Tie goes to runner?

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by steve friendly

I read all of rule 7.0. Your money is safe, but is the runner? How do I contact M.L.B Umpires Association on this one? No one seems to have a cut and dried answer. Not just here on this board, but elswhere. Maybe the umpires association can settle this one. Or maybe I'm just dreaming.

I can't tell if you're joking or not ... so I'll (against my better judgement) answer seriously.

There is no such thing as a tie. And to make certain that's crystal clear, there is no such thing as a tie. Independent events happen independently.

That said, you will find a place in the book (if you read it all) where it says a runner is out if he fails to beat the ball to the bag, and another that says he's safe if the ball fails to beat the runner to the bag (technically, one is BR, the other is just any runner ... but the technicality was not meant for us to rule a tie one way for BR and the other for runners - it's just symantics, and the rule-framers were surely not thinking of ties when they wrote it that way).

You're getting consistent responses that a tie belongs to the umpire. In a sense, since there is no rule mentioning ties at all, this is true - the tie belongs to the umpire. You will find umpires that take this to mean that on bangers, reward the good play, and punish the bad play. I don't personally like it, but you'll find those guys. You'll find guys who will ALWAYS call a banger an out. And you'll find a small minority of guys who will always call a banger safe. MOST of the time, however, to the perception of the umpire, one came before the other - you don't have time to think, "Was that a tie?"

And you'll never find an umpire who says he called a player out because it was a tie (or vice versa). We never "see" a tie.