Evening star., 1939-04-04
Batter S Ratinq
Aided by Loft
Scoring Run
Rules on Bose Theft,
Earned Tally Also
Are Modified
BY JUDSON BAILEY,
Associated Press Sports Writer.

NEW YORK, April 4-In case you
haven't noticed, that batter's pet,@
the sacrifice fly. is back in the base
ball rule book this spring.
This sleight of hand was per-
formed at the major league meet
ings last December, but apparently
the fans who scrutinize the box
scores don't always peruse the mid
winter minutes SO thoroughly.
AS consequence some of the war
correspondents covering the South
ern front have been vehemently re-
buked for references to this particu-
lar phenomena which was legislated
out of the scoring code after the
1880 season.
In the good old days a batter
who produced long fly to advance
a baserunner was not charged with
time at bat and thus was able to
preserve the vigor of his batting
average. But this Interpretation
was swept from the rules in a gen.
eral revision nine years ago. leaving
an intentional bunt which advanced
runner as the only sacrifice.
Authoritative Curse" Of.
The official guide then COM
mented, The Rules Committee
wisely concluded that a sacrifice
meant something more than swing
ing for home run and knocking a
fly long enough to permit runner
to score from third
In spite of this authoritative
curse the sacrifice fly always has
had its friends and. acting on thd
recommendation of a committee of
baseball writer's. the solons have
now adopted this rule
"A sacrifice hit shall be credited
to the batsman who. with no one
out or only one out, hits a fly ball
that is caught but which results
in baserunner scoring, or scored
runner if said fly was dropped
for an error in the Judgment of the
official scorer; but no distinction
shall be made in the summary be-
tween burted ball and fly ball sac
rificeS.'
The old rule provided for a sac
rifice if a runner advanced to any
base, not necessarily scoring.
Minors Must Follow Rule.
Judge w. G.. Bramham, president
of the National Association Of Pro-
fessional Baseball Leagues, has just
issued a manifesto that the new
regulation is in effect in all organ
lied minor leagues. Some of the
circuits were as confused as the
fans and were preparing to vote on
whether to accept the ruling
The sacrifice fly was only one Of
several changes in the scoring code.
Another throwback to an old rule
allows a runner to be credited with
a stolen base at the discretion Of
the official scorer when a passed
ball. wild pitch or balk occurs. =
The cheap run batted in long
awarded a batter who hit into a
double play but scored a runner was
eliminated. Also a batter who un-,
dertakeS to stretch hit and over
slides a base will be credited only
with the last base safely negotiated.
Thus if he slides past second, he
will be credited with a single.
Must Wait for Box Score.
A wild pitch. even on a third
strike. will not be considered
fielding chance this year in the
scoring of earned runs, and if
player scores because of it before
fielding chances have been offered
to retire the side). an earned run
will be charged against the pitcher
The moral is: No game will be
complete without an official scorer
and you can't tell what happened
until you see the box score.