High School player's game winning home run shatters own vehicle window. http://m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-frontpage/...ref_w=frontdoors&view=today&.intl=us&.lang=en
Did anyone ever play against Chuckey Doak on their home field? A long fly ball is a homer but I still brag about my two-run "bomb" I hit there.
I've seen the field. I wonder what their home vs away HR stats are like? Bet they're skewed more than most.
Unicoi County is the same way. Cracker Jack box. Funny thing about their field is they put up signs that say 310 or 325 down the lines when you know it's much shorter. I guess a town that would hang an elephant with a railroad crane is capable of most anything. Even though I played in the area, I never played at the Doak.
I googled all time home run leaders for the state and the top 2 or 3 were from Unicoi. That explains it.
As Jo said, it's a combination of the two. Unicoi is a baseball factory. Former pro pitcher Ed Whitson is from there. They have had others in the Bigs as well. They are known for killing the ball, but their short porch certainly helps. Their softball team is the same way. Not accusing anyone of anything, but three years ago in the Eastman Softball Tourney, I was waiting for our game to start and watching Unicoi play. They had an all aluminum bat break clean in two. The coaches rushed onto the field in a big hurry to get the remains of the bat. A red flag went up in my mind. I immediately thought that their bats were shaved to make them lighter. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they were.
Lexington's high school field is 314 down the lines and 345 to center. The bright side is you learn to be a ground ball pitcher.
I didn't know aluminum bats broke in two. Cracked or bent, but broken clean in two? That seems really, really suspicious.
Sheared clean in two. It's very common for aluminum bats that have been shaved down on a lathe from the inside to make them lighter to do this. It's illegal and dangerous as hell. Imagine your daughter is a pitcher. She's around 38-40 feet away after striding when 1/2 of an aluminum bat with extremely sharp edges comes flying at her at a speed that would get you a fine on most highways. If my daughter or even player is hurt or worse because some jakeleg wants his daughter or coach wants his/her players to have the unfair advantage of greater bat speed, at the very least someone's taking a severe ass whipping with a fully intact bat if need be. Bullshit like that is absolutely pathetic. Unfortunately, there are more than a handful of teams in my small area alone that I wouldn't be one bit surprised if they got caught doing that. Parents and unfortunately some coaches are that damn crooked anymore. It's pathetic.
Umpires can't make routine calls or memorize the rules anymore for the most part. What you are proposing is far too advance for them to execute.
To my knowledge, high schools are responsible for checking thier own equipment pregame now. Another damning indictment on the TSSAA.
Umpires check our helmets and bats every game. They check for cracks, dents, 'ring' the bats to check diameter, and look for an ASA of NFHS stamp. They still couldn't tell if they have been shaved from the inside.