Happy spring, Slo-pitchers,
It’s almost that time of year again, we will be starting our season (field conditions permitting) on Tuesday, May 14th. At the conclusion of the first game we will have our official opening ceremony at approximately 9:30, so come on out if you can and watch as the mayor tries to put a pitch somewhere in the general vicinity of the strike zone! Phil McKeating will also deliver the annual tribute to former players we have lost in the past year, and Barry Johnson will have some words of welcome for our newest members.
There are a couple of rule changes this year, based on our annual survey results; there will be no more shifting of infielders to one side of the diamond, there must be 2 infielders on each side of second base until the pitch is delivered. Also, infielders must be standing on the infield dirt at the time of the pitch, no more lining up out on the grass.
The rest of the survey results are now available, most questions had a clear majority which has been followed, including remaining at the Kinsmen for our regular season and round-robin and then playing our finals at East City Bowl. The infield fly question was exactly 50-50, so we’ll leave that one as is for simplicity. The question of prizes vs. donation at the end of the season was also almost a toss up, so in appreciation of our loyal sponsors we will be staying with prizes for the winning teams.
There has been some concern about the length of our game days, particularly last season when we went from 11 on the field to 10. This league experimented with time limits several seasons ago, but the consensus at that time was the players preferred to get their whole 7 inning games even if they went a bit long. Just be aware it’s something we’re keeping an eye on, so if players and umpires can make an effort to keep the games moving, hopefully we can avoid revisiting the time limits.
That’s it for now, I look forward to seeing everyone out on the diamond in just a few weeks!
Play ball!