Mens' European Championship fastpitch softball

[chilam1976]

is that a legal pitch? this guys are jumping before release the ball

[doyle9495]

@chilam1976 you can hop in mens ball

[caspar19752011]

I came across this video by accident and i recognized some things. After a good study i concluded that this is not the European Championship but the Zeister Slot Toernooi, an international tournament held every year at my club, Phoenix in Zeist, The Netherlands. The fields in the video are our old fields, we left that venue about 6 or 7 years ago and moved to another venue in Zeist.

Great to see this video, thumbs up!!

[mastergee4263]

He does not look like he has much on his pitches and this is the champions??

[lowslungbooty]

Wow, you guys are so lame with your rule bitching...and both of you are WRONG on this video. This is the Danish National team- Martin Holmberg pitching...I've batted against him many times. The International rules are what they are playing by, but you keep quoting ASA rules. Both feet start on the rubber and you land once...nothing about the toe..that is American. Martin does indeed also crow hop off of that plant when he can get away with it...

[LouIsFatAndSassy]

Hey kids...get each other's phone numbers and chat all you want. Don't air out your personal crap here.

[yankeeG]

I have umped, and, no thanks, it is a thankless job. But there's good ones and bad ones. you know where you fall on my list. I have managed about 200 games in my life, and I did all right everywhere I went, and I was respected enough to be offered positions as a High school Head coach twice, both of which I declined. I know the game.

[bagpiper2005]

The fact that you have done it and realize it's a thankless job means you have no right to give us grief. If you can't take the heat, don't dish it. You're a hypocrite.

[yankeeG]

*Mathematician by training

*Current occupation: tutor/teacher

*Gay-rights activist

*Anti-circumcision activist

*Bagpiper/Guitarist

*Atheist

*Graves' Disease Sufferer

*WPW Sufferer

*Scotch and Beer Connaisseur

[yankeeG]

Sounds like Bagpipes aren't the only bags he plays, You got a list of issues, and seem to 'suffer' a lot. I know this, son... I don't like you. And you suck at the bagpipes. And you suck as an umpire, bagpipe boy. Those who can't do teach, and ump. Get some god in your life and give up the 'lewd' lifestyle. You'll be a better person for it. Oh, yeah, QUIT Umping and Quit Humpung.

[yankeeG]

and you are all of these- you're a weirdo.

*Gay-rights activist

*Anti-circumcision activist

*Bagpiper/Guitarist

*Atheist

*Graves' Disease Sufferer

*WPW Sufferer

*Scotch and Beer Connaisseur

[bagpiper2005]

Ummm...people say I'm quite a good bagpipe player, thank you. Everyone who hires me to perform at their wedding/funeral/etc. would recommend me to the next person. I must be doing something right.

Yes, I have advanced degrees in mathematics, therefore I'm smarter than you.

Teaching is a tough job, I'm normally awake at 4 AM and don't go to bed until around midnight. The time is spent usually researching teaching methods and grading papers.

[bagpiper2005]

Yes, gays/lesbians/bisexuals/transg­enders deserve all of the same rights and privileges as a straight person.

Circumcision reduces a man's sexual pleasure by over 75%, and there is no real medical indication for it.

Music is a form of release for me.

Hey, at least I'm smart enough to realize "God" doesn't exist!

Graves' Disease is a nasty thyroid disease that makes you feel like crap. Maybe if you'd know how sick I feel all the time you'd give me a little bit of leniency.

[bagpiper2005]

WPW (formal name Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome) is a heart defect which can trigger a deadly arrhythmia at any time. It also causes my heart to beat erratically at times. It's uncomfortable.

I love beer and I love Scotch, but I don't overdo it. I drink in moderation.

Wow...it's amazing when people will attack what you do for a living just because they don't like you as an umpire. It just goes to show you coaches DO have a personal chip on their shoulder about ALL umpires.

[yankeeG]

I have had a heart attack, leukemia, and other health issues, and I'm not gay, and I know God. Oh, yeah, an MBA. So put your uncircumcised brain back in your pants and realize that it's NOT ABOUT YOU, as you seem to believe, I can see how sick you are, in more ways than one...

[bagpiper2005]

Somehow I think you're just making up shit.

MBA? That's not a real degree. Anybody can get one of those. Once you get a degree in math or a hard science (such as physics or chemistry) I'll take you seriously.

I'm not preoccupied with sex...what gave you that idea?

For a "Godly" person you sure don't act Godly. Whatever happened to love thy neighbor? You're just acting like your God I guess...who is a capriciously malevolent bully and deserves no worship anyway.

[bagpiper2005]

There is nothing wrong with being gay, and even so, just because I'm a gay-rights activist means I'm gay? Hmm...isn't that a bit of a logical fallacy?

I'm actually circumcised, thank you, but restored. You honestly think you're insulting me and you really aren't. What do you think you're doing? Exposing me? Haha. Nice try. Everyone who knows me knows how I am, and they either love me or hate me, if you choose to hate me I'm not too worried about it, honestly. I hate certain people too.

[bagpiper2005]

Rule 6 Section 3 LEGAL DELIVERY:

J: (Men's only) Pushing off and dragging the pivot foot in contact with the ground, OR IF BOTH FEET ARE IN THE AIR, HAVING TOES OF THE PIVOT FOOT IN THE DOWNWARD DIRECTION IS REQUIRED.

Ha. See there. I was right. That's on page 83 of the ASA/NSA rulebook if you're curious.

[yankeeG]

Then here is my point... If they are LEAPING and LANDING on that pivot foot, then BY DEFINITION it is not pointing downward. therefore, Illegal pitch. However, it sounds like you'd be inclined to disallow my challenge, so my only recourse would be to hit him in the ribs with a fastball when he hits (I was a catcher, and we had a sign for that). Obviously the ASA rule has changed since I retired some 20 years back.

[bagpiper2005]

You'd be careful doing that too. I've ejected pitchers for intentionally hitting batters. Also, you can't leap without first pointing your toes down. It's simple physiology. And its' possible to land on the toes.

Jesus Fucking Christ you are ignorant. Just as most coaches are. There's a reason people call me a "walking rulebook." If you'll look closely, the toes are indeed in a downward position.

[yankeeG]

AAH... profanity and personal attacks, the last refuge of the person who has no argument. I don't like cheaters, and I don't like umpires who like to bend the rules so that "their will be done". Ity makes the GAME about them. There is no place in the great game for Umpires like you. BTW I just leaped and had my toes not pointed down, Surprise!!! I landed on the SOLES, not the toes of my feet. Like this cheating girly pitcher you defend so vehemently... I'd have my pitcher hit YOU..

[bagpiper2005]

If you did that I would forfeit the game and press assault charges on your pitcher. It's happened before and that's exactly what happened.

[bagpiper2005]

BTW, I've worked the high school state tournament here three years in a row, in addition I do collegiate ball. I enforce rules as are prescribed by the set for that particular level/rule system. Your kind of coach isn't tolerated here. I've gotten several coaches banned for life for the type of behavior you tout.

[yankeeG]

So you favor the cheater over the rule-abider... Excellent umping, bag o' wind. In looking at the rules, ALL "Crow Hopping" is illegal for pitchers. Therefore, if they LAND before the pitch is released, illegal pitch. You fail, and you are a lousy umpire. Prove to me that pitch that got my me hit you on purpose. You're just a bad ump who should be tossed out on your ass. You don't love the game. You love power. I'm done with you.

[bagpiper2005]

I'm telling you this guy is not cheating. He's not gaining any advantage and he's for sure not double-pushing. I can see it very clearly.

Prove it to you? I actually don't have to. Here, the benefit of the doubt is always given to sports officials. It's the law here. So much as touching a a sports official with one finger is considered assault with battery.

If I'm such a bad umpire that's why, at just 7 years experience, I'm working high school state tournaments and collegiate ball huh?

[bagpiper2005]

By the way, I dare you to do my job for one game. I bet you'd probably suck it up because you don't know how to get in position to make the calls, and heck, you probably don't even know how the strike zone is defined to begin with. Most coaches don't.

[yankeeG]

With that motion I would be on the Umpire every pitch. That girly hippity hop is illegal- foot not on the rubber at release...

[IIvIIegosh]

he doesnt have girly feet though, his 2 feet might be touching the mound, looks close enough to me.

[4rob7]

your aloud to hop when you get to that age and level

[bagpiper2005]

Actually in men's fast-pitch it's legal. Yes, the pitching rules are completely different.

[yankeeG]

I played, managed, and managed girl's High school FP. I would be all over the umpire, and I'd be right. the foot is supposed to be ON THE RUBBER at release. the Hop is meant to reduce the distance from hand to plate, therefore making it illegal.

[bagpiper2005]

Different rules for different settings. In girls' High School FP, yes, the foot is supposed to be in contact with the rubber. In ASA, NSA, USSSA, NCAA, and ISF women's, the foot is also supposed to be on the rubber. However, in men's FP, the foot is allowed to come off of the rubber provided that the foot is pointed straight straight down at the ground. Don't believe me? Buy an ASA rulebook and look it up! I would know...I'm an umpire of 7 years experience, and BTW, your ass would be ejected....

[bagpiper2005]

....if you rode me like that. I don't tolerate any bullshit from coaches. There's a reason they call me the "ejection seat umpire." Haha.

[yankeeG]

Then I'd have you in front of the league board. You'd eject me once. You'd ump the league no more. The 'hop' is an illegal ploy to shorten the distance from hand to plate. THAT is why I'd complain, not that the foot came off the rubber.

[bagpiper2005]

For what? I eject coaches for disrespecting me. I am the authority figure on that field, and you pay the price if you disrespect me. I'd love to see you talk to a cop the same way you talk to an umpire.

Besides that, if it was women's FP I'd nail the pitcher every time, because it's illegal in women's FP. In men's FP, I keep telling you, it's perfectly fine in men's FP. The rules ARE different. Why don't you believe me when I say that?

[yankeeG]

because the INTENT is to cheat, to gain an advantage by shortening the 46' . THAT is NOT 'perfectly fine'. If you allowed it to continue, I wouldn't complain during the game, but I'd have someone video the motion and bring it to the league attention. I would also assign a bench jockey to ride the pitcher unmercifully. And I'd have my pitcher lay a couple of batters down, to boot.

[bagpiper2005]

If you were coaching a men's team, I'm sorry, but you would lose that fight because it is legal (note I said it's only legal in the men's game). If you want that rule changed you would have to complain to the governing body directly.

Then there's always this: if it's legal, tell your pitchers to do it too. Even the score a bit ;-)

[bagpiper2005]

(By the governing body I mean the ASA/NSA/NFHS corporporate office).

[kron0725]

y cant they jus play baseball...this is so gay pitching underhand....

[fastpitch08]

maybe you just have to do it to understand. i bet that once you do you would have a new outlook at it. throwing underhand is in NO WAY easy. and standing in that batters box watching that ball shoot up on is something you will never see in hardball.

[aaronjleahy]

softball 7 innings 2 hours

baseball 9 innings 3.5 hours

[dogmasterflex]

Man softball is so dirty.. its way better then hardball.. i wish it was more popular