identifying runners

[Dakota]

I'm just waiting for the baseball powers that be to endorse calls like DEAD BALL. That'll be some fun there!

[IRISHMAFIA]

They're just different. That's all. Just different. Different people do things differently.

If you're describing a softball play, use the softball designations for players. If you're describing a baseball play, use the baseball designations. Or, use the "other" designation and annoy people.

Couldn't agree more, but I didn't raise the issue or question it's logic

Originally Posted by Dakota

I'm just waiting for the baseball powers that be to endorse calls like DEAD BALL. That'll be some fun there!

I love that since MLB and I assume other baseball rule books use the term "alive" to describe the status of a ball in play no less than 10 times. OTOH, the term "ball is dead" is used on more than 50 occasions.

So, I really don't understand the resistance to "dead ball" since according their rules, it was alive.

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

Couldn't agree more, but I didn't raise the issue or question it's logic



I love that since MLB and I assume other baseball rule books use the term "alive" to describe the status of a ball in play no less than 10 times. OTOH, the term "ball is dead" is used on more than 50 occasions.

So, I really don't understand the resistance to "dead ball" since according their rules, it was alive.

Taking that a step further, I am pretty sure I remember the definition and rulings regarding "dead ball territory" in various levels of baseball. If the ball entering that territory doesn't make it a "dead ball", they logically should call that the "time territory".

Oops, logic. Never mind.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

Taking that a step further, I am pretty sure I remember the definition and rulings regarding "dead ball territory" in various levels of baseball. If the ball entering that territory doesn't make it a "dead ball", they logically should call that the "time territory".

Oops, logic. Never mind.

Even better. From page 15 of the MLB Official Rules, Section 2.00 Definitions:

A DEAD BALL is a ball out of play because of a legally created temporary

suspension of play.

[BretMan]

For what it's worth...

This isn't entirely a "baseball versus softball" thing. For whatever reason, FED baseball uses the same "softball" designations in all of their rule books, case books and printed interpretations.

Why they do this- who knows? They are the only one of the "major" baseball rule sets that follow this numbering system. And those more familiar with OBR or NCAA never miss a chance to critisize them for it!

Personally, as someone that deals with both, it's not that hard to keep them separate. "When in Rome...", I guess. But I have always wondered how these two similar systems came to be split in this regard. I wonder if sometime many years ago they might have been the same, then one or the other switched thinking theirs was "the better way".

[IRISHMAFIA]

[quote=IRISHMAFIA;609195]From the MLB Official Rules, Section 2.00 Definitions:

A DEAD BALL is a ball out of play because of a legally created temporary

suspension of play.

“TIME” is the announcement by an umpire of a legal interruption of play, during

which the ball is dead

This seems to be the difference. In softball (speaking ASA), TIME is a voluntary suspension of play granted by the umpire and a DEAD BALL is a situation where the ball becomes dead for any particular reason other than when TIME is invoked by the umpire.

In baseball, TIME is the declaration offered for both scenarios.

It seems to be similar to INT versus OBS. In baseball, there is "defensive interference" and "obstruction". The DI is when a member of the defense hinders the batter from hitting the ball and OBS when a member of the defense hinders a runner. In softball, anytime the defense hinders the offense, it is OBS.

[greymule]

And even there the primary designation is the farthest advanced, secondary next farthest, tertiary least farthest. Abel is ultimate, Baker is penultimate and Charlie is antepenultimate. It is JUST LIKE R1, R2, and R3.

True, but the actual names make the play easier for me to picture. Adds some realism to have "Baker" committing interference rather than "R2."

I haven't encountered the term antepenultimate since I studied Latin. ("If the penultimate syllable is a short vowel, the accent is on the antepenultimate syllable.") But of course antepenultimate means "third from the end," so I'm not sure how you apply it to Charles, who is third from the beginning in the inning.

Someday I hope to have the opportunity to say, "The run counts, Coach. The antepenultimate runner scored before the penultimate runner was tagged out."

The YSISF uses a combination of OBR (name) and softball (number) for offensive designations: Mohammed 1, Mohammed 2, Mohammed 3, etc. It takes a while to describe a complex "what if" situation.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by greymule

True, but the actual names make the play easier for me to picture. Adds some realism to have "Baker" committing interference rather than "R2."

Batters advancing in alphabetical order seems "real" to you? That is almost as convenient as people dying in alphabetical order to make it easier to sort through the newspaper's obituary section.

Just kidding