12.19.23:
NEW AGE CUTOFF RE-ALIGNMENT OF TEAMS STARTING IN 2024
The Prospect Park Baseball Association has unanimously voted to revise the age cutoff date to coincide with the public school calendar so that classmates could play together. This has been a long-standing issue that we are now addressing.
This means that for the 2024 spring season, the age cut-off will be moved to December 31, 2023. For example, for the 11-12-year-old Bantam hardball and Broncos softball divisions, a player cannot be older than 12 on December 31, 2023 for the 2024 spring season. This is intended to be a permanent change that will apply to all future years.
In some cases, since most age divisions contain two age groups, there are players who participated in the 2023 season who will be overage in 2024. For example, there may be a few 12-year-olds on 2023 Bantam or Bronco teams predominately composed of 11-year-olds. In 2024 those few 12-year-olds would be overage in 2024 and would have to move to a team in the next older division (Super Bantam for hardball or Colts for softball). As a result, we’ve had to extend our analysis out four years, through the 2027 season to make sure we have a more complete understanding of the effect of this rule change.
From this multi-year review, we’ve determined that based on the new cutoff date only 3% of all players from all organizations’ 2023 teams would become overage at some time in the next four years.
Instead of requiring those few players be moved from teams they may have been on for years, we’ve decided to grandfather them onto their 2023 teams without any playing restrictions for the entire duration that they play on that team. Also influencing that decision are the facts that:
- Having moved the cutoff date back four months lessens any impact since, on average, the teams would be older any way,
- Those players would be so distributed among the different teams that very few of the teams would have more than two overage players,
- Having so many teams we can subdivide many of the divisions into tiers (North, South, etc.) which allows us to take into consideration age and skill levels of the teams particularly with the few grandfathered-in players, and
- This would only apply to those who played in the 2023 season.
Since grandfathering in those players would only apply to those who played on a team in 2023, they must, over the years, continue on that same team. A list of those players will be posted on the PPBA website at the beginning of the 2024 season and must be specifically identified on the individual team rosters as “PW” for Permanent Waiver.
Should a grandfathered-in player decide to move to a different team, that move must then be onto an age-appropriate team based on the new age cutoff date. Also, if, in the future, teams decide to combine and they each have grandfathered-in players, the PPBA will review the situation on a case-by-case basis to determine whether, and under what conditions, to allow all the grandfathered-in players to join on the same team.
As a result of this rule change, all 2024 players who did not play in the league in 2023 must play on teams based on the new age cutoff requirement and the only other exception to the playing down rule will be players with disabilities. Disability exceptions and any related restrictions will be decided by the PPBA board on a case-by-case basis.
All of the above applies only to PPBA, which only plays in the spring.
With more than 2,000 players, this is a complicated process. We appreciate your understanding and your patience with our policy and its implementation. As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.
6.22.23:
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON ENDS WITH A VERY EXCITING TOURNAMENT.
The 2023 season ended with tournaments in all 16 of our hardball and softball divisions. Thanks to all the coaches, parents and umpires who make the experience for our children meaningful and fun. Click here to see the list of winners and runners up.
CLOTHING COLLECTION FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN A BIG SUCCESS
On Sunday June 11, we hosted a collection of clothing for migrant children here in NYC. In the short span of 4 hours we collected 103 large trash bags full of clothes, footwear and toiletry items. That night we delivered them to Iglesias Jovenes Christianos, a church on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn that was recommended to us on the NYC Asylum Seekers website. Thanks to all our neighbors who donated these items, to Jasmine Haynes and Deborah Kirschner of the Prospect Park Alliance, Councilmember Hanif and Mia Perez of her office and Bobby Galvin and Zuma Arguellos for helping to repack all the items into age/size marked bags and transport them to the church.
Umpiring – Our Community Service
Umpiring is among the opportunities we offer the community. We offer the older boys and girls the opportunity to learn the skill of umpiring and to practice that craft. It is a great work experience for them. They get to earn money, to learn and implement rules in a potentially charged environment, and to learn to interact with adults from a role of authority. For many, this is their first job; one in which they must show up on time, in uniform, and ready to take control. Some of our umpires have gone on to umpire at the next levels – travel leagues and high school games.
The umpire organization we hire, New York Travel Baseball (NYTB), has been supervising and assigning umpires for more than 25 years. Every year since 2008, they have been conducting a Sunday winter training school for new candidates. Many of the umpires you see on the field are teenager new to the craft, teenagers who have umpired for us before, older experienced adult umpires, and head umpires who supervise all the umpires and field umpire and coach questions.
Umpiring is difficult and full of judgment calls. For example,
- Calling balls and strikes: The strike zone is the width of home plate (17”) and its height is between the crook of the knees and the mid-point between the shoulders and the belt. That means that the height of the strike zone changes with each batter. In addition, we allow the umpires to extend the width of the strike zone by the width of the ball for the younger divisions because pitching is far more difficult than hitting in recreational play.
Also, a strike occurs only when the ball crosses the front of home plate. It is a strike if a ball crosses the front of the home plate at the knees of a batter even though it may end up at the catcher’s ankles or bounce in the dirt in front of the catcher if the catcher is playing back. Likewise, a ball crossing the front of home plate above the top of the zone can look like a strike when it arrives at the catcher but is actually a ball.
Finally, the umpire has to determine when the ball crosses the front of home plate when batters may stand in the front or back of the batter’s box – which can change during one at bat!
It can therefore take a little while for an umpire to adjust to the strike zone especially if he/she works games of different the divisions the same day.
2. Anticipating the next play and exhibiting proper hustle. If the bases are loaded and a ball is hit, there can be 9 or 10 fielders and 4 baserunners moving at once with plays at 4 possible bases. Our umpires are taught to anticipate the next play and then follow the movement of the ball. At the same time, they have to take an unobstructed view of the play in a position that would not interfere with a possible following play. There is a reason why high school games have two umpires and pro games have 4 or 6 umpires. In most of our games there is only one umpire.
3. The rules of baseball are complex and shrouded in many misconceptions.
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- The hand is not considered part of the bat, so if struck by a pitched ball the batter is awarded first base.
- How to determine the effect of overthrows is an entire section in the official rules. For example, whether runners get one or two bases depends on whether the ball was thrown by a pitcher or a fielder. Whether the runner will get the award from the time of pitch position or from the time of throw position depends on if it is the first or second play by an infielder or a play by an outfielder.
- Whether a ball is considered caught depends on if the release by that fielder is voluntary and intentional. How long the fielder holds it is irrelevant. It only matters that the release is under control and thus voluntary.
- The white lines on the field are foul lines, not the base lines. Baselines are invisible. Runners cannot run 3’ past either side of the base line to avoid a tag. However, the baseline is the line that the runner creates. Thus, if a runner takes a wide turn into right field after reaching first base and runs towards second base in a straight line that is mostly on the right field grass, that is the line from which the 3’ is measured, not an imaginary straight line between first and second base.
- The clothes are considered part of the batter’s body. If struck by a pitched ball, the batter is awarded first base.
- There are more than 15 ways for a pitcher to balk.
To create consistency, we have given a checklist to the umpires to start each game. Click Here to review, especially coaches.
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We are among the largest youth baseball and softball leagues in the city. We play at least 100 games on as many as 12 fields every spring weekend. Since we are only comprised of the heads of the member organizations, we cannot be everywhere. We must therefore rely on coaches, parents, umpires and the head umpires to communicate any rules or umpire issues to us.
Anyone can send us a comment or complaint via a link below. It is almost never used. Those complaints we receive tend to be unspecific and long after the event. We take them seriously and always look into them. If there are issues, it is a disservice to us and the umpires not to address them. We cannot fix something we know nothing about. Also below is a letter from our head umpire, John Ottavino, who has substantial experience in the world of baseball at all levels.
Please take to heart and actively support our mission. Please do not condone negative rooting, help your coaches by clearing and cleaning the dugouts quickly after each game, and do not put the umpires in the position of having to warn a head coach of the possibility of ejecting anyone or ending a game due to someone’s improper behavior. Finally, do not warm-up or walk near any of the other fields while a pre-game warmup or game is being conducted. It is unsafe and unfair to the other teams.
Communicating this information to everyone is very important to avoid injuries and defuse arguments and emotional situations. We rely on the coaches to understand and impart the basics and to make sure that the players and parents accept these considerations so the games can be played in a positive environment.
Also, our Parks have limited funds to maintain the fields. Please volunteer to work with our Field Manager so we can assist the Park Groundskeepers to make our fields game-ready especially in anticipation of and after rain. We only ask for what effort you can reasonably give. Please click on the sign-up link or scan the QR code below to volunteer.
Thanks very much and have a fun season!
Eddie Albert
President
Prospect Park Baseball Association
Field Maintenance:
This season we will be continuing the great work of Kathryn Krase, our Director of Field Management. Towards the end of last spring, she put together a volunteer crew of coaches, parents and players to assist the Park’s Turf Crew in making the fields game-ready. Their work salvaged many games. Our goal is to have volunteers working every day to groom, remove water and maintain the lines. Please help by signing up for dates that fit your schedule by clicking the button below or scanning the QR code below:
Umpire & Rules Issues, Complaints and Comments:
To contact us regarding umpire and rules issues, please fill out this Umpire Complaint/No Show Form and we will take appropriate action. Please consider this an opportunity to not only deal with specific issues but to make constructive suggestions.
If you have ANY other complaint or suggestion regarding ANYTHING we do, please send an email to: presidentppba@gmail.com.
Thanks for your support.