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

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Agreed on the DH -- and thanks for quoting the story; I'd heard in on the Giants post-game show, but hadn't looked up the details. I'm ambivalent about inter-league play; I'm not sure it's adding as much interest to the game as was claimed when it started. Day World Series games are unlikely to ever happen for financial reasons, of course.

I also know the counter-arguments for the DH, including how every level of play above Little League uses it, for which I say, "Get rid of it at those levels, too!"