As your schedules fill up and the weather slowly gets warmer, please remember to dress properly for the early spring games that are coming up. Thermal compression wear, gloves, and hand warmers are all very helpful in cold weather. A balaclava type ski mask is always helpful (remember to keep the head warm). Pay close attention to the threat of wind once the sun goes down!
As you know, our next association meeting is Sunday night, March 2nd. The meeting will start at 7pm sharp and should last no more than 90 minutes at the very most. This is a remote meeting; a Zoom invite will be sent shortly before the meeting – please look for that. This is an important meeting for several reasons. First, we have a presentation from our rule’s interpreter regarding the rules test, then our training team has a mechanics presentation. Best of all, you don’t have to listen to me talking (not much anyway😊)! Please remember, attendance at membership meetings is expected.
Speaking of rules, if you still need rule books, I have a small quantity. Reach out directly to me and we can set something up (I live in Centreville.) Rob Porter has most of the books; you can usually find him at one of the classroom training sessions.
I want to say a few words about an issue the membership will soon vote on. These are amendments to the uniform policy. You will see the uniform//policy on the NVBUA-MAC web site in the near future. We are asking you to consider three amendments at this time. The first is to change our default color to black, the second is to allow ski caps in cold weather, and the third is to allow shorts in hot weather. We are asking you to vote for each amendment separately. More on that soon. In the meantime, nothing is changing! Even if the new policy is approved, there is still a two-year transition period. Even then, please note that the policy is clear about one thing. You don’t have to wear any one particular color at a game! You can still wear blue if you like, as long as the crew matches
We have a couple new contributors this week. Vin Vena tells us that coaches simply do not know the rules. I can certainly relate. Here are three quick examples of rules that varsity coaches did not know. One varsity coach believed that a runner who overran first could be tagged out simply by turning to his left when going to back to the base, Not true – he must make an attempt to go to second – (8.2.7). Next is the coach who thought that any pop-up slide is illegal and a violation of the force play slide rule. Remember, for a pop-up slide to be illegal, the runner must pop up into a fielder (2-32-2-a). Finally, we have the coach who couldn’t believe that a pitcher could legally throw to an unoccupied base for the purpose of making a play on a runner trying to steal that base. Again, remember that is perfectly legal (6-2-2-a). Another new contributor is Andrew Klinger, who writes that being young can be an advantage as well as a disadvantage, depending on how you approach your game. Thanks guys, for your contributions.
That’s all I got! Have a great day.
Dave Maher
President
[email protected]
703-909-4852