1. 9 inning games are definitely too long. If rosters were bigger and teams had more pitching it MIGHT be a different story. You asked WHY it's this way. Tradition. Inertia. Ignorance. Take your pick. Bottom line is Legion is run by a bunch of old guys, extremely old guys in some cases, who cannot or will not change.
2. Agreed on the run rule, but I'd make it 10 after 5.
3. Agreed on the automatic reduction from 9 to 7 for rescheduled games. Very good idea.
4. In principle, I don't have a problem with playing the same team 4 times, particularly if you're in a 5 team league. A 16-20 game schedule is really not that many games over the course of 6 weeks or so. The problem is all of the rescheduling due to kids going to the beach, mission trips, college orientations, etc. Kids, and parents, used to be far more committed to their teams than they are now. The Juice Box Generation has no sense of commitment, and that's one of the main reasons we have the problems we have. Teams like Sumter and Florence traditionally play a lot more games than teams in this area, without all of the drama we have up here. The difference is commitment.
5. Pitching restrictions. I've been on this bandwagon for years. The answer here is the same as to question 1. League 6 has always had a bunch of coaches who will not hesitate to let kids run up high pitch counts. Union and Inman have a long history of doing this. And we're not talking 130, we're talking 150 and more. Spartanburg didn't used to do this, but the current coach threw a kid 169 pitches last year, and has been over 130 this year. Gaffney used to throw guys 130-150 on a regular basis, but that guy moved on a few years ago. Don't know about the current guy. And the problem is not just total pitch counts, it's short rest as well. I know a kid who threw 5 inning in a game a couple of weeks ago. Pretty low pitch count, around 65. Immediately after the game the head coach told him "I hope you're gonna be ready to go again tomorrow." This guy has NO CLUE.
I've been following this on a national level. Approximately 10-11 states have, or soon will, adopt some kind of pitch count rule, and the trend seems to be gradually accelerating. (MN, AL, CO, KY, VE, AZ, WI, OK, TX, WA, and possibly FL). I have also heard that the NFHS is also "studying" the issue. MLB's Pitch Smart Initiative has put a lot of pressure on all youth organizations. Legion claims to be "working towards" adoption of some sort of rule, but they will undoubtedly be the last to the table, as will the South Carolina High School League and groups like USSSA. But, there is finally a LITTLE light at the end of the tunnel.
Rain-outs in league 5. Re-scheduled games in League 6. They have put too much strain on these high school kids. Inman plays again tonight and tomorrow night. That has them playing 10 games in 12 days. And they still have 2 games to make up next week from games that were re-scheduled a couple weeks ago to go with their regularly scheduled games next week on M,T, W in the first place, so when they cram in both of the make-up games they will probably play that would make 15 games in 19 days. It is ridiculous.
#1 9 inning games are too long. These are high school kids. H.S. games are always 7 innings so WHY are legion games 9 innings?
#2 There needs to be a 15 run rule after 5. If you are getting beat down that bad after 5, everyone needs to pack it up and go home.
#3 A game that is re-scheduled due to whatever reason needs to be taken down to 7 innings to start. It is already a hard-ship on the kids having to cram more games into the week as it is already very "baseball busy" to begin with.
#4 No reason to have to play the same team 4 times. After 2 games you can easily tell who the better team is. If you are going to force 4 games, play a DH with 5 inning games.
#5 Why are there absolutely NO pitching restrictions? If there are, could someone please provide the link, or the rules?
Last week I watched a kid from Union throw over 135 pitches in a 9 inning game. From the people I talk to this is a recurring theme with some of the coaches/teams. This needs to stop.
Feel free to add to the list.........