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December 06, 2011 |
Umpire General Information
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16th Annual MASA Golf Outing |
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| WHEN: | September 09, 2012 ( Sunday ). |
| WHERE: |
Centennial Acres, 12485 Dow Rd. Sunfield, Michigan. More info. at http://centennialacres.com. |
| TEE TIME: |
9:00 AM. Shot gun start scramble format. |
| COST: |
$ 52 per person. Price includes riding cart, green fees, golf balls, and lunch ( served after the golf ). Entries open to individuals / foursomes. I need money prior to deadline to enter your name(s) in the outing. |
| DEADLINE FOR ENTRY: |
September 05, 2012 |
| PROCEEDS: |
To benefit the MASA Hall of Fame. |
| CONTACT: |
Jamie Evans. 517-676-3168 or jamchar1@aol.com |
| CHECKS PAYABLE TO: |
Jamie Evans at 880
Onondaga, Holt, Mi 48842 |
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Letter from the MASA State Umpire-In-Chief |
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MASA Umpires, Welcome to the 2012 softball season for MASA.
While the changes from 2011 to 2012 are few, there is a
significant change that is obvious. The umpire registration for
2012 is necessarily increasing. It will increase by five dollars.
The entire increase is due to the increased number of claims from
umpires over that last two years. Claims rates rose to over 200%
in the last two years. In many cases our ASA umpire insurance,
which is a secondary insurance, became a primary insurance
coverage for many due to losing insurance coverage at people’s
place of employment. That increase was absorbed last year and
umpire registration was not increased. Two significant years of
claims has made that impossible in 2012. Some of our deductibles
for our insurance coverage have been changed to help keep the
insurance cost down. I realize this is not a good time for any
increases to be passed on to umpires. I also realize it is not a
good time to be without insurance coverage due to the ever
increasing cost of health care. The playing rule changes for 2012 are few. 1) The
most significant concern base distances in slow pitch play. The
base distance for all men’s slow pitch play will be 70 feet in
2012. In 2013, 70 bases will be used for all ASA slow pitch
softball except seniors. 2) Wooden
bats made prior to 2000 do not have to have the ASA certification
mark. The wooden bat must comply with the definition of a legal
bat as described in Rule 3 Section 1. 3) Senior
low pitch softball will allow the use of additional bats. They
will be described in Rule 3 Section 1A (4). 4) Some
minor changes in verbiage have been changed under the definition
of handle of a bat and ‘grip tape’ is now replacing ‘safety
grip’. 5) On
ball four in slow pitch play with stealing, the batter-runner may
advance beyond 1st base only if there is a play made on
another base runner or there is an errant throw. Example: if there
are no runners on base when the batter received ball four, the
batter –runner may not advance beyond 1st base unless
there is an errant throw. IE the catcher throws the ball into
center field. 6) A
clarification under Rule 8 Section 7L changes wording from
‘kicked’ to ‘contacts’ in a clarification concerning
interference. Also of note under a code change is the increased penalty for a person and team using an altered bat. Under Article 505 E 04 and 05. A player found I possession of an altered bat and found guilty according to Article 505 shall be suspended for 5 years. A team that is discovered to have within its possession or in control of an altered bat may be suspended for two years. It is time to get the cheaters out of our
game and level the playing field for all. I encourage all umpires to attend one of our many MASA umpire clinics. We have umpire clinics in each of our MASA districts in addition to three MASA State Umpire Clinics which will be offered in Eaton Rapids, Essexville, and Sturgis. All of these clinics are FREE of charge and all are welcome. District umpire clinics are offered on week nights or weekends depending on the needs of the district. The three MASA State Umpire Clinics are day
long (9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) clinics. These state clinics offer a
general session, breakout sessions in classrooms, and mechanics
sessions in a gym, breakout sessions and include classes for
beginning umpires. In addition, MASA will host an ASA National
Umpire School in 2012. It will be in Holland, MI on April 27-29,
2012. Clinicians will be ASA National Deputy Julie Johnson from
Indiana and ASA Regional UIC’s Mike DeLeo from Michigan and
Jerry Fick from Ohio. I encourage umpires from a beginning level
to elite to attend. The school runs from Friday night until Sunday
afternoon. You will find additional information on the
masasoftball.org web site under the umpire program. I wish you all well as you prepare for the
2012 softball season. Thank you, Gary Evans MASA Umpire Staff
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