Travesty to the game
 

R2 & BR hits ball up 1st base line. BR starts to run to first and once 1st baseman gets ball goes to tag him. BR then turns around and runs back home to avoid tag and to give R2 time to get to third. Umpire once told me that BR would be automatically out since it is a "travesty to the game." Is this right? Surely not.

No...I wouldn't call Travesty in this situation. I've read that we should only be calling travesty in extreme situations...(ridiculously excessive appeals, running the bases backward, etc...)

Correct. Surely not.

No - "travesty of the game" appears exactly once in the rulebook. And it's not under the section called "ridiculously excessive appeals." :)

PS - some umpires will misunderstand this statement to mean that ANY running of the bases in reverse order is illegal because it makes a travesty of the game. Much the contrary - the rulebook provides for an out if the PURPOSE of the runner running the bases backward was to make a travesty of the game.

These same people will call Skunk in the Outfield a 'travesty of the game.'

Well said.

I believe that's called smart baserunning. As long as BR doesn't run past home plate or run outside his established basepath to avoid a tag, it's legal.

If you want to get into a reading and writing contest...you would probably win...since this isn't a writing and reading contest...I know that nearly everybody on here realizes the spirit of what I was writing. Other than an appeal situation where a runner would be running the bases backward in an effort to retouch...which we all know...when else, during play, wouldn't running the bases backward be creating a travesty? Also, I can think of a million things as a coach I could do to create a travesty of the game by excessively appealing...therefore, I direct your attention to Rule 9.01 (c) which states: Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.

While I see your points sir..and yes, I'm not an attorney, journalist, or other professional writer, my writing probably should be more precise...but this isn't a board where we pick apart others' writing, but rather share ideas...if we want to quiz each other on rules and what's written verbatim in the rule book, then let's start a thread and we'll bounce rule questions back and forth until the cows come home.

Guess you missed the smiley ... but that's ok. I'll live.

Didn't mean to ruffle the feathers ... but I do think it's important to note that "travesty of the game" doesn't cover random events. We've all run across umpires that use that phrase as a crutch to make up rulings where they don't know the rule. Perhaps I overreacted some, as it's a pet peeve of mine to see that phrase thrown around where it doesn't belong.

Incidentally, a runner in a run down runs the bases in reverse order without it being a travesty. Also, it's completely conceivable for a runner to inadvertently overrun a base in reverse and be forced to retreat to another base to avoid being tagged out, without it being a travesty.

Last J/R I read authoritatively opined that the B/R could retreat back to the plate before he is subject to being called out. Assuming he observes all other baserunning rules in the meantime, of course.

Running back toward the plate is not a travesty. Misapplying the rule in this case is.

Mike,

Travesty of the game appears twice in the FED book. Ridiculously excessive appeals are the other mention of this. See Rule 8-2-5 #6 "More Than One Appeal."

Some of the pitching I've seen lately makes a travesty of the game...

No, it's called incredibly stupid defense. No one with half a brain will chase a B/R heading back to home when all they have to do is touch first base.

"Travesty of the game" is among the most famous phrases in the English language, and as far as I know it has never been applied to anything other than running the bases backward. The Fed rulebook shouldn't co-opt it for anything else.