Our team recently played an SSUSA non-sanctioned tournament in Prescott, AZ, which was to be based on SSUSA rules with some minor local modifications. During the tournament, one team's players were using first basemen's mitts at second base and pitcher. this was not spelled out in the local rule modifications.
When I brought this up to the organizer as an infraction of SSUSA rules I was told that at the SSUSA December rules meeting this rule was changed to allow mitts to be used at any position so they were allowing it in the tournament. I was also told that this information was posted on the SSUSA web site but changed too late to be printed in the current official rule book. Unfortunately, I can not find where this rule was changed and it isn't changed in the currently published 2017-2018 rule book.
According to current SSUSA rules, is a mitt allowed to be used by any position player or only the catcher and first baseman as stated in the printed rule book? If not, what is the penalty for this infraction? If so, when will it be published in the official rule book?
I'd appreciate clarification on this issue.
Thank you.
Steve Garceau
Tucson, AZ
Steve, See the Summary of Significant Rule Changes above.
§3.6 • GLOVES
Gloves and mitts may be worn by any player........
Steve, on the main message board there are 3 sections in pink that say priority.
The middle one being about rule changes.
If you look at the last one in the middle section it says 'significant rule changes for 2018 season.
The first rule change allows gloves and mitts at any position.
My guess is it will be published when the next edition comes out for 2018-2019
Steve ... We print the "hard copy" Rulebook every other year, and issue a "Supplement" in the non-print years ... Panther and k man have both correctly stated the rules change regarding mitts ... Good luck!
Curious as to the reasoning behind this change?
Dbax ... The "allow mitts for all players" change [1] brought SSUSA into consistency with all the other associations that allow it and [2] adapted to the reality that many gloves being made today already exceed the maximum dimensions we had in the Rulebook for gloves ... A related, and maybe better question for which I don't have an answer, is why the restriction was put in by every association decades ago? ...
Thanks Dave. I see some players with 15" gloves now. Are they legal? What's the largest glove that is legal in SSUSA?
The bigger, the better! It's survival in the field with these bats!
Thank you all for the confirmation.
This was a looooooong discussion at the tournament - not a problem, just a conversation with different opinions on what the rule was.
I am Chief Umpire for our house league which uses SSUSA rules as it's base and it helps me understand as many rules as I can.
Thanks to all contributors again.
Steve
I'm sorry but whether it's 15 inch glove, a mitt, a couch cushion.. doesn't matter if you can't catch it to begin with that is a problem, LMAO
VQ ... A long time ago, a guy who I thought was an "old guy", but really wasn't since I'm in his then-age group now, told me: "..This used to be a lot easier game when you only had to get three outs an inning. Now we need to get five or six outs because we can't catch it or throw it where we want anymore.." ... So very true!
The bottom line is don't hit the ball to a player hit the gaps and the glove is no longer an issue.
