Manitowoc Softball Commission
The Commission’s main objective is to assist the Parks & Recreation Department in promoting the sport of softball in Manitowoc. The Commission will make recommendations to the Parks & Recreation Department on issues such as league rules, equipment restrictions, facility improvements, and program administration.
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What can a Softball Commission do?
 | Offer players, managers and sponsors a proper forum to air concerns |
| Provide players, managers and sponsors with a more disciplined voice for giving input to the Department. |
| Better organize players to contribute ideas, efforts, funds to for the improvement of the program and facilities. |
| Assist the Department with "hot" issues, so that solutions are shared, not just the ideas of one person. |
| Assist the Department in recruiting and evaluating staff for the program. |
| Assist the Department with promotion of the program. |
| Assist the Department with League/Division Classification. |
| Assist the Department with softball "extra-curriculars" ie., tournaments, hall of fame, banquets, fund raisers, etc. |
| Extend the eyes and ears of the Department. |
| Assist the Department in enforcing policies and rules of play. |
SOFTBALL COMMISSION CALENDAR
*New term for 1/3 of Commissioners and all Officers.
** New Commissioners and Officers for the next year are
elected.
– All regular meetings will begin at 6:00 p.m. and
take place in the Citizen Park Meeting Room unless determined otherwise by
the Commission.
-- The information meeting will be held at the Manitowoc Senior Center,
3330 Custer St. at 6:00 p.m..
– The classification meeting will take place following
the April 8, 2002 regular meeting.
– Special Meetings may be called to handle
important/urgent matters.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
| COMMISSIONER | PHONE | CURRENT TERM EXPIRES |
|
Tony Krogh Kent Miller Gary Heinzen Steve Sanders Rick Klein Chris Hatcher Jon Newberg John Salzman |
684-3342 686-9526 684-4964 684-1368 652-0991 682-8321 684-3834 794-8875 |
12/31/2004 12/31/2004 12/31/2003 12/31/2003 12/31/2003 12/31/2002 12/31/2002 12/31/2002 |
| PAST COMMISSIONER | SERVED | |
| Dick Leneau | 7/00 -- 12/01 |
2002 GOALS
1. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will create, promote, administer and evaluate a city tournament for the Summer of 2002. The tournament will encourage participation by all league teams by creating a variety of appropriate divisions and keeping the price reasonable. Money raised by the tournament, after covering all associated costs, will go back into the Diamond Improvement Fund.
2. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will recommend changes to the current concessions format including the possibility of providing beer sales to the Parks & Recreation Department staff, Recreation Board, Parks & Recreation Committee and, if necessary, the City Council by January 1, 2002.
2000-2001 GOALS
1. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will develop a classification system that will ensure appropriate competition, with a 95% success rate, in each division by February, 2001.
Divisions 1-5 will be created with division 1 as the highest ability level, division 2 the next highest and so on down to division 5 with the lowest ability level. This will replace the current division structure where the red, green and white divisions were supposed to be at the same level. At the time of registration teams will be asked to place themselves in a division that reflects the ability level of the players on their teams. Rosters will be due and frozen at this time. The Commission will review each division and the rosters of each team to identify teams that may have placed themselves in the wrong division. Based on the criteria in the table below, the Commission will make changes to create competitive divisions at every level.
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Division: |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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Home Run Limit |
9 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
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Allowed Div. 1 or 2 Players |
All |
All |
3 max |
2 max |
none |
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Fields Used for Division Play |
CP2 & LP |
CP2 & LP |
All |
CP3 & WF |
CP3 & WF |
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2000 Division Record |
NA |
NA |
10-4 or better |
Approx. .500 |
4-10 or worse |
2. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will recommend the brand, COR rating and compression rating of the softball used by the MPRD leagues in order to achieve more safe play by January 2001.
We will use up the remaining Worth Super Blue Dot (COR .47) softballs at the beginning of the 2001 season. When we run out of them, we will begin using the Worth Super Gold Dot (COR .44) softballs for the remainder of the season and into the Fall Leagues. We will also be designating a few divisions to evaluate different brands of balls for possible use in 2002. These divisions will be asked to use and evaluate a ball for two games. We will use the information gained to make a decision for 2002.
3. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will identify two to five new rules that may be implemented for the 2001 season by February, 2001.
New rules to be instituted this year: View the complete Adult Softball Rules
| Teams may begin a game with eight (8) players. A team may not continue with less that eight players. An out will be recorded for each player less than ten in their place in the batting order. |
| Players may change teams or be added to an existing roster at any time during the season with the approval of the Softball Commission or its designated. The Commission will not approve a player's team change after the 5th game of the season. Player cards and fees must be turned in to the Parks & Recreation Department in order to begin the addition process. A release form must be filled out and turned in at least seven days prior to any team changes. |
| Batting the Roster -- A team may choose to bat as many of its players at it likes beyond the required full roster of ten (10). A team may not bat less than ten (10) players if ten or more are available. The team must declare the number of hitters before game time, and once set, may not be changed. Players that arrive late may be inserted into the last position in the batting order provided the addition meets the pre-game declared number of batters in the order. Free substitution shall be applied to these players (See Free Substitution Rule). A team may also carry substitutes as long as there are at least 10 batters in the declared batting order (See Substitutes). |
| Free Substitution -- Any ten players in the declared batting order may play any of the defensive positions at any time in the game without notifying the scorekeeper of changes. Players may leave and reenter the game on defense freely. However, substitutions will not be allowed mid-inning unless there is a good reason for the substitution. The umpire's judgement will determine the "goodness" of the reason. Examples may include player injury or pitching change. |
| Substitutes -- A starter (someone in the declared batting order) may be replaced by a substitute, then may reenter the game. However, they must reenter in the same spot in the batting order that they were originally in. Substitutes may not reenter once they have been removed, unless a player has been injured and all substitutes have played. In the event of an injury when all substitutes have played, the opposing team's manager shall select which substitute will reenter the game, and the injured player may not reenter the game. |
| Lineups -- A team may play a game with eight (8) players. However, an out will be recorded when the ninth and tenth spots in the batting order come up. If a team begins with nine (9) players in its lineup, it will receive an out in the tenth (10) spot in the batting order. A team will be penalized with an out for each player lost during the course of a game when that player's batting position comes up. This includes players added after the beginning of the game. |
| Home Run Rule -- The allowed number of home runs by division is listed in goal #1 above. All home runs in excess of the limit shall be ruled an out regardless of the division. |
4. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will identify and implement a process or event that will produce a pot of money the commission can work with to make diamond improvements by February, 2001
For the 2001 season, a Diamond Improvement Fund will be created to make upgrades to our current softball facilities. It is important to note, the Diamond Improvement Fund is for improvements that are above and beyond the normal maintenance done by the Parks & Recreation Department. It is for items that are not necessities, but enhance the look, feel and playability of our diamonds. The intent is to make the facilities more attractive to players and fans.
As one source of input into this fund, a $2.00 fee will be added to each player's player fee. Ideas for diamond improvements will be discussed at the Spring 2001 Softball Commission meetings.
5. The Manitowoc Softball Commission will implement a solution to the make-up game problem by the start of the 2001 season.
The men's softball program has been restructured to include a ten week Summer season followed by a three week make-up / re-registration period, and then an 8 week Fall season. Two games will be made up during the three week make-up period. Teams will then reorganize and re-register for a separate Fall season. There will be no make-up games for the Fall season.
With this re-structure, we hope to achieve the following results:
| Players who want to play more softball will have an opportunity to play 18 weeks of softball rather than 14 as in the past. |
| Players who get sick of softball, become injured, begin other conflicting Fall leagues (such as bowling) or have to return to college are removed from the program after the ten week season. |
| Teams will forfeit less because players will re-commit to the Fall league. |
It is important to realize that had the format not changed, team fees would have risen to $119 + tax for the fourteen game season. That works out to $8.50 +tax per game. The new ten game season will carry with it a team fee of $85.00 + tax or $8.50 + tax per game. In addition, the player fee will rise from $7.00 + tax per player to $10.00 + tax. Two dollars of the player fee will go to the diamond improvement fund (see goal #4 above). Team and player fees will also be collected for the Fall season. They will be $68 + tax and $10.00 + tax respectively.
As a result of division restructuring, there should be closer competition within each division. Therefore, teams are less likely to feel its not worth it to play late season and make-up games because of being "out of it."
It is also the hope of the Commission that allowing teams to bat the roster will make it practical and attractive to carry more players on their rosters. That way a missing player or two will be less likely to cause a forfeit.