Quote:
Originally Posted by rbmartin
Then I applaud you sir.
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OK - Halloween is over - back to baseball.
The "In the Neighborhood" play at second has come under more scrutiny lately. Here is one commentator's take:
The "neighborhood play" is an unwritten rule, which is a bit awkward in a game that has an official rulebook for umpires to follow. Would it be so difficult to create a written rule, with guidelines, for what fielders may or may not do to record an out at 2B while attempting to turn a DP? There are rules for touching a live ball with a catcher's mask, for batting out of order, and for a baseball literally coming apart while in play, but no rule for the everyday occurrence of the "neighborhood play."
So an umpire is asked to interpret the details of a rule that doesn't actually exist. Hard to get that one right.
I tend to agree. You start deviating from the written rules of the game and you're asking for trouble. Having said that - i never make a baserunner retouch his base after a foul ball. There is a line between over-officiating and simply ignoring the written rules, my earlier post was just trying to get some clarification as to where that line is.