Fake Tag in Am. Legion Game
 

I recently watched an American Legion game (Sr) where there was a fake tag at 2nd base.

R1 and a wild pitch (backstop pretty far back). F2 did not throw, but F6 made a fake tag onto the sliding R1. (Perhaps F6 caused R1 to slide with the fake tag as F2 was stll chasing the ball near the backstop?) Shortly afterward when action had stopped, I noticed the BU talking with F6. After the game I spoke with the BU and he told me that American Legion baseball has a fake tag rule, but only a warning is issued (no OBS penalty) and an ejection is enforced if it happens again. This was what he was talking about with F6.

American Legion rules pretty much follows OBR except for where it has its own rules (or allows the different states to set up rules modifications for the purpose of safety). I could not find anything about a fake tag in its playing rules.

Do any of you who regularly umpire American Legion know of this fake tag rule (and can cite it). Is it a rule that is only particular to NYS?

No national rule. Could be a state rule. Doubt it though....

http://www.legion.org/documents/base...ball_rules.pdf

The major rule differences for AmLeg involve safety. I can find no record of a warning for OBS in AmLeg for a fake tag. From the description of the play you provided, it sounds like the umpires missed the rule application.

The fake tag is related to to NFHS High School rules and is in the same section as the Forced play Slide Rule that Amer. Legion adopts. Not quite sure if they adopted that particular part of the rule but, it wouldn't be suprising to me if a HS official makes a mistake like that. It is also considered a safety rule in HS and AL is big on safety too.

Some American Legion teams / programs play under FED rules (or under "more" FED rules than the national standard). They aren't officially supposed to, but ...

The term 'fake tag' does not appear in the 2011 Legion rule book.

It would be odd for the fake tag provision to be in the same section as the FPSR (and it isn't): FPSR deals with a kind of interference, whereas a fake tag is a kind of obstruction in FED.

Actually the Legion FPSR is much more like the NCAA rule than the FED rule.

"Fake tag" is not mentioned in the Legion book.

Beat me to it. Nothing FED about Legion's FPSR.

Your right, I was only off by 33 pages though, and yes I will agree it is more like the NCAA FPSL.

Thanks men for the reponses. I had the opportunity this evening to talk with a veteran umpire who has done many American Legion games here in New York. He knows of no fake tag rule within the American Legion playing rules.

I'm beginning to think that the umpire who told me this might have been carrying too much over from High School (Fed) umpiring mindset.

I will be doing several Jr American Legion games and some Sr games this June and July, and I don't want to be acting on a false rule.

Thanks again, men....

Best check the rules in play, around here Jr. Legion plays FED, Sr. Legion plays Legion rules.

It's not unusual for this to happen as most HS umpires also do Legion ball. It's usually umpires who don't bother to review the differences between OBR & FED and don't bother to learn OBR. They figure all they need is FED and they'll get by.