There have been plenty of bad calls (or is that incorrect calls) in the years that I have played and managed.  The worst call that I remember was when I was coaching Carleton College.  We were playing a league game and up one run in the top of the seventh inning (colleges only play seven).  The visiting team had a runner at second and one out.  The batter singled sharply to left field and my left fielder threw a perfect one hop to the catcher.  The catcher had gone up the third baseline about five feet and fielded the ball, blocked the plate and the runner slid right into him.  The catcher applied the tag, showed the ball and then got up and looked for the next play.  The umpire called the runner safe. 

I don't think that I have ever seen a more obvious play in my baseball life.  I went out to the plate and pointed out the catcher's marks from the runner sliding into him five feet away from the plate and asked the umpire how he could be safe.  The umpire just kept looking at me and saying safe.  I had to live with it.  The other coach told me after the game that he was so embarrassed over the call that he ALMOST came out and told the umpire his runner was out. 

Obviously, every player and manager has had calls they disagreed with.  How they are   handled is key.  My number one rule is that you can only win an argument by knowing the rules.  If you want to get a ruling in your favor you need to know the rules and have a rule book nearby to prove it. 

Back when I could still lift my arm, I was pitching in a game at Prior Lake.  A hitter smashed a liner right back at me.  I jumped, the ball hit the rubber and bounced right into the first base dugout.  It didn't touch any player and thus it was a foul ball.  The umpire didn't agree and ruled it a hit.  He agreed that no one had touched the ball but thought that since it had hit the rubber, it was fair, even though it ended in four territory. I didn't have a rule book to show him that the call was incorrect.  I've carried one ever since. 

It came in handy in the 1986 State Tournament in Cold Spring and St. Cloud.  This was the last year the Class A teams played their tournament at the B and C sites.  It was also my second year on the State Board and I had field box duty.  J. Botten was playing Steichen,s in Cold Spring. Botten had runners at second and third with one out. The Botten hitter lined a ball to the right-center field fence.  Steichen's centerfielder made a fabulous diving back-handed catch.  He got up and threw the ball to second base for the third out as Botten's runner had not tagged up.  The umpire disallowed the run which scored on the play.  He reasoned that since the out at second was a force out, the run could not count. 

J. Botten appealed and said the run should count since the runner from third scored before the runner was called out at second.  They said that since it was a timing play, not a force out, the run should count. 

J. Botten was right and the play was overturned with the run counting.  But during the argument, a J. Botten player was ejected from the game for swearing.  The Botten player was swearing at a Steichen's player and the umpire thought he was swearing at him and ejected him.

The game continued until the Botten DH came up to bat.  It turned out that Botten had only ten players with one of them being the DH.  When the DH had to enter the game the hitter he was batting for had to come out and that left Botten with only eight players.  Steichen's protested that a team couldn't play with eight and they should win by forfeit.  The umpires didn't know and it came to the board.  We had just spent over a half hour on the timing play so we told the teams to keep playing while we looked the situation up in the rule book. 

Meanwhile, J. Botten's got a home run from their namesake to go ahead.  Just after that, we found the rule:  In Major League Baseball, a team must have nine players to continue.  Steichen's won by forfeit. 

Baseball has more rules and plays that need to be interpreted than any other sport.  That is why the umpires and managers need to know the rules.  A rulebook always comes in handy too. 

Tomorrow I'll talk more about umpires.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it