[ThePundit]

I'm a Yankees fan, but I think what A-Rod pulled last night was BS. He didn't say "I got it" or "mine" but there was no reason for him to scream.

There's always something with A-Rod.

[legend]

I'm not the biggest A-Rod fan, but I kinda liked it. The bottom line is that the kid should have caught the ball and in the end it didn't make a difference. I find these unwritten rules of baseball a little silly. Nobody says anything to a catcher when he pulls a ball back into the strike zone to fool the umpire, and that happens about ten times a game.

[MJHMarc]

Well, at least it worked.

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by MJHMarc

Well, at least it worked.

But it went over about as good as yelling FIRE during a movie.

[MVB]

I loved the play! Man, if the Blue Jays are stupid enough to fall for it, Alex should do it more often.

And it's not like this stuff doesn't happen all the time... When a catcher goes to catch a popup the players in the opposing dugout try to distract him, outfielders trick baserunners into thinking they're gonna catch (or have caught) a ball, etc... There's actually a lot of trickery involved in baseball, but it doesn't always pay dividends like it did last night.

If you think about this play the other way around (if, for instance, Troy Glaus had done this to Alex), I think we (Yankee fans) would be more angry at A-Rod for falling for the trick then at the Glaus for yelling.

And of course, if Josh Phelps or Melky Cabrera had done this, no one would be talking about it today.

[New Kid In Town]

Well, I am as big a Yankee fan as anyone, and i enjoy a win like anyone else, but this was not a good thing to do. From what i have heard today this is a form of interferance that is against the rules. Like I said, I like to win as much as anyone, but we don't need to break the rules.

[MVB]

I went and looked up the rules:

A baserunner is out if he intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball;
Rule 7.08(b): A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not.
If, however, the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when he hinders the fielder, he shall not be called out unless, in the umpire’s judgment, such hindrance, whether it occurs on fair or foul territory, is intentional. If the umpire declares the hindrance intentional, the following penalty shall apply: With less than two out, the umpire shall declare both the runner and batter out. With two out, the umpire shall declare the batter out.
If, in a run-down between third base and home plate, the succeeding runner has advanced and is standing on third base when the runner in a run-down is called out for offensive interference, the umpire shall send the runner standing on third base back to second base. This same principle applies if there is a run-down between second and third base and succeeding runner has reached second (the reasoning is that no runner shall advance on an interference play and a runner is considered to occupy a base until he legally has reached the next succeeding base).


I guess it's up to the umpires to judge whether or not Alex hindered the Jays' thirdbaseman. Can speaking be counted as interference? Are players required to be absolutely silent on the base paths? Obviously, not... But A-Rod spoke at an in-opportune time, and Clark was distracted.

So the question is, do you fault Alex for speaking or Clark for being distracted and losing his focus?

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by MVB

I went and looked up the rules:

A baserunner is out if he intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball;
Rule 7.08(b): A runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not.
If, however, the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when he hinders the fielder, he shall not be called out unless, in the umpire’s judgment, such hindrance, whether it occurs on fair or foul territory, is intentional. If the umpire declares the hindrance intentional, the following penalty shall apply: With less than two out, the umpire shall declare both the runner and batter out. With two out, the umpire shall declare the batter out.
If, in a run-down between third base and home plate, the succeeding runner has advanced and is standing on third base when the runner in a run-down is called out for offensive interference, the umpire shall send the runner standing on third base back to second base. This same principle applies if there is a run-down between second and third base and succeeding runner has reached second (the reasoning is that no runner shall advance on an interference play and a runner is considered to occupy a base until he legally has reached the next succeeding base).


I guess it's up to the umpires to judge whether or not Alex hindered the Jays' thirdbaseman. Can speaking be counted as interference? Are players required to be absolutely silent on the base paths? Obviously, not... But A-Rod spoke at an in-opportune time, and Clark was distracted.

So the question is, do you fault Alex for speaking or Clark for being distracted and losing his focus?

Lets get this right out in the open ... that's the type of player A-Rod is. He did the same thing to Arroyo only that was a physical altercation and then he throws his arms up with the old "Who .... ME ???? " look.

[New Kid In Town]

Originally Posted by MVB

So the question is, do you fault Alex for speaking or Clark for being distracted and losing his focus?

Hello MVB

I haven't looked this up to be sure, but I heard on the radio today another rule to go along with the one you found. I believe they said it was rule 2.0 or something. It basically seemed to say that an offensive player (the team batting) could not confuse a fielding member on the other team.

What Alex did I would consider confusing that fielder. Like I said, I want to win just as much as anyone, just don't want to do what we shouldn't.

Hope that made sense.

[MVB]

Hey New Kid in Town,

Hmmm... well, if that's the case, then yeah, Alex should have been out and it was a bad call by the umpire. ( And we should all be upset with the ump rather then Alex. )

But if it is illegal to confuse an opposing fielder, how can an umpire know for sure that a fielder was "confused" and didn't just misplay the ball? When a fielder commits an error, what would stop him from telling an umpire he was "confused" by the baserunner?

I'll have to look and see if I can find a rule on the subject...

By the way, welcome to GoTeamsGo!

[New Kid In Town]

Originally Posted by MVB

Hey New Kid in Town,

Hmmm... well, if that's the case, then yeah, Alex should have been out and it was a bad call by the umpire. ( And we should all be upset with the ump rather then Alex. )

But if it is illegal to confuse an opposing fielder, how can an umpire know for sure that a fielder was "confused" and didn't just misplay the ball? When a fielder commits an error, what would stop him from telling an umpire he was "confused" by the baserunner?

I'll have to look and see if I can find a rule on the subject...

By the way, welcome to GoTeamsGo!

Thanks for the welcome, seeing as you are the Moderator for this section we will most likely be talking alot.

As for the rule, I could be wrong about the number but I'm sure I heard them mention it.

[ThePundit]

Johnette Howard of Newsday has a great column about A-Rod today: Here's a piece:

In a few startling months, Rodriguez has transformed himself from baseball's most well-scrubbed, buttoned-down superstar to a libidinal knucklehead run amok.

A-Rod's switch another turnoff - Newsday.com