Rule 1.01

[gridlore]

Official Rules of Baseball:
1.00 Objectives of the Game

1.01 Baseball is a game between two teams of nine players each, under direction of a manager, played on an enclosed field in accordance with these rules, under jurisdiction of one or more umpires.

Today, Rule 1.01 made a brief reappearance in the heretical American League.

Lineup card error forces Rays' pitcher to hit

An error on the Tampa Bay Rays' official lineup card forced starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat in Sunday's game against Cleveland. The Rays listed Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman on the card given to the umpires before the start of the game. Longoria was supposed to be the designated hitter. "Designated hitter has to be designated on the lineup card and he wasn't," umpire crew chief Tim McClelland said. "That was just a mis-write, so to speak. That's how we interpreted it."

Rays manager Joe Maddon, after Tampa Bay beat Cleveland 7-5, said he didn't notice the error when he signed the card and took the blame. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Sonnanstine had an RBI double to left during a five-run fourth that put Tampa Bay ahead 7-3.

Baseball is a game of skill. Two of these skills are hitting and running the bases. Playing defense is another skill. If you want a game of specialists, stick to football. I strongly support getting rid of the Designated Hitter, day World Series games, and an end to interleague play.

Comments

[jilesa.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with getting rid of the DH and interleague play-- One League to Rule Them All! I'm agnostic on daytime WS games. Once the Nats and Cubs are out of the running, I don't so much care about watching the playoffs and the Series, and the likelihood of either of them being a serious contender for the Series in any given year is... ummm... slim. :)

I was vastly amused by the story of the poor AL pitcher having to hit, though. :)