I Don’t Know the Rules
May 7, 2009Here’s a funny and kind of embarrassing thing that keeps happening to me. I get asked about the rules of the game a lot. It happened yesterday at my son’s practice. It was the old two runners on the same base thing. The coach was instructing the kids to tag them both out, and then tag them both again after they vacate the bag. Then he looked over at me and asked which one is really out?
Crickets. I had no clue.
Isn’t that weird? Granted, nobody ever mistook me for a baseball genius, but you would think that over 35 years in and around the game would leave me with a good grasp of the rules. Nope. I would say I know more than most, but if tested I bet I would get a B- at best.
But I honestly don’t think I’m alone. You always hear guys asking “what happens if this happens”……guys who have been around the game. It’s a fascinating aspect of baseball. The simple fact is, this game can teach you something new almost every day.
For example, I just learned what the “4 out rule” was yesterday. Do you know what it is? I bet not. Did you know that when a guy is doubled off a base after a line drive or fly ball that that is considered an appeal play? It’s not a force. It’s basically the same thing as calling time out and appealing to the umpire if you thought the runner tagged early…except in this instance, you don’t call time out.
O.K. with that in mind, here’s the “4 out rule.” This just happened in a Dodger game by the way. Guy on second and third, one out. Batter gets fisted and loops a soft liner that the shortstop has to go back on to make an over the shoulder catch. The runner from second ran, thinking the shortstop wasn’t going to make the play. And here’s where it gets interesting. Instead of throwing the ball to second base to double up the runner, the shortstop ran the ball all the way to second to record the third out. End of inning, no runs score right? Wrong. It turns out the runner from third went back and tagged up. He hustled home and crossed the plate BEFORE the shortstop touched second base and recorded the third out. Run scores.
In this Dodger game, the umpires initially didn’t get it right until Joe Torre came out of the dugout and pleaded his case. I guess Torre isn’t just getting paid to be a nice guy.
Here’s another great image from Neil Leifer….maybe Casey is arguing the “4 out rule.”
The umpire in the picture…is that the policeman from It’s A Wonderful Life?