Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-24
REV|SERS CLARITY
WORDING OF LAWS
Code Is Given Most Careful
Consideration in Years
by Committee.
BY JOHN b. FOSTER.

BY JOHN b. FOSIkN.
~ RGANIZED base balls COM
petent Rules Committee,
" after altering and slash
ing the laws that govern
this national pastime, are busily
engaged these days in putting into
simple language the result of their
adopted GRANDCHILDREN ere the
major league players depart for
their Winter camps to begin tram
ing for the coming season.
Time and again this Woodworking
group has gone over the new and re-
vised laws and before they are finally
released for publication they will be
subjected to at least 10 more micro
scopic readings in the search for flaws.
In no other year has revision of the
rules of the game been given such care
full consideration as it is now under
going The committee has done one
splendid thing in cutting the total num-
Der of rules decidedly and if they had
been given another week before the
leagues acted upon their work they
might have reduced base balls laws
even more than they have.
Principal Changes known.
The principal rule changes have been
made public One, of course, was the
abolition of the sacrifice fly, which did
not meet all that had been expected of
it. 1t was not known at its adoption In
1920 that the plan had besn tried in
earlier DAYS in the National League.
There was a sacrifice fly long before
the newly deceased sacrifice fly was
reestablished, but the rulemakers of
other days sent it back to ghost land
after they had tried it and had come
to the conclusion that 1t was not an
equitable rule.
The new universal ground rule for
two bases on a batted ball that bounds
into a stand, or over fence will dis
courage the practice of building low
fences back of the outfield 1t is true
that some owners built such fences be-
cause they looked for luck in making
home runs on badly bounding balls.
This new rule may encourage the
movement to raise the height of fences
1t is no longer of advantage to a home
team. which plays ~ games on its own
ground against IL each by the other
seven tubs, to have low fences around
its -
The return to the code that gives the
umpire the right to judge a hit where
IL disappears from Jne playing ground
and not where it disappears from his
sight, is one of the most just awards to
batters that Is included in the 1881
rule book. This rule once was in force
It lasted less than month because a
great dispute arose about ny hit that
that was ,hatted at the Polo Grounds in
an American League game when the
American League used the ground on a
lease from the Giants.
Johnson Suggested Rule.
After Ban johnson had heard the
arguments that we're advanced in the
controversy. he wrote to President
Heydler OF the National League sug-
Costing that the rule be disregaFded by
both organizations even though it was
perfectly legal from a playing stand
point. President Heydler had no dis
puted case before him but out of cour-
tesy ne accepted the proposition.
One strong advocate of the rule as
1t now stands was Judge lands, base
balls car, who thought it unjust for
q player not to receive credit for bat
ting home run out of the playing field
because the ball changed course after it
had left the playing field.
He argued that If an umpire could
render a decision on hit as he saw it
disappear from his sight he could rem
der one equally well as he saw the ball
leave the playing field and the sound
ness OF that opinion appealed to the
rulemakcrs.