| Show Important Change In Baseball Rules New Rules However Are Not Radical Radical Use of Resin Optional Foreign Substance Still Illegal Is Given More Power Power Many One Word One to Be Found Although the charges mado In the playing rules of of- of baseball of-baseball baseball for 1926 arc ate not revolutionary nevertheless nev they s-they they will have lune considerable bearing upon the outcome of many Y games There Thero hag nu been no up- up up upheaval hel al of oC o pitching rules n as have been lIeen made at various anous times in h the history of ot the gaui Perhaps It would have bet been n loiter ketter Itter If it there thero had been a little more freedom granted to th the pitcher pilcher but that Is som soma soma- thing thing that can await awIt the he turn ot of o tho U e I Wherever a 0 a change has has- been I made in the rules In their publication publication publication cation in Spaldings Spalding's Official Bas ball Bast-ball ball bail Guide It If has hus been noted In Inthe Inthe Inthe the marginal m ra ll directory In the ex of the tho rules rule which ana sr are area a feature of the and which are arc not found elsewhere the thi changes chan ea have been commented up upon up- up on by the tho editor of ot the Guide There Thero ha lies lIas been some misunderstanding standing stand In even cven this early about th the changes chang s Thia is due dU to the tho f fact that criticism was as made of ot the tho amendments without the critics awaiting the official text Al- Al Although Al Although though the changes were noted and carefully explained by th the commit commit- committee committee committee tee wrong impressions have havo been created by one ne change with another SIGNS The coacher may no longer go farther Carther back baek toward the outfield than an extension of at the base jine from first to second and second to third bases Into foul toul ground Indefinitely indefinitely The Th coachers coacher's assist assist- assistance assistance assistance ance must r be confined to the Infield and ond Is not to be usel uselin In rambling toward the outfield In an effort erfort to get the signs of the pitcher and the thos catcher This modifies Rule 6 f Where the worTh the alternate ball occur now and then a change has been made to an jan al alternate at- at alternate ternate ball bail This came because so many baseballs are now used In each contest and each baseball must bear Its legal significance to the game A paragraph has lias been added to section 6 5 of rule 14 which is mote more for the benefit of tho he minor leagues league than It Is for the tho majors although both may profit by It It provides that baseballs which have been bean used may again be bo used In suc- suc succeeding suc succeeding games it If they are accepted by the umpires It If a game Is start start- started started started ed with six lx new balls and they are lost the umpire may finish the tho game with six have been used previously It H they are arc de delivered dc- dc livered to him by the home clUb and are arc satisfactory to him He may throw them out It If he Is not satisfIed with them The amend amend- amendment amendment ment is largely one of ot econom economy BAT DAT The rule regarding the bat ta Is rewritten It Is not changed tn In Intent but It Is clear In the or- or orIginal original or original form It was not It assert assert- asserted asserted asserted ed originally that one end of the bat could bo ho wound but did not state specifically which end In Rule null 16 It Ii says say that a 0 player may act as captain That means that it if a 0 team does docs not want Its captain on the field It can ha e him In the coachers coacher's box It has become the custom to have the captain a player other olber than tItan one of the regulars r The rho header double dou header ble-header rule which makes the tho first game of the tho af at afternoon af- af afternoon the legal game Iame for or thedy the has hall been set apart by Itself instead of ot being classified with the regulation game ganto e an rule In section 2 of Rule 28 about substItuting players there has hu been no end of contusion among th youngsters as to what any stage ot of the game means when one player was 1 put ut In the for another r Frequently it hat has been ruled that a player could break breakdown breakdown breakdown down beb between een tint first bate base and s sec second c- c cond ond and It If another player touch touched ed first base bUI ba e and continued to torun torun torun run tor for the injured player the run would count Of court course that would result In II a a farce because slow runners could pretend to break down at first base and fast tast- faster er or runners could iak take uke their places The rule has haa been bee so 50 changed now that a cannot be bo ma made e while the tho ball Is In play The umpire always IS time when hen a substitution Is made STILL ILLEGAL To section 2 of ot Rule 30 there ther Is appended the resin bag big paragraph which has haa become famous thus early The National league will use It and the he American loa league sue will have none of It The rule does not say s y that the pitcher must dry his hands bands on tM the resin bag It aa says Ia's he may There can be a a legal lea sin resin bag and It If there thero Is a 0 league that doesn't want to carry the hag bal there Is nothing to compel It to do so Note Noto one thing very carefully Not flot a word of ot rule rulo about tho use uso of ot a a foreign substance on the ball has hae been changed To daubor daub daubor daubor or maltreat the ball Is as Illegal as ever it was waL The rule In regard to the pitch pitch- pitcher er pr throwing to an unoccupied base has been changed so 80 that If he does It once he Is III warned and it If be ho repeats It he hea Is a out of ot the game This change chango has been beOn be n er erroneously er- er confounded led In some WILY way with the Intentional pass but has baa nothing whatever to do with It The change Is II very proper and a 0 good one as It prevents needless delay of the tho game Various flight blight changes have been made In the tho balk line but none of them alter Zhe he balk orIs or its Is penalty The changes have made the tho rule much clearer NO o HEAD DEAD BALL n It If a batsman stand at the tho plate and In the opinion of ot the umpire dodges Into a slow ball so 10 that he either a ball bail or a 11 strike the umpire put a 11 penalty ofa of ofa ofa a ball bali of a a strike on tn the batemen In the past It has often been ruled a dead ball and thus thua the batsman got away with a play at the expense o of the pitcher Of course If It the batsman Is II hit ac accidentally ac- ac accidentally accidentally the rule of ot bit hit by pitch pitch- pitcher er applies as It always did The lule tule 1 ule about the intentional pass viands stands as It did although the tho members member ot of o the tho rules committee were quite u tiling to admit that It Is superfluous an and unnecessary However It had been Incorporated Into the rules rule as sort of a 0 pre pre- precautionary pre precautionary cautionary warning to the catch catch- catcher er Cr and fo so It was as permitted to remain Tho The words the Intel Intel- Intentional p pass ss were wore stricken from the rule The leagues do not rec recognize reo- reo recognize or longer to organize red ree- organize that there thero Is not such athing a athing thing as an Intentional pass Mind readers can can not play bate ball base base- baseball ball bali In the capacity of or umpires The distance of a home runIs run runIs Is feet teet and yet et the size ota of ofa II a ground does docs not necessarily havea have havo a minimum limit of SO 50 feet teet A Aground Aground ground may be Le feet at Hs last measurement but home runs will not be legal over tl foot toot foot wall That point Is flatly settled by Increasing the distance or of a 0 home run to 50 feet teet t r CALL LL Gum GAME GAM The umpire by the change In Inthe Inthe Inthe the rule regarding suspension or of play may call the game at the ond of ot 30 minutes It If he ha wishes to todo todo todo do so If It In his opinion he ho can afford aCford to wait walt five minutes long long- longer longer longer er he may but on the other hand there is nothing which prevents him from stopping short at the end of 30 minutes It might have been better It the rule had been drawn n so that the expiration of 30 minutes was a a 0 final the umpire to stop atop play pia but the rule as ns It reads Is better than It was In 1925 There will be found many one one- word one word changes and many changes made necessary by reason of ot tile the fact that the coach Is brought Into the game now as a separate unit There can be a professional coach exactly exact exactas as there Is a professional manager neither of whom Is ae- ae actively ac actively engaged with th the ball or or bat In the future future- If It a batsman I wants a home run he must touch all all the bases bales under all conditions There are arp to be no freak home runs as presents solely to make records AY S It If the batsman gets to first ona on ona ona a wild pitch It will be ba an nn error Inthe In Inthe inthe the future It should always alwa's have llave been There is no reason reason In the world why the pitcher should not at stand and for tor or anything anything- which puts t batsman on first base It the catcher m musses up a strikeout the pitcher must get credit for tor what ho ha accomplished or of rather tather would have accomplished accomplished pUshed with proper co operation co It was found that scorers were vere depriving the tM pitcher of a strike out when the catcher muffed the ball I The etolen base basa rule Is so mod modified I that the scorer scorer may use his JU judgment and give gl a stolen base If the tho runner has shown an active play that Is baffling to the catcher With all that has been done to encourage base running sCorers have been In the habit ot of not hot gling gl the runner on first firsta ta a stolen base when it tt was as as evident e that he was trying to draw II a throw that would help a D run run- runner run run-l ner ncr to score front from It If there I eVer was ws intent in a a play to ad- ad ad advance I-ance I I vance a runner it was in the ac- ac action ac action tion of at the tha man on who was wag recorded 1 with Ith nothing simply be- be beCause be because cause the scorers tollo followed ed a rUle rute exactly as It read 1 The hit rule has bun been bunI I chang changed d to read when no onS Is 18 out and when but one ona man is 18 out the batsman hits a a fly ball bali that Is la I caught but results result In la runner abase 8 a runner base advancing on the catch The change Is In the words runner base advancing lr QUent or at least lust often orten enough to make mako It worth while run a run has hu been scored cored by two long longI 81 I tiles flies In succession The chap who batted the last got ot a sacrifice hit and the one OM who batted balled the first got cot nothing yet t the tha run could not have ha scored had it not been for his play The rule commit commit- committee committee tee logically decided that It one fl fly helped to score Ecore a II run so did the tho other And so Se It did and so BOIt It will It If the change does anything It may assist some batters to a 0 slightly lower percentage but it If there Is 11 any who hold that such fluch sacrIfices are arc not sacrifices then let th the rule about sacrifice rues flies be In Its entirety It a bats bata batsman man advances advance a runner by any kind o of a a play which Is perfectlY played It fd In the field the batsman Is entitled to credit and that Is as c r aln as 01 spring |
