Interference & Illegal Slides

“Throw it into the runner’s back. Because then what’s happening? (The runner) is impeding (and he is out)."

That quote is not from a disgruntled Yankees fan, nor is it from Joe Girardi or anybody else within the Yankees organization. This quote, which is essentially telling players to throw the ball at another player, comes from Dana Demuth.

Dana Demuth is the umpire crew chief from yesterday's game, and was also the home plate umpire during the controversial play in which Betances threw a Carlos Correa ground ball into right field, allowing the go-ahead run to score for the Astros.

To be fair, Demuth is not condoning any sort of violence between players. The issue is that the rule regarding interference is about judgment. An umpire during this type of play has to ask himself, "did the player interfere with the thrown ball, or was is just a bad throw?"

In this case, Mr. Demuth judged that Dellin's throw was just a bad one, and no matter where the runner was the result was going to be an error. Therefore, it was not interference, and the Astros scored and went on to win the game.

The lesson to be learned from the play, and from the words of Dana Demuth, is for players to just make a good throw. If the ball doesn't hit the runner, then the play can be made as normal. If the ball does hit the runner, assuming he's out of the baseline (as Correa was yesterday), interference will be called, the batter/runner is out, and the play is dead... no run scored.

Now, how can I talk about a rule and not at least touch on the "Chase Utley" rule, which was in full force yesterday?

You mean this isn't normal?

As a basketball official I have first-hand experience with this sort of thing.

What happened to Ruben Tejada last year, which prompted this new rule, is not something Major League Baseball ever wants to see again. I think we all can agree that we don't want to see a player get injured. By "injured" I'm not talking about a player getting a bruise from a hit by pitch, when I say "injured" I'm talking about something that keeps a player from returning to the game right away.

Something had to be done, and that something was not going to be hidden in the back of the rule book. It was going to be carried out to a tee, and players were going to be made aware of it right away.

So officials like myself are instructed to strictly enforce a rule, and I'm guessing the same was done to MLB umpires.

This is just another case of "don't hate the player, hate the game". Those fans that are up in arms over the new rule should take their gripes to the people that make the rules, not the people that enforce them.

Baseball Rules Can Be Nit-Picky

The vast majority of the time instant replay is a good thing. As a former umpire, and current basketball official, I would never say that any one call during a game directly affects the final score. Whether that call is made on the very first play of the game, or the very last play of the game, there's just way too much that goes on for that one call to be the cause of anyone's win or loss.

Also, being an official, I've been taught to go strictly by the rules. It doesn't matter whether I agree with a ruling or not, I have to call the game the way the rules say to. Just like the cop that gives you a speeding ticket for only going a couple miles per hour over the limit.. it's nit-picky, but that's the law.

Which brings us to a controversial call...

This call in particular is obvious, but you get the idea.

A runner is going from first to second base, and beats the tag. However, when he pops up after the slide, it's found on instant replay that for a split-second he was no longer in contact with the bag, and since the fielder kept his glove on the runner he's ruled to be out.

It's a nit-picky call, but according to the rules, the runner is out. And I don't see how you can change the rule to avoid such calls, without making it so complicated that it's bound to get screwed up anyway. But there is one way to help avoid it, and that's to make it un-reviewable.

If the umpire can see the player come off the bag and get tagged out, then that's fine. But if it takes HD quality video, slowed down frame-by-frame, and seen from a few different angles to find, then forget it.

Unfortunately, as Jon Morosi tweeted yesterday, it doesn't look like the instant replay rule on overslides will change. At least not this coming season. It's a shame, but honestly... it's not a big deal. There are many rules, in just about every sport, that are strange or downright stupid. But as long as the rules are the same for everybody, then so be it.