The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-24
BASEBALL RULES
NEED CHANGING
Scoring of Game viii Be At
tended to by Sporting
Writers.
az HENRY ?. EDWARDS.

~ HENRY P, EDWARDS.
When the joint rules committee Of
the two big leagues get together in
Chicago next month, one thing for IL
to do is to decide the difference be-
tween q pitched" and thrown" ball
In game at Detroit. last season. q.
peculiar play came Up. The souecz-
play was tried. The catcher. seeirg
the runner hiking for home, yelle
TO the pitcher to throw the ball am
ne did so, whereupon the catcher 81.
bowed the batter out of the way an
retired the runner. The umpire updei
the team in the field and ruled ~
man out.
Now section .. rule SO. reads
follows: a batsman becomes q has,
runner If the catcher interfere wit
him OF prevent him from striking e.
a pitched bail.
That reads clear enough. vet tI.
American league umpire at Detroii
aud his decision. was not reversed bt
the league president, decided that tnt
catcher had a right 70 push the batte
out OF the way and not allow him o.,
strike at the bali.
AtaN AAA4HlAt al -Dt-l LlhAE IT, was
thrown bail. How could he rule that
way? The pitcher was in the box
ready To pitch TO the batter. If it was
not a pitched bali il must have
been a balk as described I'm section o.
rule "a, which desienates a bslk as
the delivery Of The bail To the batter
when either foot is behind the pitchers
plate.
If such decisicI is upheld By the
rule makers. one OF the best parts Of
the game, spectacular base running
VIII be hurt 10 no small degree HI
the catcher can prevent thc batter
from striking at O pitched ball. how
can the squeeze play ever he worked
successfully? If there is anything any
prettieT than a seal home in = critical
part Of a game. the average fan has not
seen II, yet according TO the ruling I'm
Detroit last year. this is rendered al
most out Of the question.
The scoring rules viii probably BE-
tinkered with at the Chicago meeting
the newspaper men taking part IN the
amending Of the rules for the frs
time. Three members Of the Baseball
Writers association We're appointed
to act with the joint rules committee
OF the American and National leagues
and each OF these bodies has gone on
record as favOring the cooperation
Of the baseball writer's.
The scoring Of stolen bases is the
one point from which the most Of the
difference of opinion has arisen Take
ii on an attempted double steal The
man who tries for third is retired. yet
many scorers credit the man who
reached second safely and on whom nc
play was made. with a stolen base
Other scorers unjustly credit with
q stolen base the runner who over
slides second OF third in making his
steal. The scorer argues that he
would have made the base safely
had he not overslid IT. when the facts
OF il were that if he could not stop
himself. he should no more be entitled
10 a stolen base than if his slide fell
short. Base running is an art, and only
the inefficient or careless ever overslide
the sack.
Some scorers think that a runner
shONId be credited with q stolen base
when he makes start for the sack
ahead and the catcher lets the ball
leak out Of his mitt in front OF the
plate. Many catchers turn this trick
in order to pnyent the scoring Of
stolen base. being more willing 10 have
PASSED Dali luuu a SAtlEH N-rt
charged against them.
According 10 the rules the scorers
have no right to charge q catcher
with passed ball in such an instance.
for section 4. rule "a, designstes as
passed ball ball that passes the
catcher and touched a stand OF build
ing ninety feet away.
At present too much is left To the
Judgment Of the scorer. and scorers
in different towns have different vas
Of deciding certain plays that come
up. and it is no more than justice thu
the rule makers make She SCORING
rules more comprehensive so a. 60
promote uniformity.