Umpire Interference
 

Gary Cedarstrom had a busy night in Cincinnati last night as U2, including getting hit in the butt. He was dancing around batted balls all night.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | 7/19/10: Reds topple Nats, keep pace with Cardinals - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

Any umpire who haughtily maintains that he does not need to wear a cup on the bases should take careful note of how the ball got misdirected by striking the mound on that video.

The two times I have seen a base umpire carted off after getting jeweled were both change-of-direction deflections like that; one by the mound, one by a base on a pickoff throw.

Rob Dibble, the color man for the Nationals' broadcasts, just embarrassed himself on this one. He railed at the crew for placing the runners correctly, and he said he refused to believe any such rule existed. "The umpire is part of the field," he intoned several times. So, the broadcast crew, helpful wiseguys that they are, prepared a graphic quoting the rule verbatim and put it up on screen. Ha! Dibble harrumphed that MLB needed to change that stupid rule. :D

Bob