Softball Field Use Agreement: Fill & Download for Free

No… not from what I have seen… 1986 Tempe AZ.Playing in an Open Division round-robin fundraiser we played the likes of Steele Sports and Howards (Softball Bats).Two separate fields one a regulation slow-pitch dimensioned-sized diamond and the other being an infield adjusted softball diamond on top of a regulation baseball field. Outfield fences were deeper much deeper than normal.The grass-covered infield was different and the outfield from pole to pole seemed huge.Steele Sports and Howards played their contest on the regulation softball field. Both teams were nationally renowned for their power-hitting and overall success in the upper divisions.Both teams followed the same pattern when each batter would purposely toss their bat to the on-deck hitter who would be waiting on the delivery.Not just after a base on balls, but after every ball put in play or knocked over the fence. The bat never landing on the ground. A ground ball hit to an infielder didn’t matter, swing stop, flip the bat, then bust it for 1st base.On a couple of occasions, Steele players who were just not used to keeping the bat after swinging it found themselves safe at firstbase with the bat in hand. A batboy would retrieve it and hand it to the next hitter. No harm no foul.Howards a metal softball bat manufacturer from back east was allowing Steele Sports also from back east to try out the latest line of Howards Bats. Under one condition the bat was not to touch the ground.This was not a problem during batting practice as a bat was handed off to an awaiting teammate. Liking what they felt it was agreed to allow Steele to use the bat during their up-coming game against Howards.What I described above was the outcome of their agreement. Now I don’t recall the outcome of their game as I was long gone after the second inning. But I do know I did not see that bat touch the ground while I was there.

Two stories. First, how I discovered the secret of invisibility. Second, how a car salesman refused to sell me the car I wanted. Oh, and a bonus third car buying story too.Let me explain.The Secret of InvisibilitySome years back, my then wife and I traveled to London for a short break. We treated ourselves to a nice five star hotel, and being long-time Seattle residents, had long since settled in to the ‘Seattle casual’ dress code.We were slightly disappointed in the quality of service at the hotel. Like many English things, particularly expensive products/services, it seemed that the staff working as paid employees of the hotel thought they were grander than their guests merely because they worked there every day, while we’d stay there only for a few days. (This is particularly noticeable if you fly First Class on BA, where the stuffy flight attendants, instead of fawning all over you for spending stupid amounts of money to fly in their first class section, act as though they are doing you a personal favor by letting you into ‘their’ cabin.)We laughed to ourselves at the dysfunctional snobbery of the English, and thought little more of it.Then one evening we were going to Covent Garden to see an opera or ballet. I forget what; but we allowed ourselves to conform to the unwritten dress code and expectations of attending a Covent Garden performance in expensive seats, and broke out our ‘fancy’ clothes. An amazing thing happened.We stepped out of the elevator in the hotel reception area, and it was like a spotlight was shining on us. Staff stopped what they were doing, looked us in the eye, wished us a pleasant evening; a doorman leaped to the door and held it open for us, etc.On our return at the end of the evening, the same happened in reverse. Doors held open, even someone rushing to press an elevator button for us, people welcoming us back.The next morning, we were again dressed very casually for a day of being out and about in London, and we had again become invisible. No-one looked up, no-one acknowledged our presence, and the doorman ignored us.Want to become invisible? Dress down at an over-priced pretentious London hotel.2. The ‘Clever’ Car Salesman Who Wouldn’t Sell me the Car I WantedI had bought several cars over the years from the local Jaguar/Landrover dealership, and consistently dealt with one particular salesman. He had come to understand my no-nonsense approach to buying cars and negotiating prices, and we were able to cut through the otherwise thick layer of nonsense and charades and quickly agree on pricing.I wanted to treat myself to a brand new Supercharged Range Rover - at the time, about 2005, this was a $100,000 car. So I called him up.Me : “Hi, Steve. I want to buy a new Supercharged Range Rover. Do you have any on the lot I can look at?”Steve : (excited reply, details of the colors and configurations of the several such vehicles they had on the lot.)Me : “Great, I’ll take the red one. I will write you out a check on the spot and want to drive it away with me. Please get it ready - when is convenient for me to come down?”Steve : (even more excitement, suggests 10.30am)Me : “Okay, can do. Now, there’s just one thing. I need your help persuading my wife that this is a sensible transaction. So when we arrive, I’ll act unsure and will feed you softball questions for you to answer, so you can sell my wife. Then as soon as she has come around, we’ll complete the deal.”Steve : “Oh yes, ha ha. I know exactly what you mean. Sure thing.”My wife and I turned up at 10.30, and I allowed Steve to first show us some used cars, then first some new Landrovers ($35k - $55k) and then some new Range Rovers ($80k - $100k). So far, so good.We ended up sitting in the Supercharged Range Rover I wanted to buy, with the wife sitting in the driver’s seat. She liked the heated steering wheel, she liked the backup camera (unusual back then), and liked the car in general. We were almost there.So I gave Steve the last question for him to answer.Me : “So, Steve, we’ve seen a lot of different cars. I think we’ve all agreed that a used car would not be as good as a new car (wife nods in agreement - so far so good), but you are now suggesting this car to us - $100,000! That’s more than twice as much as some of the less expensive Landrovers. Now I don’t want to be penny wise and pound foolish about this, but I do need to be convinced as to why we should spend this much more money to choose this car rather than one of the others. Sure, I think we both like the extra amenities and options in this car - the heated steering wheel will be handy in the winter (wife nods) and the rear view video is a great safety feature (more nodding from the wife). But, is it really sensible to spend all this much more money?”So, there we were - the wife liking the car, me having already told Steve I’d buy the car, and Steve prepared to answer this exact question. I waited for his response, already imagining myself driving the vehicle off the lot a short while later.Steve looked at us, then his gaze shifted to out the windows and to another vehicle. He cleared his throat portentously and said : “Well, David, you’ve been a good client for many years, and I’d hate to mislead you. I agree with you, this is a huge amount to pay for a car. If it were my choice, I’d buy the Landrover you looked at before, it is only $55,000. A much better value.”OMG!How could I possibly now buy the car I wanted to buy, the car I’d already told Steve I would buy, now that he had said that?We bought the Landrover. It has been a lovely car, but it is not the dream car I wanted.3. The Car Salesman Who Tried to Sell a Brochure Rather than a CarIn mid 1994, I decided to be wild and crazy and buy myself a sports car.I did considerable research, and at the end of it all, decided a Corvette was the best choice for what I wanted and in terms of ‘bangs per buck’. The Corvette I had identified from various research resources (this was pre-internet) seemed like it would cost about $35,000, and my main focus now was on configuring exactly the model options that were available. I was going to place a custom factory order rather than buy one off the showroom floor, because I wanted the car configured exactly the way I chose.I knew from having done this with cars in the past that there was a veritable mine-field of options, some of which required other options, and some of which were ‘either/or’ choices, and different ways of packaging the options, and so on and so forth.So my wife and I went to the local Chevy dealership one Saturday afternoon. A lounge lizard of a salesman hurried out to ‘help’. I explained we wanted to buy a Corvette.He nodded sagely, and asked if I wanted to test drive one. “No”, I replied. “I’m sure I’ll love the driving experience. It isn’t necessary. I just want to go ahead and order one.”The salesman nodded, and invited us to his little desk/cubicle thing, and pulled out an order form.I said ‘We want to place a factory order, and I don’t know exactly what all the options and option packs and requirements are. Can we have a brochure please to take home and work through the details, then come back tomorrow to confirm our order.” I pointed to the pile of Corvette brochures in a display rack.The salesman frowned and said “We don’t give brochures away. They cost money to print. We sell them for $5 each.”I said “I’m about to buy a $35,000 car, and the only way I can know about how to configure it is with the information in the brochure. You are telling me I have to pay $5 for a brochure before I then pay $35,000 for the car?”Salesman : “Yes, they are very expensive.”Me : “I’ve never been charged for a brochure before, and if you insist on the $5, I’m leaving and not buying the car.”Salesman : “Goodbye”.And so we drove a mile to another part of the ‘auto row’ area, walked into the Jaguar dealership, and bought an XJS Convertible. Sure, it cost twice as much, but - hey! The brochure was free. :)

The sizes of the sport balls vary a lot. Below is a list of ball sizes used for adult male competition (from the smallest to the largest based on length of dimensions).Source: Which Sport Uses the Largest Ball in Professional Play? - For Your Fitness & Healthy1. Squash-39.5 to 40.5 mm. Squash is a racket and ball sport played by two players (or four players for a double) in a four-walled court with a rubber ball.2. Table Tennis-40 mm. Table tennis ball used to be 38 mm until the 2000 Olympic games.3. Golf-42.67mm. This is the minimum size. Decays ago, there were two official golf ball sizes, 41.1mm (British ball) and 42.67mm (American ball). In 1990, the British and Americans reached an agreement to set up 42.67 mm as the standard minimum size of a golf ball.4. Jai Alai-55mm. Jai Alai is similar to squash, both involving a ball bounced off a walled space. However, Jai Alai is much more dangerous than Squash, since Jai Alai ball is the fastest and hardest sport ball.5. Racquetball-57mm. Racquetball is also similar to squash, but with different court sizes and playing rules.6. Pool-57.15 to 60.33mm. The pool is a cue sport that is played on a table with six pockets along the rails, into which balls are deposited.7. Carom billiards-61 to 61.5mm. In carom billiards games, three balls are used to play on pocketless billiards tables. They are a white cue ball for player 1, a white with a spot (or yellow) cue ball for player 2, and a red (or blue) object ball.8. Tennis-65.41 to 68.58mm. Tennis is one of the most popular sport games in the world.9. Baseball-73 to 76mm. Baseball is a bat-and-ball game, which is played between two teams that take turns batting and fielding. Baseballs contain a cork center called a “pill” that is wrapped in two thin rubber layers.10. Polo-76 to 89 mm. It is a horseback mounted team sport with a long history.11. Softball-97.1mm. Softball is a game similar to baseball, but there are very different rules.12. Shot put-110 to 130mm. It is a track and field game, which involves "putting" a heavy spherical ball as far as possible.13. Team handball-185 to 191 mm. It is a team sport between two teams, members of which pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the goal of the other team.14. Volleyball-207 to 213mm. It is a team sport in which two teams are separated by a net.15. Bowling-215.9 to 218.3mm. Bowling is divided into two classes, pin bowling and target bowling16. Soccer-216.5 to 223mm. This is the standard for size 5 ball.17. Basketball-238.8mm. This is the standard for size 7 ball.Some sports balls are not included in the list. For example, the shape of American football is oval, not round, so it is hard to compare its size with others.