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Online now: 4 members: Advil Knight, Bob Downs, Ghost chamber, kotonk; 671 anonymousDetails for Benji4
Real name:
Keith Benjamin
Location:
Port Angeles, WA
Division:
Men's 55
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| Aug. 11, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Product review Discussion: Llerandi Gloves of Houston.. Official Glove of SSUSA Great glove. Lou has excellent customer service and you won't be disappointed with the product. Benji |
| Aug. 5, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Am i wrong to think this way Stick8 I have umpired and played USSSA and I agree testing the bat and putting it in a bucket works, but it takes more personnel and SSUSA would have to keep track of everyone's bats. I could see a bat getting lost and holy hell breaking loose. Then a compression number would also need to be established. ASA a few weeks ago tested and put a sticker on the handle of the bat and gave it back to the player. I heard teams just removed the sticker and placed it on their shaved bat. That type of testing was worthless. Testing may work but like I said SSUSA will have to establish a compression number. And right now most seniors don't want a compression number for their bat. And yes if you have been playing long enough you can hear that some bats sound different. But a legal bat ready to crack also makes a different distinct sound. Tim Associations could establish rules for taking bats so it's not on the players. I just think taking and cutting open bats every time someone gets hit or someone complains will lead to other issues. But it would only take one person receiving a long suspension to possibly deter cheating. We could talk character until you are blue in the face and some people are still going to cheat regardless. Bat companies won't make a bat with a different type of cap because if you shave your bat it probably breaks sooner and then you have to buy another one. It's all about $$$$$$$. Benji |
| Aug. 4, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Am i wrong to think this way Stick and lb16 You propose a strong penalty but here are a few things you fail to realize. SSUSA has a zero chance of determining if a bat is shaved or altered unless they confiscate it and cut it open. Do you believe they want to do that every time someone complains? Who will pay to replace the bat if it's not altered? Do you know how many times teams complain about other player's bats being illegal? A shitload. There is no compression rating for senior bats. If there was, many senior players would complain the bats aren't good and bat companies would not make money. Trust me when I say not all bats are made equally. It's like buying a car some are just simply made better than others. Bat testing will not solve the problem. Like I said there is no compression number for a senior bat. Besides I have seen bats that fail and the person testing just turns the bat to the other side and it passes. Most people testing don't know how to test or simply don't care. What compression number do you want to see 240 like the youngsters? I'm guessing most senior bats test well below that number. You can shave a bat and not use it and it will still pass compression. It will get hotter as the tournament goes. The only proposed problem solver would be to confiscate the bat if a player hits the pitcher. If the pitcher's team believes it is shaved then they pay for the cost of cutting it open and replacing it if it is not altered. Most softball players are cheap so therefore that probably won't work either. People have been cheating in sports for a 100 years and it is not going to change. SSUSA like any other organization has it's hands tied when enforcing any type of altered bat rule other than something that is obvious. Benji |
| July 3, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Combined division at Jim Sherman Dave Did any of these guys questioning your tournament design stop to think that it's a holiday weekend yet you posted the schedules for Salem, and responded to a message board where most do not share their names? Other associations are slow to respond to emails and I don't believe they have message boards where questions are usually answered by you or another staff member in a timely manner. Thanks for what you do and the timeliness of doing it when you should have probably been sitting on your porch admiring your American flag drinking Coors beer this entire weekend. Unfortunately no matter what some people will never be happy. Be safe. Benji |
| July 1, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Llerandi Custom Gloves Love my Llerandi glove. Anyone needing a new custom glove I highly recommend you contact Lou Llerandi. Outstanding product and great customer service. Check Lou out on Instagram or his website. Benji |
| April 22, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: SCHEDULES for Brickyard and Maryland Classic Thanks Tim. Only those that have run tournaments understand your pain. Benji |
| April 18, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Southwest softballs? Dave. Great job clarifying your balls. Carry on. |
| April 4, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Bats Discussion: Cold weather Buy a small propane heater and keep your bats next to the heater. |
| March 21, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Llerandi Gloves- Senior Softball-USA Just ordered my Llerandi custom glove. Not often do you speak directly to the owner of a company and have all your questions answered. Lou walked me through the process and together we developed a custom glove as good or better than the big company names for way less of a price. As I have stated before, call Lou and you will not be disappointed in purchasing a custom glove. Thanks again Lou, Benji |
| March 15, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Product review Discussion: Miken Pro Series Glove Lou, This is great news. Hopefully now people associated with senior softball will appreciate/purchase a great quality softball glove for a fair price. |
| March 2, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Scorekeeping Question It's softball. There are no errors. Only hits and outs. On base percentage is what is calculated. Walks should count as a hit and sacrifice flys are outs. Keep it simple. |
| Jan. 26, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Players looking to join a team Discussion: Looking for Senior League to play in Arizona. The city of Mesa has a senior league I believe on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Check on city of Mesa website. |
| Jan. 25, 2022 Benji4 | Topic: Product review Discussion: Miken Pro Series Glove Buy a Llerandi glove. Family owned small business out of Texas. Best glove you will ever own. |
| Aug. 31, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Sunset Park Tim you forgot: Fields 5-6 have large deep cut infields and Lots of Goose Shit in the outfield. Ha! |
| Aug. 25, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Looking for opinions and or thoughts My understanding is that you have a choice of the 3 options listed above. Like I said kudos to Kellerher in an earlier SSUSA tourney they were the only team that did not take an equalizer. Shadyone33: I can't speak for other teams only that I heard teams at Worlds would be taking it if our team registered as an Open team. And yes I also believe it is about COMPETING. Taking an equalizer at the Major Plus level in the same age category is not about competing. Benji |
| Aug. 23, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Looking for opinions and or thoughts This year SSUSA established an Open Division for teams that pick up 2 players on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from their perspective original area of registration. The Open teams must give an equalizer to their opponents. There are 3 options of equalizers: 1. Play straight up 2. Give 5 runs 3. Give an 11th defensive player My own opinion is we play at the Major Plus level already so personally I don't care who is on your roster and you can bring guys from out of the Country and my team will play you straight up. I believe the rule was established so teams don't load up at Worlds. In my case I have played 10 tournaments with my current "Open Major Plus" team. Only one tournament did teams take the 11th player or runs. Kudos to Kellerher who could have taken an equalizer, but chose to play straight up. Having to play against other Major Plus teams with an 11th defensive player makes it virtually impossible to win a Championship, but it's softball so it could be done. Questions: 1. If you take the runs or the 11th player should you have an asterisk next to your Team name if you win Worlds using the equalizer? 2. If you have a great team already with a good sponsor, you have the best players $$ can buy, you have players in the HOF, you have players with names on bats, will taking an equalizer change your legacy or people's perspective of you? 3. If you played against a team before that took the 11th player and you were angry and stated you would never do that and now your team says they will take an equalizer does that make you a hypocrite? Please don't tell me rules are rules. Stopping at stop signs, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Adultery (in some states) are all part of society's rules and they are broken daily by many. Just interested in people's thoughts. And my questions are just hypothetically speaking of course. Thanks Benji |
| April 4, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: 55 Major+ Teams There are not 30 major plus teams. There are a lot of teams listed that have either folded or aged up. The west coast teams that play regularly are Sommerville, Cornerstone, and Miken from Nor Cal. The East has Team USA, Kellerher, Adidas, and sometimes Phoenix Tube that play regularly. Ohio Elite, and Minnesota come to Vegas for Worlds. If there are teams missing that play regularly please let me know but I'm thinking there isn't. Unless teams start wanting to compete at a higher level, I don't see many opportunities for the Major Plus division in 55 or 60. Benji |
| March 10, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: LVSSA Mike Nicholas As long as you aren't in your 20's, wore skinny jeans yoga pants, or challenged players to a fight in the parking lot then you have nothing to worry about reference my first post. If you are either of those two umpires then you stink......... Benji |
| March 4, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: LVSSA Personally I am glad SSUSA distanced themselves from LVSSA. The LVSSA tourney in Bullhead City last weekend was a CLOWN SHOW. No directors available, mis-information provided by Directors, kid umpires wearing skinny jean yoga pants who don't know the rules, other umpires challenging players to a fight in the parking lot, drop dead time rules in the middle of an inning, seeding games that we were later told didn't matter. So for me personally I couldn't care less what LVSSA posted about SSUSA. There is no comparison. Won't be playing LVSSA anytime soon because it is a CLOWN SHOW........... Benji |
| March 3, 2021 Benji4 | Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: shoes DC I have had mine for 6 months. Played about 75 games so far wearing them. In good condition still. Played on dirt, grass and turf and good grip on all. |
