Consider this situation from the perspective of Tim McCarver, the baseball broadcasting blowhard who is well known both for his ignorance of the rules and his criticism of the umpires. He sits in the press box and observes the following:
With runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, the batter hits a ground ball to third base. The third baseman bobbles the ball, but then he successfully throws to second base for a force out. By the time the second baseman gets the ball out of his glove, the batter has already passed first base, so he throws to third instead… and throws the ball into the stands.
The umpires point and wave for a short time. The batter has been pointed to third base, and the runner who started on second base has scored. BUT WAIT! Now the plate umpire is pointing and waving again! These idiots are changing their minds… they’re sending the runners back. Now the bases are loaded, and the run has been taken off the board. The manager has come out for a lengthy animated discussion. Boy, the clowns in blue really have no idea what they’re doing.
Oh, boy, it looks like the manager has won the argument. They’re scoring the run again! Yay! But, mein gott, they’re calling one of the runners out. What did he do to deserve that? I’ll bet these guys are making it up as they go along, says McCarver. What a travesty.
Plays like these are why major league baseball should include a clause in all media contracts that radio and television commentators be required to take and pass the Umpire School course in order to be allowed to call games.
The play above is a correctly adjudicated instance of catcher’s interference – that is, the catcher’s mitt tipped the bat as the batter swung. The catcher’s interference penalty itself is strange enough… when a catcher hinders a batter’s attempt to hit the ball, he is called for interference. But, if the batter hits the ball, the penalty is nullified if he and all runners advance at least one base safely.[1] If the batter or a runner is put out *before* advancing one base, the manager has an option – he may take the play as it stands, or allow the interference penalty to be enforced.
Whew! Sound complicated? Well, consider the umpires’ mechanics. They can’t do any penalty enforcement until the entire play is over, because the penalty might be nullified, or the coach may elect to accept the results of a play. So, other than a loud “That’s catcher’s interference!” that probably can’t be heard in a large stadium, no reference is made to the interference until play has ceased – even if the play is complex, involving the award of bases on overthrows or other strange situations. AFTER completing the original play, if all runners including the batter haven’t advanced one base, only then do the umpires enforce the catcher’s interference. This might involve recalling runners who have scored! Umpires are not allowed to ask the manager whether or not he wants to accept the play, the manager has to know the rule – the manager has to come out and request to accept the play and to nullify the interference, at which point the umpires have to re-award the runners to where they ended up, and re-call any outs that were made.
Got that? I doubt it. In fact, I doubt that one of ten managers knows this rule; I doubt that one out of a thousand fans knows this rule.[2] Sure, catcher’s interference is relatively rare, but not so rare that a fan never sees it – I watch a play with catcher’s interference maybe once per season or so. Fortunately, the application is usually not so complicated.
So, next time you’re tempted to impugn the competence of the umpires during an award of bases, it might be worthwhile to check the rulebook carefully. Don’t necessarily trust the announcers’ judgments. Unlike the folks in the booth, not many umpires are given jobs just because they have good hair.
[1] So, consider this… batter and all runners advance one base safely, but then one of the runners is thrown out trying to take an additional base. He’s out, and there’s nothing the offensive team can do about it. He advances past his award at his own peril.
With runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, the batter hits a ground ball to third base. The third baseman bobbles the ball, but then he successfully throws to second base for a force out. By the time the second baseman gets the ball out of his glove, the batter has already passed first base, so he throws to third instead… and throws the ball into the stands.
The umpires point and wave for a short time. The batter has been pointed to third base, and the runner who started on second base has scored. BUT WAIT! Now the plate umpire is pointing and waving again! These idiots are changing their minds… they’re sending the runners back. Now the bases are loaded, and the run has been taken off the board. The manager has come out for a lengthy animated discussion. Boy, the clowns in blue really have no idea what they’re doing.
Oh, boy, it looks like the manager has won the argument. They’re scoring the run again! Yay! But, mein gott, they’re calling one of the runners out. What did he do to deserve that? I’ll bet these guys are making it up as they go along, says McCarver. What a travesty.
Plays like these are why major league baseball should include a clause in all media contracts that radio and television commentators be required to take and pass the Umpire School course in order to be allowed to call games.
The play above is a correctly adjudicated instance of catcher’s interference – that is, the catcher’s mitt tipped the bat as the batter swung. The catcher’s interference penalty itself is strange enough… when a catcher hinders a batter’s attempt to hit the ball, he is called for interference. But, if the batter hits the ball, the penalty is nullified if he and all runners advance at least one base safely.[1] If the batter or a runner is put out *before* advancing one base, the manager has an option – he may take the play as it stands, or allow the interference penalty to be enforced.
Whew! Sound complicated? Well, consider the umpires’ mechanics. They can’t do any penalty enforcement until the entire play is over, because the penalty might be nullified, or the coach may elect to accept the results of a play. So, other than a loud “That’s catcher’s interference!” that probably can’t be heard in a large stadium, no reference is made to the interference until play has ceased – even if the play is complex, involving the award of bases on overthrows or other strange situations. AFTER completing the original play, if all runners including the batter haven’t advanced one base, only then do the umpires enforce the catcher’s interference. This might involve recalling runners who have scored! Umpires are not allowed to ask the manager whether or not he wants to accept the play, the manager has to know the rule – the manager has to come out and request to accept the play and to nullify the interference, at which point the umpires have to re-award the runners to where they ended up, and re-call any outs that were made.
Got that? I doubt it. In fact, I doubt that one of ten managers knows this rule; I doubt that one out of a thousand fans knows this rule.[2] Sure, catcher’s interference is relatively rare, but not so rare that a fan never sees it – I watch a play with catcher’s interference maybe once per season or so. Fortunately, the application is usually not so complicated.
So, next time you’re tempted to impugn the competence of the umpires during an award of bases, it might be worthwhile to check the rulebook carefully. Don’t necessarily trust the announcers’ judgments. Unlike the folks in the booth, not many umpires are given jobs just because they have good hair.
[1] So, consider this… batter and all runners advance one base safely, but then one of the runners is thrown out trying to take an additional base. He’s out, and there’s nothing the offensive team can do about it. He advances past his award at his own peril.
[2] And it goes without saying that no broadcaster outside of Vin Scully understands it. Vin knows all.
No comments:
Post a Comment