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This event has completed. This information has been preserved for archival purposes.
Looking to sign up for an event you heard about? You may be viewing last season's page. Go back to the leagues/tournaments pages to find your event.
All Leagues All Tournaments
At League Joe, we are doing our best to bring the fun back to the game of softball. As umpires, I don't need to tell you that our game has gotten too serious and too competitive - you are often the bearers of the brunt of an overly-competitive, me-first culture. What I do need to tell you and emphasize strongly is that we support you in doing what you need to do to make sure the fields are safe and fun for new players. Rules are great and all, but we all know that sometimes you're going to screw them up, or make a bad call, or a player is going to misinterpret something and create a scene. We will relentlessly drive into our coaches and players an attitude of "Let it go, it's just a game" and want to take some pressure off of your shoulders. We don't expect you to be perfect - we expect you to be human. And if players are treating you as anything less than, then you have my full blessing to remove players from the field or the entire league if you see and know that their presence is toxic.
The vast majority of the players you are going to see on the fields are new to the game of slowpitch. For some, that means they have literally never held a bat before. For others, that means they haven't played since their high school days, and they maybe have some of those bad habits. You're going to see a field with players who are 18 years old and 68 on the same team. That's the beauty of our style of play, and we ask you to be protective of that culture since many players will look to you first on the field as the leader of that diamond. We encourage you to engage with, laugh with, and enjoy a fun evening of ball with our players. If you see a brand new player who is super nervous against a tournament player who is dropping knuckle balls, we encourage you to NOT give the pitcher that strike 3 call that caught the corner and we encourage you to tell that pitcher to serve some meatballs to the new players. And if the knuckle heads don't get it through their skulls what kind of game they are playing - that's where you let us know and we'll take care of it.
One rotten apple spoils the bunch. You have our permission and encouragement to remove those apples.
Play the Game. We will preach to the coaches that they need to work with each other to be understanding of situations with subs and odd things with their lineups. Sometimes a team is going to show up and only have one girl instead of 3 and they couldn't find a sub. The coaches will be encouraged to negotiate how to make the field of play "even" and get the game in to respect the results. We try to avoid force forfeits - just get the game in!
These are the most common and/or most unique rules being used for this event. Please see "Official Rulebook" for exhaustive list of playing rules. When in conflict, rules written here shall supercede those in the official rulebook.
As a player, you are responsible for knowing all official rules of the game. By participating in the event, you are agreeing that you are aware of all rules associated with the league and the sport, and agree to abide by them at all times.
Pitch Count: All batters start with a count of 1 ball and 1 strike.
Home Runs: Home runs are limited in this league. Each team is allotted TWO home runs without penalty. All home runs hit over the fence that are higher than the allotted total of home runs is automatically counted as an "out".
White Line: League Joe does not use the white line in the outfield for any specific purpose.
Pinch Runners: As a general rule, one runner per gender each inning. Exceptions can be made for injury situations only!
Outfielders Cannot Throw Out a Runner Going to First Base: At the point the outfielder touches the ball, they may not attempt to throw out a runner advancing to first base from the batter's box. They may, however, throw to first base to check a runner who has rounded the base in an attempt to go to second base.
Female Walk Rule: If a male batter is walked with a female batter coming up to bat, the female batter is given the option to choose an automatic walk or to hit as normal. The male walked batter will automatically be awarded second base regardless if the female batter chooses to bat. This should always be up to the discretion of the batters and coaches should not remove the bat from any player's hands who wishes to hit.
Automatic Walk Rule (aka the JoshK rule): A pitcher may signal for an automatic walk only when the batter has reached the batter's box and signaled the umpire for a walk. While recognized as a strategic play, automatic walks are highly discouraged during general seasonal play.
No DH Rule: All players who are able to bat must also play at least one inning of defense in the field. An exception to this rule may be made in the case a player does not wish to play defense for some reason (injury, fear, caution) so long as both coaches agree to the exception.
Paid Players Rule: At all times, players who pay for and register appropriately for leagues must be given priority consideration for playing time over a substitute player. Paid players can sit a small amount of time for the purpose of defensive rotation, however no paid player should ever be placed in a situation where they receive considerably less playing time than an individual who paid and registered to play fully.
In a recreational league, the safety of the players and the enjoy-ability of the game take the utmost priority. The following are common courtesy rules that are often judgement calls and will be enforced when necessary. While not technically against the rules of the game, all players are asked to be aware of and respect common field courtesy to help ensure all participants have fun.
Try to Avoid Hitting the Ball at the Pitcher
The pitcher is the most dangerous position on the field, and a mistimed swing can result in a serious injury. Try to avoid making line-drive contact with balls up the middle. If you need help adjusting your swing, please consult your coach. We have impleneted pitcher safety screens to asssit with this. Any batted ball striking the pitching screen is considered a foul ball.
Avoid Unnecessary & Dangerous Throws
When playing outfield or fielding a ball that lands far away from the action on the field, take care and please do not force throws that are unlikely to result in an out. For example, a player receiving a ground ball in left field should not attempt to throw the runner out at first, even if that runner is slow or injured. The velocity required to throw from the outfield to the infield can result in a dangerous situation if your throw is inaccurate, or either the baseman or the base runner are not paying attention.
These are guidelines and rules for the event that all coaches must acknowledge and follow. Please review all rules carefully.
The official rules for the sport, which may or may not be from a sanctioning body.
This league follows the USSSA rules for Slowpitch Softball. Please use the following link to download and read full rules.
