[greymule]

The ASA rule book used to specify "deliberately," but they took that word out, with the explanation that they didn't wan't umpires to try to read the runner's mind. So to gauge a crash on whether it was deliberate runs counter to ASA's thinking.

If ASA means something other than crash, which denotes great force and even destruction (a car "crash" does not mean a broken headlight), they should use another word. When the runner steals second standing up and bumps into the fielder standing on the bag, I can't see that crash applies, though many coaches certainly scream for it.

I suspect that umpires who read crash literally will call far fewer crashes than umpires who interpret the word according to other criteria (intent, ability to avoid, any contact, etc.).

Remember that the rule was instituted to prevent the Pete Rose–Ray Fosse play that was all too common in SP in the 1970s. Runners felt obliged to try to dislodge the ball the way they had learned in baseball. Runners crashed into me many times; I never got hurt, either, probably because I expected the runner to come in hard and didn't stand in front of a base while looking toward the outfield for a throw.

Of course, we need a crash rule. But the fact that there is so much uncertainty about what constitutes a crash means that ASA should define crash precisely.

In fact, the justification for the new rule (sometime around 1981) was just as Mike said, "Players need to get up the next day and go to work."

[Edited by greymule on Jul 1st, 2004 at 03:05 PM]