Knowing and Understanding Rules

[PeteBooth]

Originally posted by Tim C

An umpire does NOT "need" any knowledge of the history of rules to be a great umpire.

Peter it does not matter WHERE a rule comes from or how it came to being. The ONLY important thing is that an umpire knows WHAT rule book is in effect for the game he is working at that moment.

Tee I agree somewhat but IMO it helps to better officiate a game if we know the PURPOSE of the rule. Perhpas using the term "History of the rules" was not accurate, but it helps in knowing the purpose of the rule so that we don't Over Officiate.

A good example is a Nit-Picken Rule which is the 20 second rule for F1. I ONLY enforced this rule once and that is because F1 was being a Real wise you know what. But generally speaking that rule is NEVER enforced, but is there for a reason.

Some rules one can fully understand as Bob suggested by simply reading the definition section but others are not "crystal clear" (If they were, there would be no need for many authoritative books).

So while I agree we don't need to know where the rule came from IMO it helps to know it's purpose. Since you mentioned Carl, in his book 51 ways to ruin a baseball game, he mentions the situation where F1 disengages the pitcher's plate improperly (the phrase used was the coach saying " hey Bubba go from the set). The runners are stationary (going nowhere) should we enforce? (BTW this was another heated debate if memory serves)

At least for me it helps to know the purpose of the rule to better enforce.

Pete Booth