REPORT OF THE NCAA BASEBALL RULES COMMITTEE JULY 17-19, 2017 ANNUAL MEETING

Transcription

1 REPORT OF THE NCAA BASEBALL RULES COMMITTEE JULY 17-19, 2017 ANNUAL MEETING ACTION ITEMS. 1. Legislative items. None. 2. Nonlegislative items. a. Required baseball bat barrel compression testing (Rule 1.12.g and Rule 4.10). (1) Recommendation. Beginning with the 2020 NCAA Championship segment, bat barrel compression testing will be conducted prior to each regular season series or single date of competition. All bats used in competition must pass the barrel ring test and barrel compression testing. Barrel compression minimum standards for bats produced with specific materials are developed by the certification laboratory by ASTM standards and will be published with the list of approved baseball bats. (2) Effective date. September 1, (3) Rationale. The Baseball Rules Committee has received concerns regarding baseball bat tampering over the last two years. Requiring bat testing prior to play in the regular season will ensure the integrity of competition and ensure that bats being used have not been altered or tampered with for better performance. (4) Estimated budget impact. Approximately $1,500. Institutional cost for barrel compression device is approximately $1,400; the bat ring is approximately $100. b. Bat barrel color requirement (Rule 1.12.b.7). (1) Recommendation. Beginning in the 2020 NCAA Championship segment, the bat barrel color must be of a predominantly contrasting color to the color of the baseball between the 18-inch mark to the end cap. (2) Effective date. September 1, (3) Rationale. With an increase in baseball bat designs and graphics using white as the predominant color, batted balls are becoming more difficult for defensive players to react to in the field.

2 Page No. 2 (4) Estimated budget impact. Minimal. c. Expansion of video review as experimental rule for Southeastern Conference. (1) Recommendation. To permit the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to use video review on an expanded number of permissible plays and to permit one coaches challenge under Appendix E, Section 2, Getting the Call Right with Use of Video Replay. If the coach successfully challenges the result of a reviewable play, the coach will retain the challenge for a maximum of two challenges for the entire game. The umpire crew chief, at his discretion, may utilize review to ensure that the correct call has been made on a reviewable play without a coach s challenge. The expanded number of plays and coaches challenge will be permitted during the 2018 SEC regular season and 2018 SEC Tournament but will not be permitted in 2018 during non-conference regular season competition or the NCAA postseason. The following plays will be reviewable: a. Deciding if a batted ball is fair or foul. The ball must first touch the ground or a fielder beyond the initial position of the first or third baseman. b. Deciding if a batted ball is either a ground rule double or a home run. c. Any catch or no catch in the outfield or foul territory. d. A call of no catch can be changed to catch within the infield only if it results in a third out with any runners on base, or any time with a batter runner only. e. Spectator interference. f. Deciding scoring plays at home plate inclusive of collisions (illegal and/or malicious slides) or time plays. g. Force and tag play calls involving the batter runner or runner acquiring the base prior to the defensive player s attempt to put out the batter runner or runner at any base. h. Calls involving whether a base runner passes a preceding runner before such runner is out; determining whether a base runner scored ahead of a third out;

3 Page No. 3 and upon an appropriate appeal by the defensive team, whether a base runner touched a base. i. Plays involving a batter and whether a pitched ball touches a batter or his clothing (hit by pitch). j. Deciding if a runner failed to retouch his base after a fair or foul ball is legally caught before he or his base is tagged by a fielder at all bases. k. The umpire s placement of a batter runner or runners following a boundary call. l. Deciding if interference occurred in an attempt to break up a double play. (2) Effective date. Immediately. (3) Rationale. The proposed expanded plays will only impact the involved conference. The SEC has agreed to provide data regarding number of reviews and duration of reviews for conference and non-conference play during the 2018 season to give the Baseball Rules Committee an understanding of how the increased number of plays impacts the pace of the game. (4) Estimated budget impact. Minimal. d. Experimental use of coach to catcher communication device as experimental rule for Southeastern Conference. (1) Recommendation. To permit the Southeastern Conference to use coach to catch communication with an electronic communication device to call pitches during the 2018 SEC regular season and 2018 SEC Tournament. During the 2018 SEC regular season and 2018 SEC Tournament, Rule 5.2.f., restricting to use of electronic devices to transmit data or information will be waived only to permit one coach from communicating to the catcher. All other electronic devices or communication remains restricted. Coach to catch communication will be permitted during the 2018 SEC regular season and 2018 SEC Tournament and will not be permitted in 2018 during non-conference regular season competition or the NCAA postseason. (2) Effective date. Immediately.

4 Page No. 4 (3) Rationale. This proposal impacts will only impact the involved conference. The SEC has agreed to provide data regarding duration of conference and non-conference games from 2017 and 2018 to give the Baseball Rules Committee an understanding of how this technology impacts the pace of the game. (4) Estimated budget impact. Minimal during the experiment. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS. 1. Welcome and announcements. Committee chair, Elvis Dominguez, welcomed the committee and expressed his appreciation for the service the committee has given through the year. 2. Review of schedule, agenda, and committee operations manual. Dominguez and staff reviewed the meeting schedule and agenda and reviewed specific areas of the committee operations manual regarding conflict of interest and communication and document retention. 3. Approval of reports from committee teleconference reports. The committee reviewed and approved the reports from the December 13, 2016; January 10, February 14, March 7, April 11, and May 9, 2017 teleconferences as written. 4. NCAA injury surveillance data and report. Erin Wasserman, Datalys Center, provided the committee a report of the injury surveillance data for baseball. Wasserman indicated that participation in the program was increasing and that as more data becomes available the center will be able to provide a greater scope of injury data. 5. NCAA Baseball Umpire Program report. George Drouches, national coordinator of umpires, provided the committee with an update regarding the impact of recent rules changes, as well as the increased number of umpires who are joining the national program through ArbiterSports. He indicated that during the non-rules change year the umpires clinic will be an online format for the first time. The Baseball Umpire Program is currently developing the contents for the clinic and anticipate a January release. Drouches emphasized the continuing issue of misconduct and ejections by coaches and student-athletes. The committee discussed the importance of maintaining a strong stance on unsportsmanlike behavior and discussed the potential of increasing the penalty for ejections. The Baseball Umpire Program will continue to instruct umpires to issue an official warning to attempt to defuse an escalating situation. 6. Active umpire s report. Mark Uyl, active NCAA umpire, provided feedback regarding the current state of college baseball from the on-field umpire perspective. He provided feedback regarding early concerns regarding rules changes approved last year with the established pitching position and hit-by-pitch. He indicated that as the season progressed the concerns

5 Page No. 5 regarding consistent application appeared to decrease. He shared that many issues of pace of play could be alleviated by stricter, although not combative, enforcement by the umpires on the field. 7. Review of NCAA BBCOR Protocol and Division I postseason bat testing. The committee discussed proposed changes to the Bat Ball Coefficient of Resistance (BBCOR) protocol by the Baseball Research Panel. Staff highlighted the establishment of barrel compression as part of the certification process and language that will permit manufacturers to create customized graphic designs. The committee approved the recommendations to the protocol and asked for continued data from the Washington State University Sports Science Laboratory and Baseball Research Panel regarding regular and postseason testing. 8. Secretary-rules editor s report. Randy Bruns, secretary-rules editor, reported clarifications and interpretations that were provided throughout the 2017 season. He highlighted areas of concern, such as pace of play, player and coach misconduct, and the use of technology. The committee discussed adding several concepts designed to improve pace of play to the rules survey, including a visible clock to accompany current timing rules for between innings and play with no runners on base; limiting the duration of a defensive conference at the mound; and permitting the no-pitch intentional walk. Other items the committee will include on the survey are eliminating the third-to-first pick off move, increasing the penalty for a head coach being ejected, and requiring that umpires take and pass the NCAA rules test. The committee moved two proposals forward for consideration from the Playing Rules Oversight Panel in the non-rules change year. The committee unanimously recommended requiring regular season bat barrel compression testing prior to each series or single date of competition beginning the 2020 NCAA Championship season. The committee unanimously recommended, beginning the 2020 NCAA Championship season, the bat barrel color must be a predominantly contrasting color to the color of the ball. The committee reviewed two experimental rules proposals from the Southeastern Conference. The proposal regarding the expansion of video review and the establishment of a challenge process was modified regarding the challenge process and approved and the proposal regarding the use of coach to catcher communication to study the impact on pace of play was approved as proposed. Both proposals are only requested for the 2018 SEC regular season and 2018 SEC tournament and cannot be used during non-conference contests or the NCAA postseason. 9. Development of 2018 points of emphasis. The committee discussed the need to continue to emphasize student-athlete and coach misconduct issues and bat tampering are serious offenses and will not be tolerated in collegiate baseball. The committee asked Bruns and Drouches to emphasize these two items heavily in the 2018 rules video and in other pre-season communications. 10. Future teleconference and meeting dates. The committee reviewed a list of proposed teleconference dates and discussed the dates for the 2018 committee annual meeting.

6 Page No Election of chair. The committee selected Jim Carone, Head Baseball Coach at Wagner College, as chair for the year. Committee Chair: Staff Liaison(s): Elvis Dominguez, Bradley University Ben Brownlee, Championships and Alliances Baseball Rules Committee, Annual Meeting Attendees: Paul Benim, Pennsylvania State University Erie, the Behrend College; Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. Randy Bruns, secretary-rules editor. Jim Carone, Wagner College; Northeast Conference. Jeff Compher, East Carolina University; American Athletic Conference. Elvis Dominguez, Bradley University; Missouri Valley Conference. Rusty Eggen, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; New England Women s and Men s Athletic Conference. Rudy Garbalosa, Lynn University; Sunshine State Conference. James C. Jackson, Cameron University; Lone Star Conference. Absentees: Patrick Chun, Florida Atlantic University; Conference USA. Guests in Attendance: George Drouches. Mark Uyl. Erin Wasserman. NCAA Staff Support in Attendance: Ben Brownlee. Other NCAA Staff Members in Attendance: Dan Calandro. Greg Johnson. Ron Prettyman.