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38 Comments
- jerryjamesstone, on 07/09/2009, -1/+19I know there is no crying in baseball
- S7aind, on 07/09/2009, -1/+14One of the strangest rules:
"After he has acquired legal possession of a base, he runs the bases in reverse order for the purpose of confusing the defense or making a travesty of the game. The umpire shall immediately call “Time” and declare the runner out;" - Blinker1315, on 07/09/2009, -1/+11This is off point, since the author's writing about professionals who should know better, but after decades of watching baseball games, I still don't get the balk. Sure, I understand the concept, but it's called in such a capricious manner by the umpires, that it's very confusing. And I wish the rule that an infielder actually has to touch second base--instead of a "phantom" swipe of the bag--while turning a double play would be enforced.
- Stap1eGun, on 07/10/2009, -0/+7Actually, a long time ago with runners on first and third someone tried to steal second and coax a throw from the catcher so his teammate could run home. After trying to steal slowly, but with no throw from the catcher, on the next pitch he ran back to first to try it again. Since there was no rule at the time he was called safe, and on the next pitch ran back to second, and the catcher threw the ball into center field.
http://books.google.com/books?id=mBRdDyCKxvcC& ... (about 3 paragraphs in) - WorldLeader, on 07/10/2009, -0/+6As a fairly experienced baseball umpire I have run into tons of really weird situations. For example, the count is full and there is a runner on second. The picture throws a strike and the batter swings and misses, but the catcher drops the ball. The batter is not out yet, even though that was strike three. He can try and run to first, and if he beats the throw he is safe. Better yet, when this same situation occurs with a runner on first, the batter is automatically out. Weird huh?
Infield fly is another weird one that lots of people don't understand. I don't know how many times I've had parents screaming at me for not calling infield fly when there was no force. It gets annoying.
Balks are pretty tricky sometimes. There are hundreds of ways to balk. Everything from blatantly stopping your pitching motion to twitching your shoulders while set. Pick-off moves are a nightmare to officiate correctly, since there are different things to look for with both left and right handed pitchers.
The thing people forget about baseball though is that each umpire is unique, and each strike zone is a little bit different. It's a judgement call. Trust me, when a ball comes flying at you at 70MPH+, you don't remember what team is hitting or fielding, you just have a fraction of a second to call it a strike or not. The umpire 99% of the time isn't trying to screw over your team or your little leaguer on purpose. - CoreGMRConMan, on 07/10/2009, -0/+5A balk doesn't have to just be "a false intention towards home". It can also be an improper set with runners on. This protects against the quick pitch.
- CoreGMRConMan, on 07/10/2009, -0/+4I was watching this game. No one knew what was going on. The umpire was right however.
- devophl, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3At least in baseball these freaky things that cause us to dig into the rule book rarely happen and even rarer does it affect the outcome of a game. I've always liked baseball because officiating is mostly objective (outside of the strike zone)... did he reach the base or not... did he catch the ball or not.
What I hate about some sports is that officiating is SO subjective like pass interference and holding in football and fouls in general in basketball. There is no sport more difficult to officiate than American football. That rulebook must be enormous, not to mention inconsistent. There no sport where the refereeing seems to affect the outcome more than basketball (OK, ice skating and gymnastics are horrible that way). - JohnFrum, on 07/10/2009, -0/+3Replying to your first situation. Obviously it wouldn't work if there was someone on first. Otherwise all the catcher would need to do is "drop" the ball and throw to second then to first for the double play. So no, not really that weird.
- stubear, on 07/10/2009, -2/+5Yeah, I don't "get" the balk rule either. If you strictly interpret it then Andy Petite should be walking people in left and right with his pitching style. Another one that annoys me is the rule concerning making an effort to get out of the way of a pitch inside. There are too many players who wear armor on their facing arm and don't even flinch when a pitcher throws inside. More batters should be called on this. The last call I remember seeing was earlier this year when a pitch hit Kevin Youkilis and the ump wouldn't let him take first base.
My biggest grip, however, is with the strike zone. You hear announcers talk about the high and low strike zones and I've scoured through the rule book without any luck finding any mention of these two strike zones. Umpires should call the strike zone as stated in the book. I'd love to see Questec or whatever its current replacement is be used to officially call balls and strikes, pulling the fallible human eye out of the equation (have you ever see a 90mph fast ball thrown directly at you?). You'd think the Umpire's Union would love the opportunity to get an extra umpire on the crew for games to assist the Questect op in the booth. - RiotHeart, on 07/10/2009, -1/+3In most cases he is about 3-5 feet away from the bag and they still call him out at 2nd. I don't get it. I only see them do that when the runner is about halfway to the bag and not close.
- schwab002, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2The high end of the strike zone is the midpoint between top of the shoulder and the bottom of jersey....so most of the time that's at the bottom of the numbers on the front of a jersey. The bottom of the strike zone is the hollow just below the knee cap.
I love baseball. - JohnFrum, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2Maybe this came about because someone liked to run back and forth between 3rd and 1st a few times after a home run?
- Gazthrak, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2There were FAR more horrible calls than that one. I could understand that call, not getting a force out while being 3 feet off the bag.
- JohnFrum, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2Nooooo. Next thing you know people will want balls and strikes to be called by the tracer.
- cptcliche, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2Orioles in a front page story on Digg? Can it really be?
- mwerb6, on 07/10/2009, -0/+2The balk is easy to understand. Pretty much if you make a move toward home plate or cross your front leg over your back leg you need to throw home. If you don't do this, you balk. Plain as day.
- JohnFrum, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1Were you listening to the M's side? They didn't make a big deal of it.
- Gazthrak, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1I feel you. I have spent years trying to understand it and here is what I got so far.
- There is about a 45 degree arc from the mound starting at the line to first base to halfway to home where a pitchers front leg must land when throwing if the pickoff comes from a normal forward motion. If its going towards home, it is a balk.
- A pitcher can also pick off by lifting his back leg and planting it behind the rubber, off it. The front leg cannot move.
- The pitcher does not come to a full and complete stop when he sets, just before he starts his motion to throw the pitch (or pickoff)
- After the stop, the pitcher may move his head, but if he so much as flinches any other part of his body, it is a balk. The same logic is used if say, the pitcher "unset" while his foot is still on the rubber.
I'm sure there's more, but these are the most common triggers I've seen. - gpit2286, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1My dad was an umpire for many years - he had a lot of gripes about people around the field (mainly coaches and umpires) not knowing the rules.
Completely agree with the "phantom tagging" but balk's are pretty well defined. The way you get away with a balk is you step off the rubber (if you're in the stretch) with your back foot and then you're not "on the rubber" when you "faint" towards a base.
As far as the strike zone goes - as long as it's consistent - you have no excuse to complain. It's the umpires that can't make up their mind that people should complain about.
Other than that. Some other things people have no idea about...
-What the call is when a player throws their glove at a ball to stop it (3 bases)
-Who has the right of way to a baseline depending on where the ball is (If a fielder is receiving a catch, they have every right to the baseline as the runner does)
-If a batted ball hits a runner (Depends on if the ball passed a fielder)
-If a batter hits a ball and it bounces off from the pitching rubber and goes out of play (ground rule double)
And some other ones. - lordmike, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1"The picture throws a strike and the batter swings and misses, but the catcher drops the ball. The batter is not out yet, even though that was strike three."
That rule is as old as baseball itself... it was Rule 11 from the rules of the game which were first adopted and developed by Alexander J. Cartwright, the true founder of baseball, in 1845.
"11th. Three balls being struck at and missed and the last one caught, is a hand-out; if not caught is considered fair, and the striker bound to run." - CoreGMRConMan, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1yeah. no they did not, But i think Niehaus is about to kick the bucket. he says some backwards stuff sometimes.
- CoreGMRConMan, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1buried for suggesting reviews on safe/out calls at bases.
- battmutler, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1Stuff like that seems weird at first, but when you think of the logic behind it, it makes perfect sense.
Dropped third strike = runner IF (there's not a man occupying 1st, AND less than 2 outs).
Same with infield fly: in effect with (1st and 2nd, or bases loaded) AND less than two outs. Tempting for an infielder to drop a fly ball and go for the double play. - stubear, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1@schwab002,
I know what the actual high and low edges of the zone are but you'll often hear an announcer say something about the umpire not calling the low strike, referring to setting the strike zone above the kneecap instead of below, or not calling the high strike, meaning they are calling the strike zone around the belt, not at the numbers (I always assumed it was about where the letters were). In short, they are not calling the strike zone correctly and they should be.
@Ajajadude,
I'd rather see if pitchers can win the battle against a hitter instead of fighting the umpire's strike zone (which can be all over the place some nights). Umpires should not be part of the human equation in baseball, period. - jba68, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1I wish I could have seen the game live where the dude ran around he bases backwards(hence the onset of the infield fly).... lol baseball has some nutty ***** happen.
- jba68, on 07/10/2009, -1/+2you can thank ESPN for that. Some of the stuff has been around for ages, but Espn pushes all those stats.
If you want to learn, you can actually go their stats page and there is a key at the bottom... - chezidom, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1I was hoping to see a video clip of the two plays.
- pax85, on 07/10/2009, -1/+2So I'm from Austria, and every time I watch MLB von ESPN America, i don't have a clue, what all those numbers and statistics on the screen mean.
- ml4rocky, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1Boring but obviously necessary. There's a gold mine of "unknown" info in the book. Can't play for real without it.
- Ajajadude, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1I'll take baseball umpiring over officiating in basketball and football any single day of the year.
- Gizza, on 07/10/2009, -1/+2"There is no sport more difficult to officiate than American football."
You obviously haven't seen Aussie Rules Football. Sometimes it seems neither the supporters, umpires nor players understand the rules. Doesn't help that in the last decade or so since the new CEO has come in the rules have changed every year.
But then for a support with barely any field position rules, that both takes place in the air and on the ground on a field that is 150m long with 36 players on the ground at any given time is always going to pretty tough to umpire. - csrster, on 07/10/2009, -0/+1I love rugby but I'm always a bit puzzled by the rules. Sometimes I think the commentators are making it up as they go along "and that'll be a free kick for handling up the ball-side in a rolling ruck" etc.
- jba68, on 07/10/2009, -1/+1It took me a very long time to understand the Infield fly. I got called on it twice when I was young a couple years apart, I was pissed...
- Ajajadude, on 07/10/2009, -1/+1I'm not sure umpires like Questec. Regardless, part of baseball is the human equation crouching behind the catcher and I'd hate to ever see that replaced.
- rockon4life45, on 07/10/2009, -3/+2Umpiring this year has been atrocious, I believe that the umpires should also review close plays at bases.
Especially after an umpire got caught telling Derek Jeter that 'you don't have to be tagged to be out, only the throw has to beat you" - LordSkywalker, on 07/10/2009, -5/+1Replace "baseball rules" with "federal law". Same applies.
- Discobassplayer, on 07/10/2009, -12/+3BOOOOOOOORING
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