I'll bet you learn something new about baseball...

[sctsports77]

Thrown ball that hits an ump is live...had one of those happen this season but ump blew it dead and runners should've been on second and third instead of first and second as ball whistled into the outfield.

[bschultz]

Thrown ball...the ball is live. Batted ball depends on where the fielders are in relation to the umpire.

If the infield is playing in...and an infielder (other than the pitcher) is in FRONT OF the umpire, the ball is live. If the infielders are BEHIND the umpire, the ball is dead, award the batter with a base hit...and put all runners (unless forced) back on their original base.

By the way, same rule high school and pro...not sure on the college rule.

[Stu Paul]

This is WHY you need 4 umpires in a game. Sure in the minors you have 2 or 3, but having 4 or more (in the case of the post-season when you have a foul line umpire on both sides), can certainly help ump personnel keep an eye on all aspects of the field. Just my 2 cents. Even myself has had experiences seeing VERY RARE situations and when in doubt, always try to have the rule book with you and/or even go to the scorer for help. Sure as pbpers, you have to keep your eye on the ball at all times, especially when an outfielder may DROP a fly ball. Still in baseball, you have to watch the base runners at the corner of your eye if and WHEN they tag up.

Thank you Kyle for sharing that. As far as I knew on a ground rule, once a run comes in, no matter how many base runners you have, the winning run does signal the end of the game, no matter who may score behind him. Yes, with an over the fence home run, all the runners score.

I'm not perfect, either and I always learn something new every day. We all do. Kyle, don't sweat it. You learned and you will continue to learn as you go along!

[Bob Rotruck]

Had a goof last week on my rules interpretation with one of those wacky rainout situations. These things do happen occasionally and it really is helpful to be up to speed. It's a confusing rule and I'm not exactly beating myself up over it...but the more you know the more you can minimize mistakes. I had some familiarity with the rule but goofed the specifics.

You may have heard of the STL v KC game a month or so ago where they had to wait until 3:00am to play the last out...otherwise KC who was leading 4-2 in the 9th would have lost the game...because final score would have reverted to end of last FULL inning when STL lead 2-1.


Sort of similar scenario for the game I did...but not exactly.
Rain on the way. Away team is up 4-3 at end of 5. Away team scored 2 in top of 6th to take 6-3 lead. Last chance for home team, rain is getting harder...and big storm on the way. Home team eventually scores 6 in bottom of the 6th to take the lead 9-6....and they're still batting.

At this point, I'm speculating as to whether this league (summer college) has the same rule as the pros where the score would revert back to previous full inning if we don't fully complete the 6th inning. In other words, should the home team intentionally make a 3rd out here? It's 9-6 now and there's just no way we're going to continue in a couple minutes.

Should the away team make 100 pickoff throws to a base to stall it out and try to get to the rainout so that it reverts? (or they can make a pitching change...have the guy throw one pitch...and then bring in a new pitcher)

For those who don't know...there actually have been situations in the MLB where offensive team wants to make an out...or defensive team wants to stall.

I had no idea for this league though if the rule was the same. I'm even emailing the league office DURING the inning to see if he knows. He didn't know off-hand...but eventually we figured out that this situation didn't apply anyway. This is because it was the HOME team that had taken the lead in the last inning. So that works kind of like scoring a walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th. The home team is not punished for continuing to score runs until the rain arrives.

However, the away team could have made a stalling move earlier in that inning. Home team cut the score to 6-5 and had 2nd and 3rd and nobody out with the rain falling harder and harder. Could have been a dirty tactic to stall it out. However, it would have been pretty legitimate for pitcher to complain about the mound conditions and request some repair work...or get the mud out of his cleats. In fact, when it became 6-6, the go-ahead run scored when the pitcher slipped and had a bases-loaded hit-batter.


Anyway, here's the rule:

Section 8 b (3)
. It shall be a regulation game if called by the umpire at any time after five innings have been completed, and the score shall be that of the last equal
inning played, except that in the following circumstances the score of the game shall be the total number of runs that each team has scored:

(3) If the team second at bat is at bat when the game is called and has scored in the incomplete inning the same number of runs or more runs than the team first at bat.

[Bill Czaja]

Bob, while it might be a stretch of authority, there may be a possibility that the umpire could rule that as stalling, and by enforcing the rulebook (I don't have one anywhere near me at the moment, so forgive me for not being able to cite the specific rule), charge the pitcher with a ball. And if the pitcher persisted in delaying the game with pickoffs, continue to call that. And all hell would break loose.

[Bill Czaja]

Bob, we had an 8-B(3) earlier this season with a thunderstorm coming in. A first-pitch homer in the bottom of the fifth became a de-facto walkoff.
Edit: Or perhaps a tarpoff homer? Nah, too confusing.

[Bob Rotruck]

Yes, I suppose umpire could try that. But not sure he could do much if team wanted to change pitchers. Really, 5-10 minutes could have gotten the away team to the win. So combine that with going out there and arguing to umps that the game should be called and the poor pitcher can't perform in conditions like this, etc.

[JimRiley]

In the IL this season a team had scored a couple runs and the tying run at bat in last of ninth when it started raining. Game was called but the events up to the ending were counted. Didn't revert to end of top half

[Bill Czaja]

Bob,
Really good point. When you get right down to it, in this specific context, there is a de facto limit to the umpire's ability to get that 15th out in.

[VLavalle]

Here's one for ya:

Yesterday's Giants-Dodgers game... Posey hits an RBI double, but Sandoval is supposed to be the next batter. Can you tell what went wrong with the umpires call?