I was told at a recent tournament (by the umpire) that a player on my team was not legal because he had a 3-digit number (824) on the back of his jersey. I looked this up in the rule book but can't find where it says that 3 digit is not legal. the numbers met the standard requirements of size and style. Can anyone help me get to the bottom of this?
Thank you
OCSPIKE ... Unfortunately, that umpire "made it up on the fly", and was wrong ... There is no prohibition against three-digit uniform numbers ... Here is the Uniform Rule as amended at the most recent National Rules Committee sessions last fall ...
__________
§3.8 • UNIFORMS • Request to amend allowable uniform numbers to include punctuation (2.4) and symbols (7½) have been made to the SSUSA office recently. Section was amended in part as follows:
B. Numbers – An Arabic whole number of contrasting colors at least 5" (15.24 cm) high must be worn on uniforms. Symbols and/or fractions are not permitted. No players on the same team may wear identical numbers. (Numbers 3 and 03 are examples of identical numbers.) ... • PASSED: 12-0-0
Thank you Dave for confirming!
They told us the same thing in Reno during the women’s tournament!
...and they were wrong there, too ...
Lol! But it came from the directors, not the umps.
The source of the bad information had access to both the Directors and the Umpires! ... It was a totally non-discriminatory screw-up!
So what is the penalty for a player wearing a number with a fraction or decimal? Is he allowed to change it even if the game has started? What if he batted and after the bat it was noted he had an illegal number? Is he declared illegal and ruled out?
The Umpire should not allow the player into the game, so there really isn't any "penalty" other than non-participation. The player will be required to either change jerseys or use tape to cover the offending symbol before being allowed to play. If discovered playing anyway because it may have been missed initially, the players will be removed from the game until the uniform rule has been complied with.
Why would you want 3 numbers on your back and maybe on the front also..??? Maybe the same reason why pro athletes wear neon colored spikes, sneakers, etc etc and they don't match their uniform colors.....
Have a teammate that was in the 501st Airborne. He is pretty proud of it and so am I. He wears 501 with honor.
Dave, in Cat City this weekend, yesterday James, I believe was his name, the umpire told me again you know you can't have more than 2 digits for numbers. I said I asked via email and it has been on the SSUSA message board and yes we can. He said that is NOT what they are telling the umpires and he is just warning us. After the game I signed the score card and told him to please reach out to the director and look up in the SSUSA rule book. Not sure he will. Thank you.
Thanks, sbj13 ... I absolutely believe two things on this issue: [1] That umpire believes that there is a two-digit maximum on uniform numbers and [2] He is completely wrong for believing so! ... The only things we eliminated were fractions/symbols and punctuation ... Thanks for maintaining you calm demeanor in the process! ...
Thanks Dave. Hopefully he asks and or looks up in the rule book.
