OCR Text |
Show UGGESTS PLANS FOR AIDING UMPIRES IN CLEARING UP RULES lierican League Official Enumerates Dozen Changes Which He Believes Would Improve Game; Statement Defining- status of Substitute Not Announcing Himself Him-self Would Be Big Help. CHANGES SUGGESTED IN PLAYING CODS pcfino the status of a substitute player who enters the came aa cinoli ,,,ror fielder without mtorminj; the umpire of the substitution " clause w liieli makes Retting on the rubber by the. pitcher without the ii in his possession a balk. 4 rule that does justu-e to the batter who hits a ball over the fenee or 'the stands in the Until or extra inning, and yet fails to get credit be-c be-c the run of sonio player on the bases decides the jramo. A clause that will prevent disputes that now arise hs to the. status of a ....or who scores a run when a preceding nrniicr has failed to touch a baao ' h; wav to the plate. lhen" the infield is drawn m for a play at the plate, and the batter hits ia that sets by the first lino of delense, no further plav being possible t,iit member of the uitieUl, pueh a ball should be considered in play if it einto contact with tho person of the umpire back of the infield'. ' 'when a batter hits a ball that is fair when it passes over tho fence or to stand, it should be considered a fair ball. All jurisdiction over it hU c"J wueo !t Tosses out of the playing field, instead of compelling the jupire to watch its course until it disappears. " With first and second base, or first, second and third base occupied, any tieiiipt to bunt a ball that goes fair should not bo regarded as an infield' ir though the attempt results in a fly bull that goes to'tho infield. ""' Define just wl"lt ,he phrase ''held the ball'' means, in connection with -,;jv in which an infielder touches a base runner. ''tlarifv the rule that governs the eoachor at third base, so that the rule ni have no application on any ball hit out of playing territorv which really jjers a play on the base runner impossible. A 'batsman should be considered as having illegally batted a ball only rhtn ho hits tho ball with both foot outside the liiica'of the batter 's box. Determine tho best penalty to inflict when a catcher interferes with a a'-man. "A rule that will clearly state that a base runner w ho holds his base shall are tho right to advance tho moment a fly ball strikes the bauds of a eliicr. By BILLY EVANS, American League Umpire. ASEBALL is a game in which mil-I mil-I lions of Americans take an ac- the part. It is a sport enjoyed by many trorc millions from a frrtable scat in the stands or on j;ecn. Therefore the playing code fiverr.s tho game should be so ar-;ed ar-;ed that the amateur should be able iiderstand as readily as the profes-ih profes-ih that the sand let umpire should iiijie to interpret a role as easily tt major league umpire. Ut is not possible as the playing ; stands. Some ruVs are rather ieuous. Others conflict. tiome ? a two-way meaning. A few are liv in keeping with the spirit of play, which is the first principle any great sport. Undoubtedly a rianges, addition of a few words 'ihnination of a few would clarify (sections that are a source of lis-'. lis-'. Here are a few suggestions I f in mind which tend to help illy. ttry now and then a substitute er enters the gamo and fails to in-i in-i the umpire. I have had such a ; happen several times. I recall jsuie where a manager made a i2e in right fieldors without uotify-n, uotify-n, and the presence of the new it was not known to me until I Mm make a sensational catch. One ion says for such an offense a team ible to a fine of $3. That would c it seem such an act was all right, that a mere money fine was the remedy. Yet there is another sec-which sec-which says a player does not enter tame until he announces his sub- iiion to tho umpire. Major league ires take no action other than to "it the entry of the substitute, just f he had made known the substi-n, substi-n, and ho continues in the line-up h position of the player he suc-ti. suc-ti. However, each year hundreds :iputes arise over such a niixup, ' is contended the player never ac-i" ac-i" was in the game, hence anything lid was void, while others insist an improper batsman. Home definite statement defining the is of a substitute not announcing sli would be a big boon to the t and make the life of the sand pire more pleasant. iteming the Pitcher. don't believe the pitcher lias a set on tho rubier without the his possession. The rules give that right, provided he made no n to deliver the ball to the bnts-: bnts-: I feel that such an act by the 't- is deception and should lii e'.ass-1 e'.ass-1 M a balk. The rubber was made '! from. Getting on the rubber '''Mnce the pitcher is prepared to !; yst ewrvone knows it 13 imposs-l imposs-l do so without the ball. d't for Home Run. a, batsman hits a ball over the " mto the stands he should be "i '0 a home run, regardless of 1 nation when such a hit is mac'.'. Jtn teams go scoreless for eight fs and, with two out, and a runner m the last half of the ninth, wtsman hits the ball over the fence "' credit for only a triple, I .'cause e was over the moment the run-"Uuially run-"Uuially on first crossed tho plate. ,il,t .malice to the batsman. It f .makes no difference whether the ; 15 to 0 or 2 to 0. The latter nu!d rnnke it possible for the n to receive credit for the home ich he had earned. the Bases. "ith loss than two out, a runner e and scores and a succeeding f? Myes on the same plav, the is always raised that -the sue- rcfi!lUnn;'r 9hould b,? caIed out for linJ''J passing the first runror on Ho ' Slnt," lie touched a certain flip Peceumg runner missed. For irst . i e ls one out. and runr.rs brtil 8tconl- The batter triples : runners score. The Tunner b' j second fails to touch third, he is 13,,rc,tued to that base " that A d out- Tllc claim i9 then n- T ccebng runner tech ivs ,,u t. bo called out. I have its.ioi.aht ,t a foolish contention, t. If V?33lbl to Present an argu- act of Was a cl!l,19e tllilt ltt.',a Preceding runner in fail-on fail-on a a b:,se shall have no bear-pron bear-pron 8ucceeding runner who runs f manner, all disputes would the Umpire. at til .'"'c'd is drawn in for a a!! ii.,l plat and the batsman hits use ad Fr1 b' "'e first line of ire sue? 1 ;n,,hlts ,h Person of the lav V' a ball should be considered '"'field ''?,"omc"t the ball got past elders wi cll,uu' tor a plav bv the ,fbon ,-1 rcmovcl. hence ' tberc is '"y tne hall should bo de clared dead when it hits tho umpire, merely granting the batsman first base and allowing no runners to advance unless forced. When Is Ball Foul? It seems a batter who is able to hit a ball over the fence and have said ball be fair when it goes out, of pluv-uig pluv-uig territory should be credi ed with "a home run. The rule now calls for the umpire to follow tho course of the ball until it finally disappears from view and render a decision at that point. Infield Fly Rule. The infield fly is an excellent rule to protect the baso runner, but I believe be-lieve it would offer the runner even more protection if a bunted flv ball was not classified as an infield flv. Major league umpires never so call ft, unless the ball goes high and there is a reason. We will assume there are runners on first and second and no one out. It is desired to sacrifice the runners run-ners over. On such a play the infield is all out of position. The first saeker runs in to take a bunt down the first base line, the pitcher goes over to the third base line, the second baseman covers first, the shortstop second, while the third baseman stays at third in hopes qf getting a force play at that point. The base Tunners are all in action. ac-tion. A bunted fly ball always causes confusion, particularly to base runners. run-ners. They are expected to advance, yet if the umpire rules an infield fly they are in danger of being retired. Elimination of a bunted fly ball from the infield fly section would surely help, in my opinion. If a fielder in handling n flv ball juggles it several times but finally holds it, the ball is regarded as caught or held. If a baso runner is touched out and tho fielder juggles the ball after af-ter the touch but retains possession, thero is always an argument as to whether tho runner is out or safe. If there was a clause that definitely says that any ball that does not touch the ground is regarded as held, that would settle it. Coacher at Third Base. The rule governing touching a runner by a coacher at third was meant, to prevent intevfevenee by the coacher with a possible play. It was an excellent ex-cellent rule. However, when n batter hits tho ball over tho fence for a home run all chance for a play ceases and any action of tho runner relative to tho coacher should bo overlooked. Tho majors ma-jors so rule but tho rules do not so specify, so that hundreds of disputes result re-sult ovcry year. Where Batter Stands. Practically every batter in hitting at a ball is carried partly out of the box by his stride. I mean that part of one foot is usually out of tho box. Tho rule says tho batsman should be declared de-clared out for having illegally batted a ball. I lelieve it should be so ruled only when both feet are out of the box. There is no desire to cheat when his stride carries him out of the box, hence no penalty should be inflicted. Catcher's Interference. A wise catcher by interfering with the batsman can often spoil the squee or a steal of homo, if he believes it to be of .advantage to do so. The rulo sends tho batter to first and all runners run-ners must return to their bases, unless forced to advance because of the batsman. bats-man. That hardly seems a fair rule, as it places a premium on interference. When Fielder Gets Ball. Everyone knows a runner has a right to advance the moment a fly ball strikes the hand of a fielder, yet the rules do not definitely say so. They should. Disputes tend to make trouble, and trouble never dres any sport the least bit of good, so that any changes that will elimiuato disputes are surely worth while. (Copyright, 1919, by V. G. Evans.) |