A Baseball Rules Thread (For The Dummies)

Are you talking about the first base coach? If he's talking to the runner on first between pitches, or just after the runner reached base, he is probably explaining something -- things like the number of outs, ticks in the pitcher's motion, the catcher's tendencies, positioning of the outfielders (and how it relates to the number of bases the runner might be able to advance in the event of a base hit). Or he could just be collecting shin guards and elbow mechanisms -- as a glorified equipment manager. Random stuff like that.

thanks - that makes perfect sense!

actually, he's being largely useless, apart from the hidden-ball trick

That meant Zaun, who follows Overbay, should have been batting at this point. Had the Jays caught their error here and sent Zaun to bat (skipping Hill completely in this run through their lineup) then there would have been no penalty, other than Hill's lost at-bat. But they didn't, so when Hill blooped a double, the Mariners alerted the umps before they pitched to Zaun and Hill was called out for batting in Zaun's spot.

I missed this the first time around.

So if I'm understanding this correctly (which I definitely am not), why don't NL teams take advantage of this rule, skip the pitcher every time through the order, and just bat 8 players (7 if Cesar Izturis is on the team)? I'm missing something here.

Because as soon as the opposing team notices they can notify the umpire and the player who batted out of order is out which if you skip the pitcher would basically be everyone after that point.

Ah, makes sense. I read "lost at-bat" as "not an out."

http://www.rulesofbaseball.com/quiz1.html

6-for-10 lol

Do those rules differ from actual MLB rules?

0-10*

I didn't finish it but I was 0-5 and gave up.

Infield Fly Rule fun:

http://www.pennumbra.com/issues/pdfs/157-1/Infield_Fly_Rule.pdf

3.09 Players in uniform shall not address or mingle with spectators, nor sit in the stands
before, during, or after a game. No manager, coach or player shall address any spectator
before or during a game. Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in
uniform.

i can't find the no tv broadcast in the clubhouse rule. what about mobile phone usage? i assume players are barred from tweeting mid-game but not sure where the no phone rules lies. anyone?

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2010/official_rules/2010_OfficialBaseballRules.pdf

"Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in
uniform."

Every 1B is guilty of this, right?

also see: warmups before every single game ever.

unless it actually all psy-ops cleverly disguised as idle banter.

this is a good one -

# R1. Line drive at the first baseman who dives, but can only trap the ball for 'no catch.' R1, believing there is a catch, returns to first. The fielder tags first base and then R1 (who is touching first). Ruling?

1. Both runners were forced to advance during the play, so both runners are out.
2. The batter-runner is out, removing the force against R1, who is safe.
3. R1 is out for interfering with the play by running the wrong direction. The batter-runner is out on the tag of first. Double play.
4. R1 is out as soon as he touches first, because the batter-runner was entitled to the base. The ball is dead, and batter-runner is placed at first.

fraternization rule due for enforcement when "character" becomes a Hall of Fame issue -- oh, hey!

unless it actually all psy-ops cleverly disguised as idle banter.

i'd like to see a manager have a scrub pat the back of an elite first baseman and chat it up in a crucial moment then ask that they both get tossed. would never fly with the unwritten code.

my point in asking about television and mobile phones was wondering if there was any legitimate way players could realize a pitcher was tipping his selections via an outside source.. so tweeting during a game might be disallowed but what if they were reading tweets inside the clubhouse.

I'm not sure Bud Selig knows how to use the internets, so a rule change about texting/tweeting will probably have to wait until there's a new commish.

I'd forgotten about the batting out of turn game I saw in '07, I mean *completely* forgotten to the extent that I could not believe that my name appeared below those posts. What a crazy rule.

tracer what's the answer to that?

2 makes the most sense to me there but iirc it's actually one of the stranger answers

both runners out, no?

But is it because of 1 or 3?

i wouldn't think R1 is out but i could be wrong

If I am guessing I am guessing 4.

Mostly cuz I think in this case the runner must advance. Although that's weird because then a runner could avoid a double play by running back to their base so no it must be 1.

i'm guessing 2 tho it seems too obvious

I googled it and it is #2 but only cuz the bag got tagged before the runner.

The correct answer is "b," the batter-runner is out, removing the force against R1, who is safe. The force was removed against R1 when first base was touched because the following runner (the batter-runner) was out. Thus, R1 was not forced at the time he was tagged, and since he was touching first base, he is safe. Incidentally, had the fielder tagged R1 and then first base, he would have had a double play. Even though R1 was touching first, he was forced to advance, so he would have been out if he was tagged before the first base bag. Such a play can happen quickly, so you can see how it is important to not only know the rules, but to be able to recall them in seconds on the baseball field. You can be that type of an umpire after a thorough study of Jaksa and Roder's manual.

this just happened in the sox-indians game!

bases loaded, chopper hit to youkilis at 3B, as he was throwing home to force the runner he stepped on the third base bag thus removing the force at home, the runner ran right by varitek who thought he had forced him when it was actually now a tag play, and the run counted

Weird...did his momentum force him to the bag or was it an instinct/brain fart thing?

so that's not considered infield fly rule. lucky break for the sublime tirbe.

*tribe

oh, it was a chopper and not a line drive?

not a rules question but one regarding etiquette.

bottom of the 9th, tied 4-4, 2 outs, bases loaded, austin romine at the plate. eduardo nunez starts taking hacks in the on deck circle. yet, it will either be a walk off hit/walk or an inning ending out.

can't think of a scenario where on deck batter Nunez gets to the plate that inning, is it a matter of principle that someone is standing there?

Rules require the next batter be in the ODC I think -- I guess he was just swinging off some nervous energy?

I'm not sure there's a rule about that. The person in the on-deck circle is also technically not "in the game" either until he is announced, for example, if the manager made a defensive replacement in the top of the inning then he can send anyone he wants to the on-deck circle when that spot is due up, and change his mind at the last minute right as that person is due to bat (or send someone to the on-deck circle to fool the other manager).

good q

can't think of a scenario where on deck batter Nunez gets to the plate that inning, is it a matter of principle that someone is standing there?

A stretch but it's def happened before: Romine gets injured in the act of swinging and needs to be replaced.

Nunez was already in the game -- he started. He would not have been able to replace someone at the plate.

If a manager is ejected in the first half of a doubleheader, he can come back for game 2, right?

i suspect that nunez was there out of habit because no one thought about it

A stretch but it's def happened before: Romine gets injured in the act of swinging and needs to be replaced.

Unless Nunez isn't already in the lineup (i.e. he's pinch hitting), he can't replace Romine; the manager would have to find another guy on the bench to finish Romine's at bat.

Can't find a baseball thread for general stupidity, so this'll have to do.

Took my middle school team to their three-pitch tournament today. First game, we go into the bottom of the final inning down 1-0. Two outs, runners on first and second, our best hitter coming up. He crushes one between the left and center fielder that rolls to the fence. Guy on second scores easily. I'm coaching third, jumping up and down and going crazy (as I tend to do in such situations), and the guy on first is coming into third. I'm waving him through, but I'm worried that he's going to forget he's not to touch the plate--there's a safety line they're supposed to cross instead, to avoid collisions at home--and I want to remind him. I get too close to the base, he runs into me, proceeds to score, but the umpire calls coach interference. Third out, tie game.

We played well the rest of the way, losing three games by a total of five runs and winning two fairly lopsidedly, and finished fifth out of eight times. I wonder how we would have done if we'd won that first game.

I read this, and I've got to say, I think the umpire messed up:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/inside-the-rules-coachs-interference/

When I questioned him on it, I think he indicated that I had pushed our player forward. I don't think I did, the kid just ran into me, but I can't say for sure.

that is ridiculous. the kid is running; no contact from you is legitimately going to speed him up.

what is three-pitch?

That's what I thought too--I slowed him down and he still scored.

Three-pitch (slow-pitch) is where your pitcher pitches to your own team. You get three pitches, strike or ball, to put it in play.

this is middle school? when do kids start pitching, grade 13? (sorry, couldn't resist ontario joke)

when i was a kid we were pitching to each other at age 8, with little league rules that you couldn't pitch more than six innings a week. which resulted in a fair number of walks, thus the 10-batters-per-inning rule.

Don't forget this is softball in a school setting--safety is a huge concern. I think three-pitch/slow-pitch is pretty common for friendly adult leagues, too. There are lots of out-of-school leagues where grade-school kids play regular baseball.

Today was crazy. Each game was 25 minutes maximum, so you got through all of three innings. (In one game we got a fourth inning in.) There was a five-run mercy rule. All of this helped us--our team was only of middling strength--but it felt like an assembly line.

oic. that still sounds . . . kind of bizarre tho. vaguely reminiscent of the gym teacher i had who would have us play volleyball but one bounce was legal or have us play wiffleball but you had to run the bases third-to-second-to-first-to-home

safety is a huge concern

are these ppl concerned about the whl?

The WHL meaning...Bobby Hull and the Toronto Toros? You lost me!

Let me put it this way--kids have to wear goggles for badminton tournaments now. Our school board gets more and more paranoid every year about potential lawsuits.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9390184/doug-glanville-baseball-rules-quiz-results

Salute to Brad Ziegler. Wow.

Never heard of this play before. Similar situation to the one Tracer Hand posted about above where a force is no longer in place after a putout at first. Interesting that Mantle knew he could go back to first base:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/sports/baseball/01mantle.html?_r=0

Yeah, if the Yankees had won that series then it would have been one of the more talked about plays ever. Johnny Damon had that crazy baserunning play that helped them to win Game 4 in '09 and turn the Series around (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2009/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=4615712) , but a) it wasn't Game 7, b) Damon isn't Mickey Mantle.

What is the dumbest rule?

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/8/2/4583006/baseball-dumbest-rule-robby-thompson-mariners

alter the rulebook strike zone? a bridge too far

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--mlb-could-alter-strike-zone-as-response-to-declining-offense-232940947.html

i'm fine with changing it back to the top of the knee. the bottom of the knee standard was the result of a recent rule change too, and god knows offense has to be increased somehow. either this or aluminum bats i guess

Inspired by Craig Counsell looking and dressing like a thirty year old college dropout during this year's playoffs: when did this trend of managers wearing playoff-themed team sweatshirts start? I have strong memories of it in the 2015 playoffs, but I think it started a few years earlier than that?

A quick search reveals nothing in the rulebook specifically mandating that a manager must be in full uniform -- coaches, yes, because they stand on the field of play during games.

I'm interested in who picks the dumbass two-word hoodie/sweatshirt slogans. Is there a team vote?

last weekend manny machado made this crazy juggling catch in foul territory against colorado

all the replays i can find now feature the padres broadcast, but at the time i swear i saw a different broadcast clip (presumably that of the rockies) in which the color guy says that the man on third could have tagged up and scored the instant machado first touched the ball -- as opposed to when he finally caught it

this is correct and i had no idea, so good on whoever the rockies color guy is

bases loaded, batter weakly pops it in front of the first baseman, ball lands fair, bounces foul.
infield fly is called, batter out.

is that the correct call?

Without checking, I think so. The infield fly is in effect with fewer than two outs; once that's called, I think it's a dead ball.

You didn't say how many were out.

https://www.littleleague.org/university/articles/explanation-infield-fly-rule/#:~:text=Rule%202.00,occupied%20before%20two%20are%20out.

I'm wrong about it being a dead ball.

Sounds correct to me. The batter is out because of the infield fly rule, and the runners can advance at their own risk.

ok here’s the key sentence for me in that link:

“If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul ball.”

Less than 2 outs is all i remember (it was from my softball game last night btw). that’s just a foul ball then, yeah?

that’s the crux of it for me, i could’ve made it simpler.

infield fly was called, and i after, i go “what a second, it went foul!”. guy on the other team said definitely in support of the call, “yeah but it landed fair.” the ump had already blown an egregious call (on another rule) and i was much too incensed at that point than anyone should be playing in a fun co-ed league, so i just kept my mouth shut. But I still want to be vindicated, lol

I get your confusion now-- that it shouldn't have been ruled an infield fly until its fair/foul status is determined.

I don't know the right answer.

Yes, because I hear a lot of umps say “infield fly! batter is out of fair!”

*if fair (i shouldn’t post from my phone)

Fun co-ed leagues need more Earl Weavers, spewing four-letter invective and kicking dirt on the umpire.

The infield fly rule only applies to fair balls (the ump is supposed to call "infield fly, batter out if fair" or something like that). So if the ball landed fair then the batter is automatically out and it doesn't matter where the ball rolls if it's not caught.

I wasn’t clear that it bounced foul in front of the bag (ie foul in any circumstance). Does that change it for you NoTime, or is it still called strictly as it lands?

I'm fairly sure it doesn't matter as long as it's a fair ball. The ball needs to be fair and to be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, which could be in the infield in front of the bag, behind the bag on the infield dirt, or even in the shallow outfield.

i never knew the origin of the dropped third strike rule. i found this fascinating. i also had no idea that a form of baseball went back to the 1700s!

https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-dropped-third-strike-the-life-and-times-of-a-rule/

I saw this happen quite recently and I was shocked and delighted. Regular season game. Mayyyyybe Bobby Witt Jr?

It happens several times a game!

Sorry I meant I saw someone successfully outrun and reach.

it’s a silly rule but i guess i don’t mind it

probably because i was never a catcher