The Official Rules of Baseball Illustrated

by David Nemec

  Rule 6.01 (i) (2) Comment: A catcher shall not be deemed to have violated Rule 6.01 (i) (2) unless he has both blocked the plate without possession the ball (or when not in a legitimate attempt to field the throw), and also hindered or impeded the progress of the runner attempting to score. A catcher shall not be deemed to have hindered or impeded the progress of the runner if, in the judgment of the umpire, the runner would have been called out notwithstanding the catcher having blocked the plate. In addition, a catcher should use best efforts to avoid unnecessary and forcible contact while tagging a runner attempting to slide. Catchers who routinely make unnecessary and forcible contact with a runner attempting to slide (e.g., by initiating contact using a knee, shin guard, elbow or forearm) may be subject to discipline by the League President.

  This Rule 6.01 (i) (2) shall not apply to force plays at home plate.

  Rule 6.01 (i) has been enormously expanded from the previous rules addressing collisions at home plate. While the Posey-Cousins confrontation was catalytic in tardily bringing about a new set of rules governing plays at the plate, there were numerous collisions in the 40 some years since the Rose-Fosse episode between catchers and baserunners that were just as violent and some even worse. In 1987, Royals outfielder Bo Jackson, better known for his football exploits, broke Cleveland catcher Rick Dempsey’s thumb as he plowed into him. Five years later, Astros third baseman Ken Caminiti KO’d Atlanta catcher Greg Olson in a plate collision, sending him to the hospital.

  Given the many examples of vicious collisions from recent times, imagine what the catcher-runner battles must have been like in the rough-and-tumble years prior to the arrival of Babe Ruth and the Liveball Era. Rather amazingly, they were few and far between. Early day catchers, for one, were in general a bigger and hardier breed than other position players, let alone pitchers, and used to not only use their bodies but even the ball itself as a weapon to deter overly ambitious runners. Too, they wore masks and chest protectors and eventually shin guards, whereas runners came armed with only their spikes. Players like Ty Cobb changed all that to a degree, but even Cobb spent considerable time on the disabled list owing to base running mishaps and unnecessarily hard tags.

  Lest the reader think that Rule 6.01 (i) (1) or (2) has eliminated or even thoroughly clarified illegal contact between catchers and baserunners, incidents that could be judged to constitute rule violations but do not still occur, while incidents deemed rule violations are perfectly legal. One of the former that received special attention came at Wrigley Field on June 19, 2017, in the bottom of the sixth inning of a game between the Padres and Cubs. Anthony Rizzo led off the frame by tripling. After second baseman Ian Happ fanned, third baseman Kris Bryant flied out to center fielder Matt Szczur. Rizzo tagged at third base and raced for home as soon as the catch was made. His trip began on the foul side of the third-base line, but when he saw Szczur’s throw would reach San Diego catcher Austin Hedges ahead of him, he swerved into fair territory and came at Hedges’s knees and elbows first without making any effort to touch the plate. Hedges held on to the ball but was forced to leave the game afterward. Rizzo was merely chided in the press for actively seeking out the collision and wrongly defended by his manager Joe Maddon, who said, “The catcher is in the way. You don’t try to avoid him in an effort to score and hurt yourself. You hit him, just like Riz did.”

  6.01 (j) Sliding to Bases on Double Play Attempts

  If a runner does not engage in a bona fide slide, and initiates (or attempts to make) contact with the fielder for the purpose of breaking up a double play, he should be called for interference under this Rule 6.01. A “bona fide slide” for purposes of Rule 6.01 occurs when the runner:

  (1) begins his slide (i.e., makes contact with the ground) before reaching the base;

  (2) is able and attempts to reach the base with his hand or foot;

  (3) is able and attempts to remain on the base (except home plate) after completion of the slide; and

  (4) slides within reach of the base without changing his pathway for the purpose of initiating contact with a fielder. A runner who engages in a “bona fide slide” shall not be called for interference under this Rule 6.01, even in cases where the runner makes contact with the fielder as a consequence of a permissible slide. In addition, interference shall not be called where a runner’s contact with the fielder was caused by the fielder being positioned in (or moving into) the runner’s legal pathway to the base.

  Notwithstanding the above, a slide shall not be a “bona fide slide” if a runner engages in a “roll block,” or intentionally initiates (or attempts to initiate) contact with the fielder by elevating and kicking his leg above the fielder’s knee or throwing his arm or his upper body.

  If the umpire determines that the runner violated this Rule 6.01 (j), the umpire shall declare both the runner and batter-runner out. Note, however, that if the runner has already been put out then the runner on whom the defense was attempting to make a play shall be declared out.

  This rule and many of its ramifications followed one of the most iniquitous base-running incidents in history and, in the absence of it, its perpetrator almost inconceivably went unpunished. In Game Two of the National League Division Series on October 10, 2015, at Dodger Stadium between the Dodgers and the New York Mets, the home team trailed, 2–1. In their half of the seventh inning with one out, the Dodgers had Enrique Hernandez on third and Chase Utley on first when Howie Kendrick came to bat. Kendrick rapped a sharp grounder to Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy, who tossed the ball to shortstop Ruben Tejada to start a potential double play. Utley slid far to the right side of second base, missing it altogether and colliding with Tejada’s leg as he was turning to make a throw to first. Tejada was flipped by the contact and was carried off the field with a fractured right fibula—but not before Utley was called out at second and trotted off the field, having never touched the bag. Since it appeared to Dodgers manager Don Mattingly that Tejada dragged his foot near second base but hadn’t actually touched it, he requested a video review. When the force out call at second was overturned, Utley trotted back out to the base. After Mets skipper Terry Collins pointed out that Utley had never touched second before leaving the field, he was in effect grudgingly told that since second-base umpire Chris Guccione blew the call, Utley had no need to tag the bag before his departure.

  The Mets lost the game, 5–2, but still won the series, three games to two. Utley was initially suspended for two games but fought it and ultimately had it erased. However, in February 2016 MLB and the Players Association agreed that “slides on potential double plays will require runners will make a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base. Runners may still initiate contact with a fielder as a consequence of an otherwise permissible slide. A runner will be specifically prohibited from changing his pathway to the base or utilizing a ‘roll block’ for the purpose of initiating contact with the fielder.” Utley finished his 16th consecutive season in the majors in 2018 before retiring. Tejada was never again more than a part-time major leaguer and has spent most of his time since 2015 in the minors.

  Following the rule change as a direct result the Utley incident, coincidentally a ticky-tack game-ending example of the current version of runner interference occurred on June 17, 2016, at the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens, New York. Trailing the Atlanta Braves in the bottom of the ninth, 5–1, Mets first baseman James Loney walked with one out. The next batter, catcher Kevin Plawecki, hit a ground ball to Braves shortstop Erick Aybar who tried for two by firing the ball to second baseman Jace Peterson to retire Loney. But Peterson’s throw to first baseman Freddie Freeman was not in time to catch Plawecki. However, second-base umpire Mark Wegner immediately flashed the sign that Loney’s slide into second had interfered with Peterson’s effort to turn two, bringing the game to abrupt halt.

  Loney’s slide was nowhere near being in the Utley category—he brushed Peterson with an elbow as he slid into second—but the contact, slight as it was, clearly impinge
d on Peterson’s throw to first in Wegner’s judment, which is the key criterion on a current interference call of this nature.

  6.02 Pitcher Illegal Action

  (a) Balks

  (2) The pitcher, while touching his plate, feints a throw to first or third base and fails to complete the throw;

  Prior to the 2013 season, a pitcher was permitted to feint toward third (or second) base, and then turn and throw or feint a throw to first base if his pivot foot disengaged the rubber after his initial feint. This was called the “fake to third, throw to first” play and over the years caught many an unwary runner. Abolishing this bit of trickery made runners look less foolish, but also deprived spectators of witnessing an age-old gambit that many are still unaware is now illegal.

  See BALKS in the DEFINITIONS OF TERMS chapter for more on balks.

  6.02 (b) Illegal Pitches With Bases Unoccupied

  If the pitcher makes an illegal pitch with the bases unoccupied, it shall be called a ball unless the batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batter or otherwise.

  Rule 6.02 (b) Comment: A ball which slips out of a pitcher’s hand and crosses the foul line shall be called a ball; otherwise it will be called no pitch. This would be a balk with men on base.

  (c) Pitching Prohibitions

  The pitcher shall not:

  (1) While in the 18-foot circle surrounding the pitcher’s plate, touch the ball after touching his mouth or lips, or touch his mouth or lips while he is in contact with the pitcher’s plate. The pitcher must clearly wipe the fingers of his pitching hand dry before touching the ball or the pitcher’s plate.

  (2) expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove;

  (3) rub the ball on his glove, person or clothing;

  (4) apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball;

  (5) deface the ball in any manner; or

  (6) deliver a ball altered in a manner prescribed by Rule 6.02 (c) (2) through (5) or what is called the “shine” ball, “spit” ball, “mud” ball or “emery” ball. The pitcher is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands.

  Before the spitball was outlawed in 1920, a pitcher was free to bring his pitching hand in contact with his mouth anywhere on the diamond. He could even bring the ball in contact with his mouth for a while the Pittsburgh Pirates had a pitcher, Marty O’Toole, who loaded up for a spitter by licking the ball with his tongue. O’Toole’s only season of note was 1912, when he won 15 games. There is a tale that the reason he went into a tailspin after 1912 came in one of his outings that season in an early July game against the Phillies when Phils first sacker Fred Luderus found an insidious way to emasculate his spitter. Luderus purportedly harbored a tube of liniment in his pants pocket and applied a dab of it each time the ball came into his hands. Balls in 1912 often lasted several innings and sometimes even an entire game. By the third inning O’Toole’s tongue was so raw he had to be removed from the mound. Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke, aware of what Luderus was doing, protested. But it went nowhere when Phils skipper Red Dooin pointed out that there was nothing in the rules to prevent it and, furthermore, Luderus was only trying to protect the health of his teammates who would otherwise be exposed to millions of germs. The problem with the tale is that the game in question, on July 9, was won by O’Toole, 2–0. Historian Dick Thompson postulated that the true reason for O’Toole’s abrupt decline was overwork and never really learning to control his spitter, allowing batters to lay off it once they realized this.

  Regardless, the proviso making it illegal for a pitcher to bring his pitching hand in contact with his mouth or lips was not added to the anti-spitball rule until 1968. There was a massive effort at the time to rid the game of the spitter after the majors were given little choice but to acknowledge that many pitchers were using it. The estimates ran as high as 50 or 60, an average of about three pitchers on a team. One hurler, Cal Koonce of the New York Mets, in an inconceivable moment of candor, admitted in a piece that appeared in the September 2, 1967, issue of The Sporting News that the spitter was an important weapon in his arsenal. Subsequently asked if he had really made such an admission, Koonce said, “I don’t know what all the fuss is about. A lot of pitchers in the [National] league throw the spitter and everyone knows who they are.”

  It seems unbelievable, in any case, that for forty-eight years after the spitball was outlawed the Official Playing Rules Committee failed to stipulate that a pitcher could not spit on his pitching hand. Since 1968, the rule has been amended to allow a pitcher to go to his mouth if he is not on the mound.

  When the spitball was banned, the majors introduced a corollary rule that any player who intentionally discolored or defaced a ball would be kicked out of the game and the ball removed from play. If the umpires were unable to detect a transgressor, then the pitcher would be ejected as soon as the ball was in his possession and socked in addition with a 10-day suspension.

  For obvious reasons, this rule didn’t fly and was subsequently redrafted so that it was not all bark and no bite. Realizing they were verging on overreacting to the spitball specter and the concomitant bad press that followed Ray Chapman’s beaning death, major-league tsars privately tempered their stance, even as they continued to rail publicly against pitchers who loaded up the ball. After a livelier type of horsehide was slipped into play during the early 1920s, no one wanted to punish hurlers any more than they were already having to suffer as they watched their ERAs mount alarmingly. In 1922, George Uhle of Cleveland became the first moundsman since the 1890s to win 20 games with an ERA over 4.00. Eight years later Pittsburgh’s Ray Kremer became the first pitcher ever to collect 20 wins with an ERA over 5.00 (5.02). In 1938, Bobo Newsom topped Kremer’s negative mark with he won 20 for the St. Louis Browns with a 5.08 ERA.

  The last time a pitcher threw a spitball in a major-league game without facing the possibility of being penalized for it was in 1934, when Burleigh Grimes was in his final season in the majors. Grimes was the last to remain active of the 17 hurlers who had been given special dispensation in 1920 to continue throwing spitters in the majors until their careers were over. When Grimes notched his 270th and final win on May 30, 1934, by beating the Washington Senators, 5–4 in a relief role for the New York Yankees, it was the last victory by a hurler legally permitted to throw a spitter.

  Burleigh Grimes legally threw a spitball pitch in the major leagues for a record nineteen seasons.

  For some twenty-four years after the anti-spitball edict was enacted, no pitcher was ejected from a game specifically for violating the rule. Finally, on July 20, 1944, in a Thursday night game at St. Louis against the New York Yankees, Nels Potter of the Browns was tossed out by home-plate umpire Cal Hubbard in the fifth inning with New York’s Don Savage at the plate. Nearly a quarter century after the anti-spitball rule went into effect, Potter became its first victim when Hubbard tired of watching him blow on the ball in such a way that it looked like he was spitting on it. Potter insisted he was doing nothing wrong and got huffy with Hubbard. His defiance helped convict him, for it was never proven that he was spraying saliva on the ball when he blew on it. The game, which St. Louis won, 7–3, was nearly forfeited to New York when Brownie fans rained the field with bottles for some 15 minutes after Potter’s ejection was announced.

  A few years before the Potter incident, the Yankees were certain that Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers was shutting them down with a spitter. When Yankees skipper Joe McCarthy finally induced umpire Bill McGowan to take a look at the ball, Tigers catcher Mickey Cochrane dropped it as he handed it to McGowan and then rolled it in the dirt down the third-base line when he went to pick it up. Variations of Cochrane’s stratagem have been used time and again ever since 1920 by catchers and infielders when an arbiter has asked to examine a suspicious ball.

  6.02 (c) (7)

  Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance.

  Though Rule 6.02 (c) (7) does not so specify, it is also illegal for a
pitcher to have on his person a jagged fingernail that he can use to nick the surface of a ball. But fingernails are not nearly as much of a worry to umpires as other devices that are at once more disruptive and harder to detect. On August 3, 1987, at a game in Anaheim, Joe Niekro—then with the Minnesota Twins—was caught red-handed with both an emery board and a strip of sandpaper in his hip pocket with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning with the score tied, 2–2, when plate umpire Tim Tschida confronted him on the mound. Niekro was suspended for 10 days, but few pitchers have made it so easy for officials to ferret out their methods for doctoring balls. When asked to empty his pockets, Niekro clumsy tried to throw the emery board away, but it landed nearly at his feet.

  During a game at Baltimore’s Camden Yards on June 21, 1992, Orioles manager Johnny Oates complained that New York Yankees pitcher Tim Leary was putting “sandpaper scratches” on the ball. The umpires checked Leary’s glove and hand and found nothing, but TV cameras earlier showed Leary putting his mouth to his glove and later spitting something out of his mouth when he reached the Yankees dugout at the end of the inning. Asked later why he only inspected Leary’s hand and glove, first-base umpire Dave Phillips said, “I don’t want to put my hand into somebody’s mouth.”