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TOPIC: Thanks Kirby |
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| Smitty77
March 7, 2009
4:20:47 PM
Entry #: 3078280
| As some of you know from the meetings and the meeting notes posted online, we have had trouble finding softballs for this year.
Kevin and Artie have been working hard at locating a supplier who could fill our order at a reasonable price. It seems everyone in the Northeast is out of the softballs we want.
I called Kirby Murphy and he was able to use his contacts and get the League the order we need (60 dozen, Dudley, .44 .400) at a great price.
Once again Kirby, thank you for your help.
Everyone in the League owes him a thank you as we were seriously running out of options.
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| DUTILLY
March 7, 2009
4:47:49 PM
Entry #: 3078301
| Thank you kirby!!! and Rob Hodde from club jocques said when he plays u guys and ur up hes gonna play 3rd base with no glove and throw u out from his knees!!!!!!
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| Littleguy
March 7, 2009
6:02:41 PM
Entry #: 3078344
| Just a quick and probably dumb question... What is the difference between the .375 and the .400?
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| RyMan
March 7, 2009
6:12:16 PM
Entry #: 3078350
| It takes 375 pounds of pressure to compress a 375 compression softball 1/4 inch, like Worth gold dots or the Trumps used last season. Thus the higher the compression of a softball, the more solid and dense it is and a high flex bat will send it further. The difference between this year's softball and last year's will be around 10 or so feet of distance on a good solid hit.
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| guapo
March 7, 2009
6:48:48 PM
Entry #: 3078365
| .400 core balls??? Jesus! Did we really need to make that change? Not enough HR's last year? I hope I'm wrong, but I have a feeling this is the year someone gets hurt. There is just too wide a range of talent in this league to justify the equipment we keep "improving". I don't want to offend anyone, but we all know there are some pitchers who will have no chance if certain guys shoot one back up the middle. And I'm not saying it will be on purpose. I've seen pitchers take one off the face and it isn't pretty. Some macho man will come back with, "If they don't want to take the risk, then don't pitch." but someone has to do it. ASA bats and ASA balls were more than enough for a Sunday morning rec league with 260 foot fences.
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| DUTILLY
March 7, 2009
7:03:12 PM
Entry #: 3078373
| Dean 2 things washington oak is only 204 and 2 i believe we made the change because we have to use a usssa stamp for insurance reasons and nobody makes a 44 core 375 with a usssa stamp any more so it was that ball or a 40 core 325 compresion so they had a vote
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| Smitty77
March 7, 2009
9:50:01 PM
Entry #: 3078502
| dutilly, i hate to admit, is correct. our options were a .325 .40 or a .44 .400 usssa isn't offering the .375 any more.
and dean, we all know no one would be happy with a .325.
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| OSS
March 7, 2009
10:50:51 PM
Entry #: 3078545
| deano its not a huge change we coulda went with the 47 core 525 comps . it was a 15-1 vote . guys love blasting HRs if we go to the powder puff alot of fun goes out the door . cmon steve becheme hit a dinger in the finals and i think it was his first . the more guys are trying to hit bombs the less the kitchen is opens .
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| tom7e
March 7, 2009
11:58:57 PM
Entry #: 3078596
| "If they don't want to take the risk, then don't pitch." ha ha beat you stevens
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| guapo
March 8, 2009
3:03:59 AM
Entry #: 3078651
| I admit to being ignorant about the fact that there were only two choices, but I still disagree. Play with the softer ball given the fact that we play at such small fields. Artie, what happens when you use your 5 HR's in the first 3 innings? I guess I have a basic disagreement about what softball should be about. Not HR's, but the ability to place the ball. That is why the game was invented. What takes more skill? A 270 fly ball with a juiced bat and a rock hard ball or a line drive to the opposite field? Most guys in the league are too young to remember when a HR at a field like Clegg was an accomplishemnt.
By the way, I was out with Stenvns tonight and he was quite loaded. If this is his normal Saturday ritual, his Sunday accomplishemnts are quite amazing.
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| E W 3 3
March 8, 2009
7:38:11 AM
Entry #: 3078674
| I can agree with both sides of this arguement. Here is the one major problem Dean. The ball choices are bad. There is either the choice to go even harder than last years which isn't good or the even worse choice of going with something that is so soft that every single person that used the ball in pawtucket complained. I don't mean some or most I mean every single person i ran across even if I wasnt talkin to them about the ball you could hear then complaining about it.
I watched Playa hit one as hard as anything he has ever hit a ball and it didnt come to within 20 feet of a 300 foot fence. The choices are horrible for USSSA. They either want you using a sock or a rock. I don't blame the leauge for going to the harder ball. It's only a slight improvement over last years ball, but if they went with that lower ball it wouldnt improve the game when people can come in and play you at 250 knowing damn well there is no chance of you hitting it over their head. That isn't softball either, just ask Mertog. I been stealing hits from that old prick for years by shading him in.
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| Gopher
March 8, 2009
7:08:40 PM
Entry #: 3079083
| Hey Guapo...what happened to you this morning.....
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| guapo
March 8, 2009
9:47:18 PM
Entry #: 3079261
| I know this will come as a big surprise, but I got drunk and didn't wake up. Stevens and his girl were at a bar a mile from my house. I couldn't let a golden opportunity like that pass.
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| OSS
March 9, 2009
8:46:00 AM
Entry #: 3079566
| one thing about this ball i dont think its gonna match the durability of the trumps . so by mid game it might not be flying as much. the trump composites hold through the game better than any ball ive seen . but there is only a slight difference out of the wrapper .
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| Stevens 4
March 9, 2009
12:37:39 PM
Entry #: 3079871
| Still don't feel right. That was a great 13 hour drinking shift.
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
3:10:43 PM
Entry #: 3083249
| After reading all of the above complaints and others on the site, Kirby took it upon himself to make some more calls.
He has gotten us the Worth .44 .375 which we spent three weeks trying to find before contacting him. These are the same specs we used last year.
And since I know you guys love balls...
I talked to Brian Cipolla today, the State Director of USSSA and he told me that next year ALL USSSA BALLS WILL BE .40 core.
Maybe now people will actually thank Kirby for the help he has provided us.
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| DUTILLY
March 11, 2009
3:22:01 PM
Entry #: 3083270
| Which means here come the painted ultra's
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| OSS
March 11, 2009
3:23:22 PM
Entry #: 3083273
| thanks kirby
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| Stevens 4
March 11, 2009
3:23:26 PM
Entry #: 3083274
| I am taking back my prediction that i would hit 60 home runs this year. Way to go pussies!
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| DeMonti
March 11, 2009
3:35:15 PM
Entry #: 3083300
| smitty, did you spit or swallow?
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| OSS
March 11, 2009
3:53:02 PM
Entry #: 3083330
| im not sure what year its gonna happen but the rumor is that all assiociations will go to a universal softball by the year 2012. 50 core 275 comp. except for the majors . asa , usssa , isa , nsa all the same .
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
4:00:48 PM
Entry #: 3083340
| neither. i just calmly thought about the problem that i had and all possible solutions. i made a phone call and shortly after the problem was solved.
there's nothing i like more than spending my day off today trying to gather information for the league so that everything runs smoothly and 300 people have something to look forward to every sunday. im busting my ass trying to find insurance options because people are losing their jobs and their medical coverage and if they get hurt playing in this league i would hate for them to have a problem. these are the things i think about, deal with, and solve.
you show up and play softball.
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| Gopher
March 11, 2009
4:14:50 PM
Entry #: 3083362
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Ian,
As a Manager and I would also hope...a friend. Let me be the first on here to say that I DO APPRECIATE Everything you do for the league. And your right, a lot us get to just show up and play... but this is why we choose you as our Leader(President)for the league because we know that you will do everything you can to make a smooth possible season for all us to enjoy.
Take a step back and appreciate what you have accomplished over the years because it is well deserved.
Bob Brodeur...aka Gopher
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| Not My Buddy
March 11, 2009
4:16:57 PM
Entry #: 3083364
| First off, thank you Kirby. Secondly, thank you Smitty. You said it perfectly. For some reason, I think that if it had been anyone other than Kirby that helped out the league, like any of the guys that have been in the league for many years, everyone would have just said "thanks". Kirby did something to help out our league that he didn't need to do. It's threads like this where softball becomes something it wasn't supposed to be. It's not supposed to be about making sure we have the right ball to hit a bomb at any given moment. That should be up to the skill of the player, not the specs of the ball. I dunno, maybe I just haven't reached that "level", but I personally hope that I never get to that point in my softball career where it's no longer just purely about the love of the game.
Thats just my opinion though...
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
4:18:15 PM
Entry #: 3083368
| thanks gopher i appreciate that.
but to clarify...
im not looking for a thank you or credit from anyone.
just remember sundays don't just magically happen.
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
4:27:48 PM
Entry #: 3083391
| and a friendly reminder in response to dutillys cheating bat comment....
if a player is injured by a ball that is hit, the bat and ball are taken by the umpire. if they find that the bat was tampered with aka shaved, rolled, whatever you can have all the insurance in the world but you can still be charged with assault and sued and it will be the bat swingers sole responsibility.
so for those of you that like to do that, remember it could cost you a lot. and i imagine if someone was killed by a line drive you could even get murder charges.
also, if one of your teammates picks up your shaved bat and don't know their risk you are putting them in harms way as well.
im learning all kinds of new tricks today.
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| Unclemertog
March 11, 2009
4:37:05 PM
Entry #: 3083419
| Once again it had nothing to do with hitting home runs, that was not the motivation behind the ball switch...it was essentially forced upon the league to decide whether to use a ball that is barely distinguishable from last years' ball or use a ball that after two innings is like hitting a ball of socks that just barely make it out of the infield.
I think the decision to go to the .400 compression balls was absolutely the way to go since the other is an absolute piece of junk.
What is amusing to me is that immediately when a decision is made all the conspiracy theorists come out of their cages to point fingers and making half assed assumptions as to the motivation behind the switch.
My suggestion is attend the meetings and hear what is going on before you start throwing wild accusations around.
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| Not My Buddy
March 11, 2009
4:46:09 PM
Entry #: 3083429
| Mert, i wasnt making reference to anyone who posted logical reasoning behind their opinion on the change. And Im not for or against either ball that we use. My point was that it shouldn't go beyond the logical reasoning of it. But more important than that, I was simply stating that I agreed with Smitty. Quietly our aloud, we should all appreciate what he does for this league. And when someone helps him do that, we should also appreciate them. Didn't expect to catch flack from you on this one! :p
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| Not My Buddy
March 11, 2009
4:50:09 PM
Entry #: 3083440
| And for the record, I am well aware that the change in ball had zero to do with homeruns. I understand the real reason behind the change. I have no beef with the decision either. Please dont misunderstand the purpose of my coming out of my cage. Besides, a boy's gotta stretch his legs sometime.
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| guapo
March 11, 2009
5:07:17 PM
Entry #: 3083477
| Thank you Kirby. I was negligent in not doing so before. And to Ian, who is by far the most hands on league president I have ever seen. I run my 12 team fantasy baseball league and I know how terrible that can be, so a 16 TEAM league must be exponentially awful.
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| Unclemertog
March 11, 2009
5:59:05 PM
Entry #: 3083554
| DJ..I actually was not referring to you my friend, it was directed more toward Guapo indirectly.
It is not only him though, I have heard people crying about the ball since we made the choice, all I'm hearing is that there were too many homers last year, someone's going to get hurt, this is going to add 50 yards to every homer, this is a consiparcy concocted by Artie (which the survey revealed as the number one answer in our poll) You get the idea.
In fact we fully discussed all the pros and cons at the meeting and all the managers asked questions as to the difference between the two balls and it was deemed that the difference between the 375 and 400 was minute in comparison to dropping down to the "sock ball" as it is referred to.
Everyone who has ever played with the "sock-ball" will tell you that it is a horrible ball and you can actually play very short in the outfield, because after two innings NO ONE is going to hit it out. (That includes you Ernie)
Many of us use the balls after the games for BP and practice (Those of us like me and Chris Moulton) who comb the woods in our spare time to retrieve lost home run balls. With the sock ball you won't have any practice balls because they won't even last the day let alone take the punishment of BP balls. (Don't misunderstand, I'm not trading anyone's safety for a few bp balls I'm simply saying that this is an added bonus of using a good durable ball)
The whole issue was directly linked to not being sanctioned and covered by USSSA if we used any other ball that was not sanctioned by them. In addition to that we took into careful consideration that if we used the sock ball how much crying there would be then. (If you think there is crying now imagine how it would have been if we used a sock ball that fell apart and was mush after one inning)
People would fabricate stories how we paid the same amount of money for a lesser quality ball and Artie pocketed all the extra cash.
Another issue that arose was the cost. The cost of the sock ball was actually more expensive than the 400 ball. Why? I have no idea.
...and when we even brought up the idea of using the lower compressed ball, everyone in the room groaned because they have played with them and they know how shitty they are.
Believe me when I tell you that the majority of managers are all concerned first and foremeost with the safety of the players, and Ian is very concerned about it. Every question that needed to be asked was asked believe me when I tell you...including the option of going back to ASA with it's pathetic umpiring, bad service, and a thousand other restrictions.
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| T Mac
March 11, 2009
7:14:22 PM
Entry #: 3083657
| id like to start by saying thanks to kirby for getting the same balls as we had last year 1 he didnt have to so thank for you that. Class act. and 2 and this is the main reason thank you for getting them so this post can die!!!!
A ball is a ball i understand no one wants to get hurt, but last time i checked u could get hurt getting outta bed. so thats just a chance u take.
i was at the meeting i agreed with everyone there ( because at worlds in florida last year the balls were not traveling at all.) we were playing on great fields huge outfields with grass ( yes i said it grass ) unlike the pot holes and crab grass we play on in coventry. and us outfielders were playing closer to the infielders than i do when i play coed, the ball just does not fly at all. and i agree i could giev a sh*t about homeruns its tougher to hit line drives and base hits. but this is what everyone wanted if u didnt want it bring it up with your managers next year cuz there was only one person against it at the meeting. ( you know who u r ) til then its over.
and a special thanks goes out to ian " king of coventry sunday morning softball " smith.
what can ya say about smitty he is a man among boys, he can run a meeting as well as anyone ive seen, cannon for an arm, hes almost as fast as dutilly, he has no hair but hey not many of you guys do.... he is a school teacher and will absolutely rip my post to shreds because i use no grammar or punctuation whatsoever, when he shows up he can hold his own in a drinking competition.... just not with mudslides. he knows the greatest places in florida to get a chocolate shake and curly fries, he has kate and botelho doesnt thats gotta count for something! he stopped JR's from scoring a single run in our 1 - 0 loss in the playoffs a few years back (F*ck You A*shole haha) he runs this website for all of us clowns to come on here and post nonsense, runs his own team ( with stevens and considine on, that team thats gotta be an accomplishment in itself haha )
So Heres To You.... our trusty president because without you we would just be a bunch of drunks who write on a website and get no actual physical activity. Cheers!
Ahhhh i got my ryman out for the year thank god!
see you on the fields ( or more likely in the bar before the season)
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| iWitch-hunt
March 11, 2009
7:40:05 PM
Entry #: 3083692
| Nice ryman style rant Mac. Is that a left over beer buzz from Sunday night? Haha I'll be back there again this Sunday, about the same time, see ya there!
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| OAWMF
March 11, 2009
8:48:25 PM
Entry #: 3083797
| Kirby thanks again for the generosity and connections. If you need a new Ryman Demonti said he would carry your bag
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| Jeffc_28
March 11, 2009
9:10:06 PM
Entry #: 3083832
| Thanks Kirby,
Ian you sound like my father.
"I spent my day day off" Wah, wah, wah. You have three months Vaca coming, pussy.
LOL
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| DUTILLY
March 11, 2009
9:11:45 PM
Entry #: 3083836
| I would definetly fight this kirby guy!!!!! and most definetly with my teeth out!!! and also thank you smitty for ur hard work
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
10:02:34 PM
Entry #: 3083924
| jeff...you're right. i was trying to sound like someone with a "regular" job.
i regret that part. but i was "in the office" for about 5 hours. hahaha
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| E W 3 3
March 11, 2009
11:26:19 PM
Entry #: 3084027
| screw smitty. Everyone on here appreciates him and he knows it. Some kid must have given him some shit today so hes in one of his moods. I know how to save you some time smitty stop worrying about the insurance. I would hate for someone to get hurt too but thats not our problem. Where does it end? Next will you be looking to get each player life insurance? How about a dental plan? everyone has seen my pic from last year obviously the coverage i have is not good enough.
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| Smitty77
March 11, 2009
11:45:20 PM
Entry #: 3084042
| hey ernie, i said i don't want any credit so go eat some cheetos fatty. next, no kid bothered me today i didn't have to work...hows that feel? finally, im just looking at the insurance options..i don't feel like getting sued over softball. i don't the insurance is going to work out anyway.
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| guapo
March 12, 2009
1:07:28 AM
Entry #: 3084098
| As the accused "crier", I guess i have to respond. You guys make no sense and sadly, I think you know it, but chose to ignore it . The change from a .375 ball (which was crazy hard and resulted in 370 + foot HR's) to a .400 ball (harder stil) would be insignificant? But going to a .325 ball would be a sock??? I bet I can hit a .325 ball out of Nike site. And I bet it wouldn't be that difficult. I guess I'm calling out teammates, but we had two guys last year who hit HR's out of Nike who said they had NEVER hit a HR out of any field ever. And we want to make it even easier? God bless.
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| E W 3 3
March 12, 2009
1:13:57 AM
Entry #: 3084103
| Dean I know how good a hitter you are but even you wont hit it out of nike site with those socks. That's my 2 cents.
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| antmansour
March 12, 2009
7:23:34 AM
Entry #: 3084173
| Im going to agree with Dean. I looked over the post and I dont see where anyone criticized Kirby or Ian for that matter, they got the balls the league voted for. However, like Dean said its a better game when you have to actually place the ball to get a hit, not just swing as hard as you can and it hit really hard, by someone who didnt see it. It wasnt that long ago when each team would only have one or two guys that could come up and hit one out. I understand that everyone wants to be the hero, but when you stop running out homeruns to save time shouldn't that say something.
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| Stevens 4
March 12, 2009
8:50:36 AM
Entry #: 3084233
| I have done all the calculations and it appears with the new balls I will slug 13.7 home runs this year. Enjoy the show fuckers!
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| DeMonti
March 12, 2009
4:05:37 PM
Entry #: 3084868
| so what ball did the league actually decide on anyway, what brand too?
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| Unclemertog
March 12, 2009
9:38:01 PM
Entry #: 3085332
| First of all Guapo, the ball was not changed to a .375 compression ball last year, it was the same exact compression that we have used for several years the very same compression as the Worth Gold dot .375.
Now I'm not sure if the increase in homeruns was due to the "Trump" brand ball being more lively than the Worth Gold dot of the very same compression, or if it was due to the upgrade from ASA to USSSA bats. Keep in mind the new USSSA sanctioned ball and the bats came in last year so one can't really say acurately which it was or if it was both.
Keeping that all in mind we were told that that .375 trump ball was no longer available and our only options were to go with the Dudley .400 compression or down to a trump .325 compression. The .325 compression ball was known by everyone in the room to be a complete piece of shit and after the second inning the ball barely makes it out to the outfield and is literally a ball of socks, and you are not hitting it out of Nike Site after a few innings. In addition it was also more expensive.
The vote was 15-1 and the only descenting opinion was club joques.
Now given the options, as I said someone even asked about going back to ASA and using the Gold dot and the ASA bats, is that an option that you would even remotely entertain?
However, this is all a moot point because Kirby was able to track down balls that are USSSA sanctioned and are .375 compression, so now we will see if it was the compression of the ball or just the brand of ball that we had last year that made the difference in the homeruns.
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| Unclemertog
March 12, 2009
9:47:18 PM
Entry #: 3085347
| Ant, I definately agree with you on your opinion that the game is much more interesting when you have to actually place hit and run the bases well. The softer ball would definately favor defensive teams as well. That would truly separate the teams with more softball knowledge and you would see a wider disparity between the upper echalon teams and lower strata.
The livelier ball however does in fact level the playing field a bit and you can't really cheat anyone when you are playing the outfield because anyone can burn you.
Though I agree with what you are saying and it is all true, it had nothing to do with homeruns and everything to do with using a shitty ball that just doesn't hold up. Everyone who played with that ball in tournaments and the worlds all said flatly that it just plain sucked and was soft and mushy after just a couple of innings.
Once again it's a moot point because we are getting the .375 compression balls which are the same compression as the Trump we had last year and the Gold Dot the years before.
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| Jeffc_28
March 12, 2009
10:51:06 PM
Entry #: 3085444
| hahahaha "softball knowledge"
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| Unclemertog
March 12, 2009
10:53:03 PM
Entry #: 3085449
| Okay softball prowress, does that work better for you Jeff? LOL
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| E W 3 3
March 12, 2009
11:10:20 PM
Entry #: 3085469
| softball princess would be much closer to the truth.
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| Ryno34
March 14, 2009
8:59:51 AM
Entry #: 3086750
| Kirby thanks for helping the league and getting the balls.
Ian thanks for doing a good job as a league officer and making the effort. I don't give a fuck if you want praise or not, your getting it motherfucker!
I have no doubt that the sock ball will bring back the questionable bats. Check back to the posts from when this board first started and you will find nothing but shaved and rolled accusations and innuendo. Little guys routinely hitting bombs into the woods while some of the better power hitters in the league are hitting 3 or 4 for the season.
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