official Softball”) parts E and F. Part E specifies a 12-inch slow pitch ball (375 lb pqi compression, .440 COR) for co-ed slow pitch (male batters only). Part F specifies an 11-inch slow pitch ball (375 lb pqi compression, .440 COR) for co-ed slow pitch (women batter’s only). Research indicates many other co-ed slow pitch leagues use this rule.

 

If the rule is adopted, we will need to research and include language around inadvertently using the incorrect ball for male and female batters.

 

A YES vote will adopt this rule for AASL 2007 season play.

 

A NO vote will continue with a single 12” softball for all betters in AASL 2007 season play.

 

 

Proposed Rule 3a: For 2 to 3 games per team, pitch an 11” softball to female batters and pitch a 12” softball to male batters.

 

Description: For a portion of the 2007 season, men will be pitched the current 12” softball and women will be pitched an 11” softball. AASL will collect information from pitchers, batters, and fielders for experiential data in these games in order to influence full-season usage in AASL in 2008.

 

Intent: This rule is intended to test assumptions that this change will increase the success of female batters and use the collected data to shape our coed league in 2008.

 

Notes: This proposal follows ASA Rule 3 Section 3 (“Official Softball”) parts E and F. Part E specifies a 12-inch slow pitch ball for co-ed slow pitch (male batters only). Part F specifies an 11-inch slow pitch ball for co-ed slow pitch (women batter’s only). Research indicates many other co-ed slow pitch leagues use this rule.

 

A YES vote will adopt this trial period for 2 or 3 weeks of AASL 2007 season play. If feedback on the trial is favorable, we may vote again to continue this throughout the rest of the 2007 season.

 

A NO vote will continue with a single 12” softball for all betters in AASL 2007 season play.

 

 

Other Discussion Items

 

Discussion Item 1: Catcher Poaching

 

A suggested rule change regarding players “poaching” from the catcher was discussed at length among attendees. The concept behind the suggestion is to include all players fairly in team play by not allowing other players to take routine plays for which catchers are responsible.

 

While multiple points were discussed among the participants, this proposal did not receive a “second” to bring it forward to vote. Additionally, while poaching at other positions may occur, it is more difficult to monitor fairly.

 

However, we recommend that captains understand their players’ abilities and play appropriately: AASL is recreational and participation outweighs “getting an out.” Unless a catcher is clearly incapable of safely playing that position with the ball in play, captains should advise pitchers and other infielders to serve as backups rather than stepping in for the catcher in these situations. Some catchers want help, others don’t.

 

 

Discussion Item 2: Sliding

 

The AASL rule regarding sliding is not clearly written to put the onus on both the batter-runner and fielder to avoid collision and keep AASL safe. We will revise this rule before the captains’ meeting, however the revised wording will not require vote. While sliding will not be required, the batter-runner must avoid causing a collision.

 

Discussion Item 3: Forfeits

 

We discussed clarifying rules to award forfeits against teams that are unable to play in a scheduled game and/or are not forthcoming to make up a postponed game that the opponent wishes to play. Based on scheduling limitations and a lack of sufficient free game slots in the 2007 schedule, this rule will not be revised in 2007.

 

Discussion Item 4: Weighted Schedules

 

AASL has historically had evenly-weighted schedules where each team played each other team. In 2006, teams played each team one other time. In previous seasons, teams played each team one time and two similarly-rated teams (based on previous season’s standings) a second time.

 

In an effort to provide teams with schedules that are suited to their abilities rather than a pure round-robin, teams will be contacted and will likely be scheduled as follows, assuming rankings 1-16 among teams:

 

• Teams 1 through 4 will play 15 games total, including 2 games against each of the other 3 teams in the top 4, one game each against teams 5 through 12, and one game against one of the bottom 4 teams.
• Teams 5 through 12 will play 15 games total, one game each against teams 1-16.
• Teams 13 through 16 will play 15 games total, including 2 games against each of the other 3 teams in the bottom 4, one game each against teams 5 through 12, and one game against one of the top 4 teams.

 

Since the charter of AASL encourages a recreational experience and participation among teams, this change will provide a more appropriate balance of games for teams at either end of our spectrum.

 

If teams classified as the top 4 and bottom 4 individually do not want to participate in a weighted schedule, other teams may be approached to complete this exercise. Alternatively, a weighted schedule will be completed with a different number of teams.

 

After the 2007 season we can vote on dividing AASL into divisions to accommodate teams of different abilities or attitudes.

 

Voting

 

In an effort to engage teams in this process, AASL leadership wishes to set up a voting structure on these rules, allowing one vote per team (16 teams) and an additional vote for the Commissioner.

 

Any accepted proposal must pass with at least 11 out of 17 votes (as close to 2/3 as we can get) to be accepted as a rule change for 2007.

 

Exact wording of any rule changes will be determined by a small committee of interested parties selected during the captains’ meeting and revised before season play begins.

 

 

Questions and Comments

 

If you have any questions or comments on these proposed rule changes, please contact Rich Gottesman  at rich@actonasl.com and Matt Murphy at matt@actonasl.com.