New Britain herald., 1923-08-07
 TO
BAT OUT OF ORDER, ! WHAT'S THE RULING Pittsburgh OHends in Recent
 me--Anyiety Results

Pittsburgh, Aug. z. Baseball abounds in unusual situations and often the majors produce freak plays that 1t would seem could not possibly occur among the amateurs. Who should be called out?
 That's mystery that still envel- opes a batting-out-of-ord play that came up in recent game in which Pittsburgh was the offending side.
 The Pirates batting order called for Rawlings to be the first man up in a certain inning, Grimm followed him in the batting order and then came Gooch.
 Didn't See It Then.
 Instead of Rawlings going to bat first, Grimm stepped to the plate and singled. Grimm, of course, had batted out of order, but at the time TO attention was paid to the fact. Then Rawlings, who should have batted first, stepped to the plate and singled, sending Grimm to<second.
 In other words, Grimm and Raw lings simply reversed their positions in the batting order. Then Gooch stepped to the plate. Had ball been pitched to Gooch all would have been well. but before any pitch was made to Gooch the team in the field realizing mistake had been made in the batting order appealed to the umpire for ruling.
 Who should be called out?
 The umpire in charge was called upon to render a ruling on play that has never before come up in the major leagues. There was no precedent for him to follow. .
 Ump Worries.
 The rule says that if player bat out of order the mistake must be discovered before ball has been pitched to succeeding batsman and an appeal is made to the umpire for a ruling.
 Grimm batted out of order, but no appeal was made, and the pitcher threw to Rawlings, who also singled. Then a decision was requested.
 The umpire, trifle confused be- cause of the strangeness of the hap pening, decided to call Rawlings out, permit Grimm to remain on first and allow Gooch to bat
 On thinking 1t over that evening it was said he decided that he had been in error, that the proper thing to have done was to simply disre- gard Rawlings, and when he hit safely after Grimm had singled, that 1t would have been correct to have called out Gooch, who was the player who should have. followed Grimm.
 Such a ruling would have elim- mated Rawlings entirely, sent Grimm back to first and retired Gooch.
 Maybe Heydler Can Decide.
 Since then another angle has been raised.
 Some major league umpires con- tend that the succeeding batsman can only be the player called for in the lineup as given to the umpire. Other umpires contend that any bat ter who steps into the box after an- other batter becomes the succeeding batsman.
 The new angle to the play is that it would have been proper to have simply called Rawlings out and made Grimm bat over.
 It seems that who should be called out depends entirely on who is re- garded as the succeeding batsman. Three solutions have already been offered and major league umpires ar still arguing the point without being able to agree.
 A decision from President Heydler on the point would be interesting. since it would establish a precedent,
 Who is the succeeding batsman is the big issue.
 Who should be called out is even more important.