When the Rules Aren’t The Rules

 

Introduction

Somewhere in America on an April afternoon, there is a father being pelted by sideways drizzle, enduring brisk winds, and sitting on a set of cold metal bleachers. He is watching his son play high-school baseball. With runners on first and third, the pitcher lifts his foot, fakes to third base, and whirls back to first base.

The father screeches “BALK” as loud as his cold body allows. Umpires and coaches say nothing. Talking loudly so other fans can hear, the father tells of how this rule was recently changed. He continues making snarky comments about how the quality of high-school umpires is lacking.

The key question — is the umpire or the fan right? No surprise: The umpires are right, but the fan is not 100 percent wrong. This rule did change — in the major leagues. The fake-to-third-throw-to-first move is still perfectly legal in high school. To add more confusion, if this same dad has a child playing Babe Ruth/Cal Ripken baseball, it would be a balk.

Umpiring is a tough gig. In addition to having perfect judgment and stellar interpersonal skills, the umpire must memorize and master a dense, heavy rule book. Mastery of the rules brings about a couple of other interesting challenges — namely switching between levels where rules are different and knowing when to properly apply the rules.

Rule Differences

The first challenge might come as a surprise to many people. Aren’t the rules of baseball the same everywhere? The answer to that question is tricky.

Yes, the core rules are the same everywhere. Three strikes is an out. Three outs is a half-inning, and four balls is a walk in any league. After that there are numerous differences. How many? There are enough differences between the three major rule sets (professional, college, and high school) that longtime umpire and prodigious author Carl Childress publishes a book every year focused only on these differences. The 32nd edition of Baseball Rule Differences, 400-plus pages of 200 official interpretations, is, according to Referee Magazine, “essential” for umpires.1 Childress has also written numerous other books on umpiring and articles for leading officiating publications.

This book does not even cover the differences between the standard “big boy” ball and the various youth leagues. Youth leagues generally use professional rules as a baseline and make modifications.

Some of the differences are very basic. Youth baseball has shorter distances for bases and the pitching mound. This makes sense. A 12-year-old can hardly throw strikes from 45 feet, let alone 60. Some youth baseball does not allow leads off bases — again smart, as few people enjoy seeing a walk turn into a “triple.”

The more nuanced differences fall into two buckets — those that make sense in the context of the league and those that appear to be different for the sake of being different.

All of these differences add complexity for not only umpires who work multiple levels, but the fans, coaches, and players participating. Conversations happen nightly in which a coach questions a ruling due to its difference from what was seen watching a major-league game.

The biggest difference in the core rules has to do with participation. As the players get older, making sure everyone plays becomes less important. Youth leagues have mandatory participation rules. Teams that don’t fulfill them are subject to games being forfeited. Also, youth and high-school baseball leverage starting player re-entry and courtesy runners to boost participation. These rules certainly make sense for these levels.

The difference in the designated-hitter rules also helps spur participation. In college, the DH and pitcher can be the same player. This means that when the pitcher leaves the mound he can still bat. In high school the DH can bat for anyone and not only the pitcher. Oddly, youth baseball does not have a DH. Meaning the strange answer to the riddle “what two leagues don’t use a DH?” is the National League and Little League.

Safety is a major concern for young players as well. This makes its way into rule differences. Youth and high-school baseball allow no malicious collisions at home plate. Even if the catcher is where he is not supposed to be, a player at this level cannot crash into him. The penalty is severe — an out and an ejection.

High-school baseball also dictates that a runner approaching second base on potential double plays has to slide directly into the base. In professional baseball, a slide is legal if the runner can reach the base with any part of his body. The penalty in high school is an out not only for the runner but for the batter as well.

Youth baseball has started to institute pitching maximums. Pitchers can pitch only so many pitches or innings at a time. Some state associations are also putting innings caps on high school pitchers. The intent of these rules revolves around player safety.

Participation and safety are good reasons for rule differences. Other differences make less sense. Here is a sampling of some of the major rule differences. Codifying these to one standard would make baseball less confusing for fans and make umpiring between levels much easier.

The strike zone in professional baseball is defined as the batter’s position when he is prepared to hit. A batter is not ready to hit until he has taken his stride. Often taking a stride lowers the top part of the strike zone. In high-school baseball the zone is judged by his position while he is in his stance.

The strike zone also has the particular distinction of being different not only between leagues but within games. For simplification purposes, the strike zone is roughly from the letters to the knees. There is variation in the location of the knees and letters from batter to batter. This can make judging the strike zone more difficult. Proper mechanics and training aid in mastery of calling the zone.

College and professional baseball have two types of player obstruction. The penalty and procedure are different based upon whether a play is being made on the runner when the obstruction occurs. High-school baseball has only one type of obstruction. High school also has a minimum base award while the other leagues do not.

When a pitcher commits a balk in college or professional baseball, the play is not over. If the pitcher balks on a pitch but the batter hits a home run, the home run stands. If this happens in high-school baseball, the pitch is treated as if it never happened. The batter hit no home run. Most other balk rules are the same between codes — except, of course, for the example that started this article

In high-school baseball, the ball does not have to be in play for a coach or player to make an appeal. He can just call time and ask an umpire if a player missed a base. In professional baseball, the ball has to be put back in play with the ball thrown to the missed base for an appeal.

A ball that hits a sprinkler head in the grass in front of second base and bounces back into foul territory would be a foul ball in professional and college. But it would be a fair ball in high-school baseball.

The rule on whether a batter is out or the ball is foul if the ball strikes him after it is hit is different in all three rule sets. In professional ball, the batter is out if any part of a foot is not in the box. In college ball, the batter is out if a foot is on the ground completely outside the box. In high-school ball, the batter is out only if no foot is left in the batter’s box.

Rules about managers visiting the mound are also different. In professional baseball, the second trip in an inning means the pitcher has to come out of the game. In high school, the manager gets three visits per game. He can use all three for the same pitcher in the same inning. Violation of the rule means the pitcher has to come off the mound but can stay in the game.

This is just a sampling of the differences. There are many, many more. There are more than 150 rule differences between high-school and professional baseball. Granted, some of them are minor and may rarely occur. But when the difference between a good umpire and a great umpire is complete mastery of the rules, these differences makes working different levels challenging.

 

 

Game Management

These differences do highlight one thing. Sometimes the rules just aren’t the rules. This can happen because a rule in one league is completely different in another. There are other instances when the rules aren’t really the rules. Examples are due to game management. Much like a policeman who does not stop the driver going 57 mph in a 55-mph zone, there are instances where rules are broken, but it is in the best interest of all not to bring attention to them. The umpire has to choose between being right or being right.

Like the example of rule differences, many of these are dependent on the age of the participants. A major-league pitcher is held to a higher standard when it comes to procedural matters. A pitcher who starts to come set with a slight flinch will be called for a balk. Umpires of 12-year-olds will often and correctly let this slide unless the pitcher gained an advantage. If every small flinch was called at a youth level, the game would take a very long time.

Former major-league umpire Tim McClelland answered a question in this vein during an online chat posted on mlb.com. A man named Al Arellano wrote: “I’m an old catcher (78 years of age). Many years ago I was called for committing a ‘Catcher’s Balk.’ I happened to move to the right of the plate just before the delivery of the pitch. Is this still in the rule book?”

McClelland replied: “It is a balk if the catcher doesn’t stay in the catcher’s box until the pitcher delivers the ball. If he were to step out of the catcher’s box — the little box behind home plate — before the pitcher delivers the ball it would be called a catcher’s balk. The runners would advance.

“As a matter of fact, I have never seen it called, it’s one of those things you just kind of let slide. But it is in the rule book, we haven’t updated the rule book in a long time. If it was called recently, it would be by an umpire taking the rule book to the letter of the law and sometimes we have to kind of overlook some things to make the game run smoother.”2

This is a great example of game management trumping the exact wording of the book. Often umpires will subtly remind the catcher to stay in the box when a pitch is coming. This solves the issue.

Interestingly, McClelland was the umpire who famously called George Brett out for having too much pine tar on his bat. His ruling was ultimately overturned. The rule book now contains language that an out is never to be granted for this issue. Rather, the bat is to be taken out of play.

The “neighborhood” play at second used to be another instance where game play trumps the rule book. The book states that a player with possession of the ball must touch a base in order for an out to be recorded. Often on double plays, the pivot man would steal a step or two before making the return throw. Although he was in the “neighborhood” of the base, he actually never contacted it when having the ball. This play died before the 2016 season as Major League Baseball made this play subject to review.

Why did umpires grant this cheat step? It was again about player safety. When the pivot man is forced to stay on the base, he is more exposed to a chance of injury. The little cheat step on a clean double play eliminated the chance. Many amateur umpires will still grant a high school pivot man a little latitude in the name of safety.

The last example of umpires not interjecting themselves into games deals with foreign substances. Rarely, if ever, will an umpire go on his own accord to check a pitcher for the presence of a foreign substance. Instead, he will wait until the other team complains before checking. In early 2015, there were several occurrences of pitchers being ejected for having sticky substances on their arm.

Many opposing managers will not ask an umpire to search an opposing pitcher because they know their pitcher does the same thing. Not looking for issues, but ruling on them as they occur insulates umpires from unwanted confrontation. A basic tenet of good umpiring: “Use the rules to solve problems, not make them.”

Umpires who never learn these lessons are nicely accused of being an “overly officiate official.” In more sophomoric terms, they pick too many “boogers.” The point is that often when an umpire does not call something, the context should be examined before rushing to judgment. What looks like a bad umpire might actually be a brilliant umpire due to the respect he garners from participants.

In fact, with enough time and hard work, anyone can learn the rule book. Anyone with enough training can learn the correct mechanics and timing. The thing that truly separates the greatest officials is the ability to manage the game. Knowing when to apply a rule and when to let the game breathe is paramount to excellent game management.

Final Thoughts

Baseball rules are a tricky subject essential to learn to be a good umpire. Numerous differences between rule sets add to the challenge. Most amateur umpires work multiple leagues making this a very real concern. After learning the rules, umpires must learn the right way to manage the game through the application of the rules. Regardless, whether watching a game on television or at the local high school, sometimes the rules just aren’t the rules.

 

Notes

1 See Carl Childress, Baseball Rule Differences, 32nd Edition (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014). The 436-page book has 578 “off interps” from recognized authorities in professional, college, and high-school rules.

2 mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/feature.jsp?feature=mcclellandqa.