I hope everyone has had time to recuperate from their nagging injuries and worn down bodies sustained over the summer because there are a couple of more KVKL events to go. Here’s a friendly reminder about the upcoming KVKL events that are rapidly approaching.
1. The Post Season KVKL Party
When: Friday, September 14th
Where: 7pm at Liberty Hall
Details:
$5 at the door. Includes free beer. Food will not be hosted. Food will be potluck style so please contribute and bring your favorite dish to share with all.
There will be plenty of games to play including flip cup and beer pong. KVKL DJ’s will be spinning your favorite party jams all evening long, so bring your dancing shoes.
There will also be a raffle for prizes.
If you missed the Championship game the video recording will be shown throughout the evening followed by the presentation of the Championship Cup.
Come one, come all and party down with your favorite KVKL mates. Don’t forget there will be new KVKL digs for purchase as well.
2. KVKL Post Season Charity Tournament
When: Sunday, September 23rd
Where: Holcom Fields, 1 PM-10 PM
Details:
The tournament will be a double elimination tourney. The goal is to register 16 teams. First 16 teams to register are guaranteed a spot.
Deadline to register is Wednesday, September 19th at 5 PM. Registration is $100 per team, but extra donations are always welcome.
Money can be dropped off to Erin Adams or Jacki Becker at 912 Tennessee house or to Deron Belt at Great Harvest (807 Vermont Street).
Please make checks written to KAW VALLEY KICKBALL.
Our charity this year will be the LYMPHOMA Research Foundation.
www.lymphoma.org/
SIDE NOTE:
I have been asked to inquire about people’s opinions for rules changes, ideas, etc. As an interactive league it would be nice to hear what people think about certain rules or situations, how they affect the game, and what changes you think would be helpful moving forward as a league. This does not mean that anyone is trying to rewrite the rulebook, but I think it has become evident that not all baseball rules apply to every kickball situation and clarifying some of these moving forward will be advantageous for everyone involved. If you don’t speak up, you shouldn’t complain when things don’t go your way.
I’ll start. For me, one rule that comes to mind is the double-kick rule. In baseball the hitter is basically stationary while swinging, so when the ball contacts the player off the bat (in the batters box) it is a foul ball. If the player hits the ball and then the ball contacts him in the field of play (the batters box is not in the field of play) he is out.
In kickball, I think it is nearly impossible to call the double-kick rule correctly on a consistent basis because of the nature of kicking a ball. For one, we don’t have an actual kickers box. The kicker can kick the ball anywhere behind the plane of the top of the plate. If the pitch is way off to the right side of the plate it is rarely an issue because the kicker will be in foul territory when the ball strikes him the second time, resulting in a foul ball. However, if the pitch is to the left of the plate (or directly over the plate) and the ball is kicked, the momentum of the kicker almost always carries him at least slightly into fair territory (Let’s face it, no one kicks the ball while falling over backwards). In this scenario, the second kick (i.e., the ball striking the kicker again) typically happens at lightening speed with the kickers momentum carrying them forward into fair territory, even if only ever so slightly. By rule this should be an out every single time this happens. Another issue to consider is that only the plant foot has to be behind the plate when the ball is kicked, so your kicking foot can be in fair territory legally. If the ball is kicked with the kicking foot in fair territory, the ball strikes the ground and quickly hits the kicking foot/leg again (although it was legally kicked), the result by rule should be an out. I don’t agree with this.
I’ve seen it called both ways and we were victims of the slightly over the line double-kick called as an out in the tournament at one point. For me personally as a ref, I’ve established that I will not call it as an out unless it is completely clear that the kicker double-kicked the ball and it touched him well into fair territory. If not I will just call a double-kick foul. By the book this is wrong, but since it seems to be called both ways I make it clear that I will call it consistently throughout the game.
In practice I’d rather have the rule written so that it is only an out if the player is touched by the ball with his entire body in fair territory (or enough that the contact obstructs/alters the ball in play). A good example happened during the Championship Game. Tyler, from Pita Pit, attempted a bunt and while running down the first base line the ball struck his leg/heel and he was correctly called out. He was clearly in fair territory when the ball contacted him for the second time; no brainer.
The only real solution is to tell your kickers to kick the ball well behind the plane of the plate so that when the ball contacts them again with their momentum going forward they are still well out of fair territory, which seems silly to me because you are then making your run to first base even longer.
Our league is getting so competitive that inconsistency with this rule will likely only lead to more arguments and bickering, which is something I think we all want to get away from. I’d love to hear others opinions on this rule as well as any other rules that seem to need some tweaking or clarification.
There are my two cents. Hope to see everyone at the Post Season events.
Cheers,
KM