Monday, 30 July 2012

Close Call - Baseball Guidelines and also the Tie

By Marisol T. Heagany


Right after a close play have you noticed a Little League coach or even an announcer on TV say that a "tie goes to a runner"? It is a common saying in just about each baseball and also softball league in America. It is a myth, but is it actually wrong?

MLB's rule book makes it clear that a runner shall have the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. Conversely, the rule book also makes it clear that when a runner is actually tagged or forced out without touching a base or perhaps scoring they should be called out. Rules 7.01 and also 7.1 cover both of these situations fairly vigilantly. But, there isn't any mention of exactly what should be done when it comes to a tie. In case a runner touches a base at the exact second a tag is applied is he out or does he gain the right to the base?

Imagine a situation where you're umpiring a very competitive game and there's a bang-bang play initially and also you can't tell exactly what the right call is. What should you do? You make a decision and also handle the fallout of an angry coach as well as crowd. Within this circumstance we can start to see where the saying originates from. It absolutely was derived to help umpires produce a call that's otherwise too hard to produce.

Given MLB's rules and the insufficient coverage in the case of a tie, numerous umpires see this as a statement coming from mlb that there are no ties. The real debate is the ball either arrived ahead of the runner or even the runner got there before the ball, consequently he is either out or perhaps safe. But actually that is not much more than a justification for vague rule guideline. In real life, even if rare, there is a possibility there is an actual tie and baseball doesn't know what to do about this.

Perhaps is definitely our more modern world of video instant replay that it's time for you to lend umpire a hand by looking at a few close plays. Or, perhaps the rule ought to be altered to support the presence of a tie. Or, maybe things have gone well for the last century and close plays that swing in the favor of one team or the other are a powerful part of the game that needs to be left untouched.




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