David,
Nice job - are you and Academy graduate? That's the thinking more and more umpires have to follow. To know the rules is one thing, but there are two other important elements to consider:
1: Why the rule was put in place (Which you so elequently stated)
2: The interpretation of the rule
Knowing the rules of the game will make you a good umpire (there's lots of them around). Knowing the WHY (origin of the rule) and the HOW (it's interpretation) will help you become a GREAT umpire (not too many of them around). Just my opinion..... and I think some guy named Jim Evans also - that's who I got it from.
