2000 ASA Men's “Masters 50+” Fast Pitch

National Championship

Tucson, Arizona

06 - 09 July

Welcome

This Web page is intended for use primarily by the ASA Umpires selected to officiate this National Championship event. Congratulations on your selection to work a National! Although all vital information was sent to the crew by snail mail, please check out this page throughout the summer for updates. The “Welcome” link above is a Web version of the letter sent to all of our umpires. It contains most of the important information regarding the logistics and timeline of the Tournament.

All must be present at the Managers' Dinner, 6 pm Wednesday 5 July, at the Holiday Inn Express.

Umpire Staff

Here is a thumbnail of the Umpire Staff photograph.
Click on it to download a full-size version (staffphoto.jpg, 0.314 Mbyte).

Warning: it may take a few minutes to download if you have a telephone modem!

Photos will be mailed to all umpires along with their certificates. I will have them in hand by the night of 19 July.

Timeline of Events

Have You Packed Everything You Need?

Hotel Information

The Tournament Hotel is the Holiday Inn Express, 770 W. Starr Pass Blvd. It is indicated by the Red star on the maps below.

Location of Fields

Santa Rita Park is one mile East of the Hotel, at 22^nd St. and 4^th Ave. It is a 2-field complex, and the oldest softball field in Tucson. Santa Rita is undergoing rennovations the week of 12-16 June.

City Map/Directions

If you are driving from the North, take I-10 to the 22^nd St. exit. Turn right for the Hotel, left for Santa Rita Park.

If you are coming from the airport, take Valencia west (left) to I-19, then I-19 north to I-10.

Get off at the 22^nd St. exit. Turn left for the Hotel, right for Santa Rita Park.

List of Participating Teams

Fourteen teams are entered in the Tournament. Four are from California, four are from Texas, three from Arizona, and three from the rest of the country. Team names and hometowns will be posted as soon as we receive a listing. Double elimination format calls for 26 games, to be played between 10 am Thursday 6 July and the Championship game on 6 pm Saturday 8 July. The “IF” game would begin at about 8 pm Saturday night.

Of course, this schedule is subject to revision based on the weather. Tucson got its first rain in months Saturday afternoon 17 June. The monsoon season has begun, and we can expect an hour or so of rain each evening, usually beginning at 6:00 to 6:30 pm. Even though it will be hot, umpires are advised to bring ASA jackets. The temperature can drop as much as 30°F in less than an hour during one of our summer storms.

Tournament Bracket

Tournament format is double-elimination. The first games will be played on Thursday morning, beginning at 10 am, on both fields. Scheduled start times are on 2-hour centers, i.e., 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm, and 8 pm. We plan to follow this schedule all day Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, we drop to 1 field. The losers' bracket final is scheduled for 10 am; the Championship game is scheduled for 6 pm, The “IF” game would follow the Championship game, beginning approximately at 8 pm.

A clearer (and update-able) version of the bracket sheet is available to those of you able to read an Excel spreadsheet: BRACKET.XLS

A Visitor's Guide to Tucson

Things to do, Places to go, Food to eat

At the Ballyard

The Umpire Coordinator will provide drinks (water, Gatorade, fruit juice, Coke, instant iced tea mix, etc.) for the Boys in Blue at the Umpires' tent. You will be asked which of these you wish to drink between innings for those games you are working. (And you will drink between innings!) A pail of ice water and towels will be provided at each field, manned by a “Gunga Din” volunteer. The task of this volunteer is to make sure umpires stay hydrated and comfortable throughout the game. During the day, snack foods will appear sporadically. Eat small portions, but eat throughout the day. This will help you deal with the heat and minimize the possibility of dehydration.

Order of Finish

All-American Teams

Due to the summer monsoon, I am anticipating (but not looking forward to) schedule delays induced by weather. In the hopes of streamlining the rescheduling process, I have created an Excel spreadsheet, RESCHED.XLS. Instructions for use are included in the spreadsheet. Consider it an “alpha” release: no guarantees!!! However, if you find it useful, let me know. If you are so motivated to find s and/or make improvements, please get in touch.

Trivia

Do you know the words to the 1908 song, “ Take Me Out to the Ballgame”?

Do you know the origins of our game (and baseball)? Read about the game of Townball.

Do you know the origins of umpires' hand signals? The answer may surprise you, Dummy!

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