Got a question for all umpires on illegal bats. Have you done this??

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We had two umps at our tournament this weekend that was going to toss all of our older Rockettechs because they didn't like the fact that the end cap was held in place with set screws. They told me that even though they are not on the banned bat list, they didn't like how they were manufactured because they could be easily tampered with because if the end cap set screws. I was dumbfounded that an ump would try and toss a bat because he just didn't like how the bat was manufactured. These bats showed no signs on tampering, they even admitted that. BUT, they were adamant that because they could be tampered with easier than other bats, they were going to toss them. It was only after I said, do what you have to do but this game won't start on time because I'm filling a protest, they finally relented. Don't you have to have a legit reason to toss a bat? Is this a legit reson just because you don't like how Anderson secured their end caps. ASA's governing body doesn't have a problem with it. Am I all wet here????

 

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This is just nuts. There is nothing in the rule book that tells an umpire to toss a bat just because" he doesn't like the way it is made".

The RT's are legal bats, ASA approved and ASA approved them knowing full well how they were constructed, set screws and all.

At least you eventually did get the right call made, even if you did have take the long way to get there!

BTW...Any umpire that makes a ruling, then changes it just because the coach says he will protest it, makes himself look very bad. If he wasn't sure of the rule in the first place, he shouldn't of been trying to enforce it. If he is sure of the rule, then the threat of a protest should not change his mind about it.

This just starts the game off with the impression that the umpires are wishy-washy and don't know what they're doing. Not a good way to start a game!

 

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Not sure how far you are going back when you say "older", but my daughter has an 04 and an 05. Neither one has set screws. The end cap is held in place with pins. I'm not saying they don't leave the Anderson factory that way, but I've never seen an 04 or 05 with set screws. Maybe that's why they were questioned by the umpire.

 

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These were the '05s and they were not set screws. They are the pinned end caps. I just used the term "set screws" because that is what they were saying. Our bats were not the first Rockettechs they tried tossed. They tossed another teams but they didn't put up too much of a fight I guess. The ump said he tossed three already before he got to our team. Redonkulous.