double play...or is it??

[soonerfan]

a friendly rules discussion that i have had recently with a friend, who is not an umpire, regarding the pivot of a double play in major league baseball. i see things as an umpire and he has a by the rules attitude.

on a "routine" or "taylor made" double play ball, we have all seen in the bigs that some middle-men take the feed and throw to first, while recording a force out at second, and had never touched the bag. kind of that "vicinity rule" that we have all talked about at one time or another, but you will never find in a rule book.

my stance is that it a safety issue. those are million dollar legs being cut out and no one wants to get hurt and no one wants to hurt anyone else, usually. so, on an out that is basically a "gimmie" we may see a fielder only straddle the bag and throw to first. thus giving the firlder a faster and more nimble escape from a sliding runner as opposd to the latter in which may increase the odds of meeting that sliding runner.

the other view..."those are the rules!" "If you get hurt, that's part of the game and if you don't like it, don't play." sort of a harsh view, but he has a valid point because it is in the rules. i see it as one of the attractive nuances of baseball, following "unwritten" rules like this one and the phantom tag<---whole other subject.

what is you all's take?