Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-06-11
MORE TlNkERING NEEDED.
A Little Revision of Baseball Rules
Seems Desirable.

| There is q deal in major league
| baseball that demands more careful
| attention than has been bestowed upon
| it. The rules have been tinkercd and
| tinkercd, ana are worse now than they
| have been for years. AS one of the
umpircS said the other day: why
| do the mowers that be in baseball not
allow the unpires to take hold Of this
| important matter? Ii they did | war
rant you the results would he far more
| satisfactory than has been the case"
| Who is better qualified to give an
| intelligent opinion on the matter of
| baseball legislation than the umpire
| who is on the field every day in the
J season and knows every turn of the
game. For too long time the rules
have been in the hands of a lot Of
| theorists.
OF all people, the maGnates are the
worst of all to draft the rules. ENpe-
| rief1cc has shown that they know re-
rlarkably little about baseball. 1t is
| fact that some Of them have been
, unable 10 identify players who have
| drawn salaries for no incOnsidcrable
| time.
| The umpir1s are bettCr than any
| other people connected with the game
| to handle the rule question, for they
are most likely to be entirely diSintcr-
eSted As one of the umpreS said:
EVERY magnate is in favor of some
thing that will help his own game
| one of the worst rules in the book
| is the ahsurdty that declares run
| ner out when the catcher has lost the
third strike. with a man on first and
! second, and less than two out, and
| the ball rolls to the fence.
| The intent OF this rule was to pre-
! vent the catcher from dropping the
| third strike for the purpose of conSum-
mating q double play and for no other
! reason. Their" ought to be some defni-
ton Of the distance the ball can roll
| eXempting the runner from q put out.
So with the infeld fly. This rule was
| also adopted to prevent a double play.
! 1t works badly in more than one way.
| In the first place. when an intelder
| muffs the bah unintentionally. the run
| ncr should not be called out. AS the
| rule stands. if an infelder runs after
| the ball and muffS it. the batter is out
| and a subsequent play can result in
| the fielding out of one or more men on
| the bases.
| Again, it has been found that a
| double play can bC made with a man
| on first and no one or one out. for if
/ a short fly is batted either the first
| baSenIan or second haseman can trap
| the ball ana make Il double play on it.
| So long as the umpircS of the two
| ma jor leaGue orGa nizationS do not meet
| to consider matters relating To the
rules. so long will there be no uniform
| ity Of Interpretation. Every secretary
will instruct his umpires according 10
| his own ideas. 1t has been already
| noted this season that umpircS on the
| staff Will entertain different ideas
| about the rules.
| There are some UmpireS who are not
| acquainted with the rules. one allowed
| a run to score on q balk the other day
| and gave the batsman his base. A
! balk does not entitIe the batSman to
his base hut it does give any runner
| already on base an additional base.
Again. certain manager proposed
| to protest a game because the umpire
declared the batsman out for shifting
| from one box to the other after the
| pitcher was in position. This is n new
| rule. and its intent was TO prevent eX-
actly what the batsman did, and the
penalty was exactly what was laid
| d0Wn-an out.
On another occasion an umpire got
mixed up on play of this kind Run
nerS We're on second and third bases,
and one hand out. The next man hit a
fly ball which seemed sure to drop TO
the ground safely. but the fielder made
a great catch. The man on third Was
allie to touch his base and scored. and
did 50 before the bah was forwarded
to second base before The runner at
that point could score. The umpire at
first decided the run could not count.
but upon protest reversed his decision
Then the other side stormcd at him
because he changed his ruling. AS the
third man was not forced out, there
was no reason why the run should not
count. Again, there was no reason
why the man on third should be com
PEELED to suffer for the fault Of the man
on second.
Boston had taste of the double
umpire system in the two games
Memorial day with, Brooklyn, and is