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Until Honigs starts selling protractors, we are faced with a judgment call.
I've had a coach come out on me and argue that he had 45 degrees as he pointed to the divot that the pitcher's front foot made when he picked the kid off at 3rd. I told him that I didn't have a protractor to determine if it was 44 degrees or 46 degrees, so he was just going to have to live with my call.
The bottom line is that the 45 degrees is a thumb rule, but the actual rule says "directly". If a kid is "fudging" the line, he puts it in my hands and he might not like the outcome. If he will not try and get away with the maximum allowable and step at 35 degrees (a point that is clearly more toward the base than the plate), then he takes me and my judgment out of the equation.
We have all been driving down the freeway at 59 in a 55 mph zone and not been pulled over. But if you get pulled over and the radar says 59, you are subject to whatever penalty the officer decides to give you. He may pull you over and tell you to slow down, he may write you a warning or he could give you a citation. If you don't want to be paying tickets, adjusting your cruise control to 54 mph will save you the hassle.
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