World Cup of Softball.?!

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I turn on the USA/Puerto Rico game. Third inning, USA up like 5-0. The stands are empty. The PR pitcher tops out at 55 mph. Walks in several runs, they replace her with Ramos. Walks in more runs, and tops out at 58 mph. I've seen several college teams that would crush these teams they are sending over here to play. They need softball back in the Olympics bad. The level of competition is almost at the high school level. jmo

 

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Saw it - thought the same thing.

One thing I found interesting; They called illegal pitch on Jackie Traina a couple of times because she didn't have her hands together for 2 seconds ("International Rules") yet there's also a rule that the batter can't step out of the box during her entire At Bat. Presumably the batter's rule is to speed up the game. I think that the pitcher's rule kinda offsets any time gained by the first rule...

 

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We see many, many of the PR team players in tournaments down here. Their Jr National team players play on a few teams in the state. Pound for pound they don't stack up against our national team. But when you look at it, our National team draws kids from what really is a continent - the US is huge compared to most of the teams we play, size and population wise. Now factor in that we have been playing the sport much longer than most and we should be killing most of these teams. The great thing about softball, and some other international sports, is that if a country can bring together a few talented players they can help drive a sport in their country. Many players on these rosters are actually US citizens. Much like in International basketball years ago these cross over players help the other nations teams develop their own skill base. For softball that is critical in getting the sport back in the Olympics. We will see some better games in the tournament. I am just happy countries are still participating in the sport.

 

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Yeah, PR was definitely no competition for USA. Hopefully there will be some better competition to come. Of course, then I had to try to explain to both my DD's (12 and 9) what the World Cup is and why they don't have softball in the Olympics anymore. I think we all 3 were more confused than when we started by the time we got done talking about it. LOL :lmao:

Although, I do have to say that I enjoyed watching my 12 year old eyes light up when pointing out which players on team USA played for what colleges. "Hey dad.. isn't that J-train from Alabama?.." etc. Her and I watch quite a bit of the NCAA tourny this year, but I had no idea that she was paying that much attention. I actually fealt proud of her in some way...

 

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Saw it - thought the same thing.

One thing I found interesting; They called illegal pitch on Jackie Traina a couple of times because she didn't have her hands together for 2 seconds ("International Rules") yet there's also a rule that the batter can't step out of the box during her entire At Bat. Presumably the batter's rule is to speed up the game. I think that the pitcher's rule kinda offsets any time gained by the first rule...

Don't ever believe anything these so called "expert" commentators have to say about the rules of the game!

This is the same bunch that mangled the substitution rules during the college World Series, commonly interchanges the words "obstruction" and "interference" as if they are the same thing and have repeatedly made idiotic comments like "the hands are part of the bat".

International Softball Federation (ISF) rules DO NOT require the batter to stay in the box between pitches. ASA rules do, with some exceptions (after swinging, if forced out by a wild pitch, if catcher goes to talk to the pitcher, and a few others).

I'm not sure what the announcers were claiming, but the ISF rule is that the pitcher must hold her hands stationary, in front of the body, for not less than two and no more than five seconds prior to starting the pitch. This differs from ASA, high school, NCAA, etc. in that none of those require the hands to be held still when brought together. They allow the hands to be in motion before, during and after they are joined.