Rules Changes

The  Board of Directors met last month to review all suggested rule changes for the upcoming year that were submitted by members of the league. The following actions were taken:

1. Elimination of the 180 foot line:  

BOD voted to retain as written.

 

2. Expand the flip/flop rule: 

BOD voted to eliminate the flip flop rule in total.   The reasoning is that our game isn't only about winning or losing and the Flip-Flop rule eliminated batting opportunities for the home team.  The rule only applied off-season anyway and that's the time of year we're playing for fun and not the won/lost record.  (Besides playing in flip-flops is considered to be unsafe).

 

3. Clarify pitching screen rule: 

BOD voted to eliminate the ambiguity associated with "making a move to get behind the screen" by restating rule as follows: "The pitcher shall be behind the screen when the ball is batted."   The rule also now reads that "An umpire may call a pitch illegal if the pitcher is not behind the screen when the pitched ball reaches the plate"  also "Base runners will be called safe if a pitcher fields a ball without being behind the screen when the ball is batted."   These clarifications were made with the intention of improving the safety of the pitcher. 

 

4. Review of runner rules: 

BOD voted to retain as written.

 

5. Change five run rule to correspond with tournament rules: 

BOD voted to continue the five run and catch up rules as written.

As always we welcome your comments and suggestions to improve our game. You can submit your thoughts to the blog or communicated personally to the commissioner or any board member.