The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-03-29

"A point OF moment regarding the
change III playing rules OF baseball
effected by tho joint committee OF
the National and American leagues Ia
that several Of them are expected to
produce less wrangliDg over inter
pretations Also several rules have
been changed to mako them more
equitable. The chile. of the latter re-
vision was brought about by reword-
ing section 7 of rule 81 and section
1 OF rule SIS.
By striking out the words "on fair
ground" in section Z. and substituting
the clause while standing back Of
the plate" for cor the umpire be
struck by ball thrown by the catcher
or other fielder to intercept base run
ner.'' base runners no longer are
compelled to return to the base from
which they started when a thrown
ball strikes an umpire who Is on
fair ground
Umpire Is Struck.
The Injustice of the then existing
rule was Illustrated forciblv at the
Polo grounds last summer. With
Hartzei, Of the New Yorks, on base
Borton made what was practically a
base hit There was no chance to re-
tire either man. yet when Collins, who
stopped the hit. threw It against I'm
pire Dfneen's head. Hartzell was sent
back To base and Borton had TO nat
over again.
In rule 80. Delivery Of the ball to
the bat" tho words "or on top OF
the plate" are inserted to make II
clear that pitcher can have his feet
In that position as well as his heels
In contact with the front edge NJ the
.zA tn marffHY q rslla % de-
voted to baking. 1t ~ now brought
out plainly that neither foot can be
back of. the plate without being IN
contact with It. II was the practice
of some pitchers to slip foot be-
hind the plate. thereby starting n Kick
by an opposing manager and a dis
pute for the umpire TO settle.
The occasional practice OF hatsrnen
I'm not running the bases in prescribed
order on q home run over the renee
or q two-hase hit. II the distance was
less than as5 feet. ~ forbidden by the
specific requirement that I'm either
event the batsman must touch the
bases In regular order" The rule. as
is was. seldom was evaded IN the
manner mentioned. but there nave
been a few such cases and of umpires
being cempiatsant-
In order 10 do away with contra
itctlon of the rules which permitted
an umpire to call two men out on
the same case OF interference the COM
mittee had to provide an exception
to section 5. rule 81. TO conform to
section Is, dule Sc. The latter section
provides that n base runner is out
III with one out or none out ana
base runner on third base the bats
man interferes with play helng
made at the plate
Section of rnle 81 says batsnan
IL out for Interfering with catcher
Therefore. on a squeeze play. for eH-
ample, if the batter interfered. botn
the runner and the hatsman could be
called out. After this, in such plays
as the one named. only the runner
is out. as provided by the following
addition to section s. rule 81: Except
that the hatsman shall not be out
under this section. II the base run
ner be declared out according TO sec
ton Is, rule SO"
Section / of rule 54-Entitied TO
Rases-~has been elaborated by the ad-
djtion Of the words before touching a
fielder" This means that II falr
hit ball strikes tho person or the
clothing of the umpire before touch
ing a fielder 1t shall be considered
az In play: and further that a bali
passing cleanly through a fielder
hands constitutes an error. even
though not touched: in brief. a bail
on which q fielder has had a chance
to make a play Is the same as II the
fielder had touched II. The intent OF
this rule was understood and observed
pretty we'll as it was. but the words
are added for the sake OF clearness'
1t has always been illegal Tor