Ah
springtime, “when everything else begins again” as past commissioner of baseball A. Bart
Giamatti once said referring to the cycle of life which promises “sunshine and
high skies”…and of course, baseball!
This is a spring unlike any because of the experiment of instant replay
and several new controversial rule changes so as the baseball season blossoms,
I think it’s time you and I have a little sit-down about the birds and the bees
to better understand the anatomy and how certain things work. Today we’re going to look at the catch and
transfer that has hearts pounding like a teenage crush…
One of the
side effects of the expanded use of instant replay this season was a change in
the way umpires view a catch and transfer while turning double plays. The scrutiny of replay caused the blue to
put an emphasis on a few words in the rule book that says a catch is not a
catch until the player “holds the ball long enough to prove he has complete
control of it.” As a result, fielders
losing the ball on the transfer resulted in “safe” calls when traditionally
they were called “out” because of the misplaced emphasis on “holding the ball
long enough.” The larger problem here is that the infielder’s job is to “turn”
the double play in an instant – the shortest possible time – which is at odds
with the rule book language calling for the lapse of time as validation for the
catch. Since instant replay gives us the
ability deconstruct a play frame-by-frame if you will, something the human eye
cannot do, the best way to conceptually understand what's going on is to deconstruct the rules
regarding a catch…
However
straightforward the definition of a catch is, “getting secure possession of the
ball in the hand or glove,” or however routine a play is, there are three
components to legally catching the baseball that most baseball fans don't realize: securing the ball, holding it until the continued action of
the play is complete and lastly, making a movement to begin the next play. I think we all understand what it means to
hold the ball securely so let’s go straight to part two. Since a body in motion
tends to stay in motion until acted upon by another force, like the ground or
an outfield wall, a catch cannot be called a catch until inertia runs its
course. This means that if a ball comes
loose as a fielder is rolling over following a dive or running into another
object, a catch is not complete. Too
often the “time” argument is used to argue a catch, “he held it long enough,”
but what does that really mean? No, the
true judge has to do with the action, did he maintain control until the play was over, "the play" meaning, the continued action until he does something else.
However the
play goes down, after the fielder catches the ball, rolls over or whatever, he
has to do something else, most likely throw the ball (please, let the throw hit the cutoff man). The key rule book language is “voluntary and
intentional” release, that is, if the ball comes loose because of his own
action to do something after catching the ball, it’s all good. The problem on the double play turn is that
there is no step 2 – the continued action – the fielder goes from step 1,
securing the ball, directly past go and to step 3, voluntary action to relay
the ball to first. This speeds up the
play which happens so fast, it is very difficult for an umpire to see,
especially when he has so much to look at.
A double play might seem routine but the umpire has to do the following: 1 - make sure fielder has secure possession, 2 - make sure fielder is touching
the base at the same time as possession, 3 - decide safe or out, 4 - evaluate the
legality of the slide, 5 - keep watching the ball in hand for voluntary release. That's a lot of moving parts, but if it’s a two man
umpire crew (amateur or low-level pro), he then has to quickly turn and take a
few steps towards first for the play there as well.
This includes a lot of moving parts and can easily trip up a
professional umpire as it did in the first game of last year’s world
series. There was such a play at second
base where the fielder dropped the ball without ever having possession but was
ruled “on the transfer.” The problem was
the umpire was looking at the base for contact and safe/out yet everyone else
in the park, with a wider focal point that could see the whole play, realized
the runner was safe. The umpire crew got
together, without instant replay, and reversed the call (see it here, go to 2:40 mark).
What
typically happens is that as the fielder takes the ball out of his glove, he
loses grip and the ball comes out in a manner that is not related to the trajectory
of the initial throw he is receiving.
Let’s say the second baseman is taking a throw from the hole – if he
loses control taking it out of his glove, the ball usually winds up going
backwards, behind second base towards center or left center, the direction in
which he was cocking his arm for the throw.
This change of direction is usually the evidence that the ball came
loose on the transfer. If it comes out
straight to the ground or floats around the fielder’s hands, this indicates a
drop or a bobble. Going back to the
language of "voluntary and intentional,"
Oh, and here's a great example of what is not a catch - clunking Canseco (click here).
Class dismissed!
Jim Tosches is an amateur umpire and blogger in Encinitas, Ca and author of the book, "The Rules Abide: The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball Rules (With History, Humor and a Few Big Words)"
Jim Tosches is an amateur umpire and blogger in Encinitas, Ca and author of the book, "The Rules Abide: The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball Rules (With History, Humor and a Few Big Words)"
Having read your book twice, it is obvious you cannot get enough of "the ball clunks Canseco." HA!!
ReplyDeleteI have always thought the idea of "voluntary release" versus "involuntary" was easy enough to understand and adjudicate. Why do we make things so complicated??
ReplyDelete