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Details for JohnO28

Real name:

John OSullivan

Location:

Oak Forest IL

Division:

Men's 50

Messages posted by JohnO28

Feb. 26, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Runner missing scoring plate Not Dave, What is the rule for 1 runner passing another runner on the basepath?
Feb. 26, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: Players looking to join a team Discussion: 55AA player looking for a great lakes area team It would help to say which state your from instead of saying the Great Lakes area, with SSUSA having the bordering states rule not all of the "Great Lakes" states are bordering.
Feb. 26, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Runner missing scoring plate Nancy, You're entitled to your opinion but if the Ump is watching the first runner and he clearly sees he missed the plate and then sees the second runner touch the plate he has to call one of them out. By your logic if there is a runner on 1B and runner on 2B and the runner on 1B passes the runner who started on 2B that isn't an appeal play the runner that was on 1B is automatically out and play continues. Now I would agree with your statement if there was only 1 runner and he failed to touch home plate the ump shouldn't say anything unless questioned on it. However seeing as the ump SAW the first runner miss the plate and then WITNESSED the second runner touch the plate the second runner immediately is called out and it's up to the defense to appeal the first runners status.
Feb. 26, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Midwest Championships Bob21, I agree, living in the Chicago area my whole life March and April are always crap shoots for weather. I don't have any confirmation on this but I would assume you're correct that in order to host this tourney that was the only time they were able to book the fields. Slowpitch is the redheaded step child of being able to reserve fields for baseball/softball and Seniors are more like the illegitimate step children of those red headed stepchildren. That all being said that is where I think SSUSA should allow the use of non SSUSA approved bats for those cold temp tourneys, if the don't the only way to get your opinions across is to not play. If we continue to play in those temps under those rules nothing will change.
Feb. 25, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Runner missing scoring plate I wouldn't necessarily say it's an appeal play IMO. If the Ump is paying attention and sees the first runner never touches the scoring plate but the second runner does he should declare dead ball and the 2nd runner is automatically called out for passing the runner in front of him.
Feb. 25, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Midwest Championships Parman, I honestly hope that NO softball tourney is ever canceled, I can't agree with that truth be told. As a Manager of a team of 55 years olds who aside from 1(retired) all still work full time jobs it takes a lot of planning to pick and choose each tourney we will be playing at each year. Guys have to schedule everything weeks/months in advance just to be able to play and that's the same for virtually every player up and down the roster so hoping something gets canceled to me is just wrong. I do however wish that SSUSA would consider allowing players to use bats of choice in the earlier colder months to prevent having to use the most fragile bats on the market and aside from one company they're all non warrantied bats. Each and every year bat costs go up for players as well as bat manufacturers and everyone involved in the sales of bats. So for us players to have to choose between playing in a "Championship"(I use quotes for a reason and will explain below) in months that are historically known for being too cold for them to be used sucks. Nothing about playing Senior softball is cheap and it certainly isn't getting any cheaper anytime soon, so to have to either miss out playing or risk a couple hundred dollar investment IMO isn't something we should have to choose between. We just played ISSA Worlds in Tampa a few weeks ago and the air temp was mid to low 40's with windchills in the low 20s on Saturday and I saw multiple bats in the garbage cans in Florida of all places because they were cracked. Was it because it was their time and they were ready to break anyhow or the cold I don't know but there were at least 5 or 6 I saw broken. For these early tourneys IMO SSUSA should allow the use of ASA/USA, USSSA approved bats to be used when temps are that cold. They're not supposed to be used in those cold temps either but they're more durable than the Senior bats are and are/can still carry a warranty so you're not losing out on your investment(excludes bats past warranty) and still be able to play those early tourneys. It's not like we're going to be using hotter equipment it's just more durable so it would actually be safer and up until I think 2024 they were allowed. I am sure SSUSA has reasons for scheduling these tourneys that early in the year that we don't know about and more than likely won't be made known to us but we always have the option not to play in them. The reason for the "Championship" above is I've never understood how you host a Championship at the BEGINNING of the year. IMO a Championship is something teams strive to get to throughout the year to play in at the end of the year. It shouldn't be something you are playing in at the very beginning of the year, maybe it's just wording but when someone tells me they won a Championship and I see it was being played in March in the Midwest I'm far less impressed with that "Championship". IMO it's a poor choice of a name for a tourney that most teams that will be playing it will be they're first tourney of the year, or maybe it's Genius because the name "Championship" might draw more teams. Long post to disagree with you for hoping it's canceled but it is what it is.
Feb. 24, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: Midwest Championships Scheduling tourneys in areas where the average temp for the 3rd week of March is 35-55 degrees then enforcing the SSUSA only bats that the Manufacturers themselves say no to hit below 60 degrees is stupid. Not shocking
Jan. 23, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Requesting an Intentional 3rd out Dave, That might be my favorite answer of yours of all time(aside from when I had offered input on something and you acknowledge that I was right LOL). I honestly believe with the amount of time and money we all spend playing softball(all associations as well as league) that all games should be 7 innings regardless. However, I also know that isn't really sustainable, as it is virtually every single tourney I've ever played the games run late even when some only last 5 innings.
Jan. 21, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Requesting an Intentional 3rd out Recently read something about when you're getting close to time limit and you have 2 outs and want to finish an inning prior to the game clock expiring you can ask the ump to take your 3rd out without having to run someone out to the batters box. This would be if you can see a team intentionally stalling on the field trying to run out the clock and you're down several runs and nobody on with 2 outs. It's been said you can ask the ump to take an intentional 3rd out just like you would ask for an intentional walk, is there any truth to this? I've never seen this done and can't remember ever seeing it in a rule book.
Jan. 16, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: Tournaments Discussion: When numbers in a division are low Westersizzle, I don't work for SSUSA and I'm sure Dave will be along to answer this better. I do believe there are midseason bumps made in certain circumstances but, 50AAA teams shouldn't be bumped up just to create more 50M teams at tournaments. Now, if that 50AAA team is running through everyone in the area then yes they should be considered to be bumped up to 50M but to do it just to create more teams isn't fair to that team. Plus we all know just because a 50AAA team is good at a few tourneys in the Midwest doesn't mean they are a legit 50M in other geographic areas where they might travel to play.
Jan. 14, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question MCK71, Definitely not saying that that notification about a player not being able to be added due to them being 2 levels above because I've never tried to do it so I wouldn't have ever seen it. I just know there are a few things that pop up as to why you can't add a player. I believe it's usually because they're already on a team, not the correct age group and I believe if they're not a neighboring state it will pop us as well. I just checked and the only notifications I can see currently when trying to add a player is either age restriction and Geographic locations.
Jan. 14, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question DKrollw364, You keep asking the same question and changing your wording. You can't at any time have more than 3 "Chip" players on your master roster. In order to add a player to your tourney roster that is a "Chip" you would have to drop one of the other "Chip" players thus making them ineligible to play for you again that season. I could be wrong on this an "IDLE" player as you're referring to is a player who isn't on a roster currently and is a free agent. I've been running teams for quite a while now and I have never seen an option to "IDLE" a player especially when you're using it to circumvent the system. Once they're on you're on your team the options are to keep them or send an email to SSUSA releasing them and once that's done they can't play for you the rest of the year and also limits them to only playing for whatever team picks them up afterwards. IF they've been on your roster and leave they are only allowed to play for one other team for the rest of the year, pretty much to prevent team hopping. MCK71, I've never seen that pop up when adding a "Chip" player to any of my teams. You can add them, the only notification I've seen is if you're trying to add a player that isn't eligible like a 50s player on a 55 team or a player on another team. I've never even seen a notification saying I couldn't add a player even if they were 2 divisions above. But then again, I've never tried to add a M+ player to my AAA team.
Jan. 12, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question NO
Jan. 12, 2026 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Roster Question Someone like DD will have a better answer for you however as far as I know you would have to carry them on your roster all year which would then give you 4 Major players bumping you up to Major. There might be a loophole by adding and dropping for each tourney but then you would have to submit an email to SSUSA HQ each time you wanted to drop them to add one of the other ones and from what I have been told once they're dropped from your roster they can't come back and play for you again. Will be interesting to see SSUSA answer on this but IMO the rules are written so this can't be done
Nov. 24, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Pitching screens for tournament play 2026 Stick8, I thought the same thing, but if you play One Nation(not available everywhere I know) the rules state that if one team wants to use the pitching screen both teams have to use it. It's not optional for the other team which to me makes no sense and I've been fighting with them over it for the past 2 years. If it's an option for 1 team it should be an option for both teams. Makes no sense to me.
Oct. 20, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Illegal Pitch Rule I know this isn't the SSUSA rule but just curious about how everyone feels about the associations where they don't call illegal pitch until after it lands. I like the way the rule is written in SSUSA that it's called while the pitch is in the air but other places don't call it until after it lands. To me that makes zero sense at all, the spirit of the rule is there to assist the batter. How are you helping the batter when there is no verbal or even hand signal saying it's an illegal pitch. I don't agree with the hand signal either but at least if the on deck batter is paying attention he can tell the batter it's illegal if the ump puts out a hand. But when the ump does nothing until after the pitch lands what is even the point.
Oct. 14, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Pitching screens for tournament play 2026 John Edinger, I don't pitch but when we play places that allow screens I leave it up to my pitcher to decide if they want to use it or not. There is good and bad points to a screen and with the varying rules regarding the usage it can be a huge advantage for some teams defensively. In One Nation if one team wants to use the screen BOTH teams HAVE to use the screen, you're not given a choice even if you don't want to use it. That might be the dumbest rule I've ever heard and if that wasn't enough they combine it with the Pitcher is also allowed to field the ball as well. I've only played a couple TPSSA tourneys and have rarely seen them used but like their rules pertaining to their use. Can't recall ever seeing one used in ISSA but that doesn't mean I haven't seen one. LOL.. Things run together and I don't always remember which tourney was which where I've seen screens. I do feel that associations that allow screens but forbid pitchers from being the first person to touch the ball is a good thing safety wise but also gives the defense an upper hand. A screens fielding percentage is always 100% if it hits it, pitchers not so much there is still the human error factor in not using a screen. I'd be willing to be no matter how many pitchers chime in to say Middles Closed less than 70% of the balls hit back at them are fielded, especially the longer a tourney going on.
Oct. 9, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Purposeful Stalling Stick8, Seems reasonable, I have honestly never once seen an umpire add more time to a timer in all the years i've been playing. Most seem not to care about it even when I hear them say hurry in and hurry out it doesn't seem like there's much intent behind it. Not all Umps mind you but most seem detached from caring about it.
Oct. 9, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: Rules of the game Discussion: Purposeful Stalling Anthony, I think to some extent we all see some stalling at every tourney throughout the year. 5 minutes is very excessive for a pitcher to get ready for sure. I will tell you this since it's your first post, posting on here will accomplish nothing. The power to be have said countless times the rules committee will never vote on something they read on here, if you want it to be considered then you either have to show up at the annual rules committee meeting which are posted on this site or write a formal letter to them for it to be considered. Posting on here might help you gain some traction and get more people thinking like you are but it won't get presented to the rules committee without it being done in one of the two ways I mentioned.
Oct. 7, 2025 JohnO28	Topic: General and miscellaneous Discussion: Whats the ruling? Dave, Thank you, next time I will just have to say I want to file a formal protest.

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