Chapter 13

Umpire's Power 51, 52 When Master of the Field (1) 52 Must Compel Observance of Playing Rules (2) 52 Special Duties 53 Is Sole Judge of Play (1) 53 Shall see Rules Observed Before Commencing Game (2) 53 Must Keep Contesting Nines Playing (3) 53 Must Count and Call Balls (4) 53 Attention of Umpire is Directed Against 54 Laziness or Loafing , (1) 54 Seeking to Disconcert Fielder (2) 54 Violation of Rules by Base Runner (3) 54 Umpire Must Call Play 55 Umpire Allowed to Call Time 56 Umpire is Empowered to Inflict Fines 57 For Indecent Language (1) 57 Wilful Failure of Captain to Remain within Bounds (2) 57 Disobedience of a Player (3) 57 Shall Notify Captain (4) 57 Repetition of Offenses (5) 57

FIELD RULES.

No Club Shall Allow Open Betting 58 Who Shall be Allowed in the Field 59 Audience Shall Not be Addressed 60 Every Club Shall Furnish Police Force 61

GENERAL DEFINITIONS.

Play 62 Time 63 Game 64 An Inning 65 A Time at Bat 66 Legal 67 Scoring 68 Batting (1) 68 Runs Made (2) 68 Base Hits (3) 68 Sacrifice Hits (4) 68 Fielding (5) 68 Assists (6) 68 Error (7) 68 Stolen Bases (8) 68 Runs Earned (9) 68 The Summary 69 Number of Earned Runs (1) 69 Number of Two Base Hits (2) 69 Number of Three Base Hits (3) 69 Number of Home Runs (4) 69 Number of Stolen Bases (5) 69 Number of Double and Triple Plays (6) 69 Bases on Called Balls (7) 69 Bases from Being Hit (8) 69 Men Struck Out (9) 69 Passed Balls (10) 69 Wild Pitches (11) 69 Time of Game (12) 69 Name of Umpire (13) 69 Amendments 70

NATIONAL PLAYING RULES OF

Professional Base Ball Clubs

AS ADOPTED JOINTLY BY THE NATIONAL LEAGUE AND AMERICAN ASSOCIATION, AND GOVERNING ALL CLUBS PARTIES TO THE NATIONAL AGREEMENT.

1889.

* * * * *

THE BALL GROUND.

RULE 1. The Ground must be an enclosed field, sufficient in size to enable each player to play in his position as required by these Rules.

RULE 2. The Infield must be a space of ground thirty yards square.

THE BASES.

RULE 3. The Bases must be

SEC. 1. Four in number, and designated as First Base, Second Base, Third Base and Home Base.

SEC. 2. The Home Base must be of whitened rubber twelve inches square, so fixed in the ground as to be even with the surface, and so placed in the corner of the infield that two of its sides will form part of the boundaries of said infield.

SEC. 3. The First, Second and Third Bases must be canvas bags, fifteen inches square, painted white, and filled with some soft material, and so placed that the center of the second base shall be upon its corner of the infield, and the center of the first and third bases shall be on the lines running to and from second base and seven and one-half inches from the foul lines, providing that each base shall be entirely within the foul lines.

SEC. 4. All the bases must be securely fastened in their positions, and so placed as to be distinctly seen by the Umpire.

THE FOUL LINES.

RULE 4. The Foul Lines must be drawn in straight lines from the outer corner of the Home Base, along the outer edge of the First and Third Bases, to the boundaries of the Ground.

THE POSITION LINES.

RULE 5. The Pitcher's Lines must be straight lines forming the boundaries of a space of ground, in the infield, five and one-half feet long by four feet wide, distant fifty feet from the center of the Home Base, and so placed that the five and one half feet lines would each be two feet distant from and parallel with a straight line passing through the center of the Home and Second Bases. Each corner of this space must be marked by a flat iron plate or stone six inches square, fixed in the ground even with the surface.

RULE 6. The Catcher's Lines must be drawn from the outer corner of the Home Base, in continuation of the Foul Lines, straight to the limits of the Ground back of Home Base.

RULE 7. The Captain's or Coacher's Lines must be a line fifteen feet from and parallel with the Foul Lines, said lines commencing at a line parallel with and seventy-five feet distant from the catcher's lines, and running thence to the limits of the grounds.

RULE 8. The Players' Lines must be drawn from the Catcher's Lines to the limits of the Ground, fifty feet distant from and parallel with, the foul lines.

RULE 9. The Batsman's Lines must be straight lines forming the boundaries of a space on the right, and of a similar space on the left of the Home Base, six feet long by four feet wide, extending three feet in front of and three feet behind the center of the Home Base, and with its nearest line distant six inches from the Home Base.

RULE 10. The Three Feet Lines must be drawn as follows: From a point on the Foul Line from Home Base to First Base, and equally distant from such bases, shall be drawn a line on Foul Ground, at a right angle to said Foul Line, and to a point three feet distant from it; thence running parallel with said Foul Line, to a point three feet distant from the First Base; thence in a straight line to the Foul Line, and thence upon the Foul Line to point of beginning.

RULE 11. The lines designated in Rules 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 must be marked with chalk or other suitable material, so as to be distinctly seen by the Umpire. They must all be so marked their entire length, except the Captain's and Player's Lines, which must be so marked for a distance of at least thirty-five yards from the Catcher's Lines.

THE BALL.

RULE 12. The Ball.

SEC. 1. Must not weigh less than five or more than five and one-quarter ounces avoirdupois, and measure not less than nine nor more than nine and one-quarter inches in circumference. The Spalding League Ball, or the Reach American Association Ball must be used in all games played under these rules.

SEC. 2. For each championship game two balls shall be furnished by the Home Club to the Umpire for use. When the ball in play is batted over the fence or stands, on to foul ground out of sight of the players, the other ball shall be immediately put into play by the Umpire. As often as one of the two in use shall be lost, a new one must be substituted, so that the Umpire may at all times, after the game begins, have two for use. The moment the Umpire delivers the alternate ball to the catcher or pitcher it comes into play, and shall not be exchanged until it, in turn, passes out of sight on to foul ground.

SEC. 3. In all games the ball or balls played with shall be furnished by the Home Club, and the last ball in play becomes the property of the winning club. Each ball to be used in championship games shall be examined, measured and weighed by the Secretary of the Association, inclosed in a paper box and sealed with the seal of the Secretary, which seal shall not be broken except by the Umpire in the presence of the captains of the two contesting nines after play has been called.

SEC. 4. Should the ball become out of shape, or cut or ripped so as to expose the yarn, or in any way so injured as to be--in the opinion of the Umpire--unfit for fair use, the Umpire, on being appealed to by either captain, shall at once put the alternate ball into play and call for a new one.

THE BAT.

RULE 13. The Bat.

SEC. 1. Must be made wholly of wood, except that the handle may be wound with twine or a granulated substance applied, not to exceed eighteen inches from the end.

SEC. 2. It must be round, except that a portion of the surface may be flat on one side, but it must not exceed two and one-half inches in diameter in the thickest part, and must not exceed forty-two inches in length.

THE PLAYERS AND THEIR POSITIONS.

RULE 14. The players of each club in a game shall be nine in number, one of whom shall act as Captain, and in no case shall less than nine men be allowed to play on each side.

RULE 15. The players' positions shall be such as may be assigned them by their Captain, except that the Pitcher must take his position within the Pitcher's Lines, as defined in Rule 5. When in position on the field, all players will be designated "Fielders" in these rules.

RULE 16. Players in uniform shall not be permitted to seat themselves among the spectators.

RULE 17. Every Club shall be required to adopt uniforms for its players, and each player shall be required to present himself upon the field during said game in a neat and cleanly condition, but no player shall attach anything to the sole or heel of his shoes other than the ordinary base ball shoe plate.

THE PITCHER'S POSITION.

RULE 18. The pitcher shall take his position facing the batsman with both feet square on the ground, one foot on the rear line of the "box." He shall not raise either foot, unless in the act of delivering the ball, nor make more than one step in such delivery. He shall hold the ball, before the delivery, fairly in front of his body, and in sight of the Umpire. When the pitcher feigns to throw the ball to a base he must resume the above position and pause momentarily before delivering the ball to the bat.

THE BATSMEN'S POSITION--ORDER OF BATTING.

RULE 19. The batsmen must take their positions within the Batsmen's Lines, as defined in Rule 9, in the order in which they are named on _the score_, which must contain the batting order of both nines, and be submitted by the Captains of the opposing teams to the Umpire before the game, and when approved by him THIS SCORE must be followed except in the case of a substitute player, in which case the substitute must take the place of the original player in the batting order. After the first inning the first striker in each inning shall be the batsman whose name follows that of the last man who has completed his turn--time at bat--in the preceding inning.

RULE 20. SEC. 1. When their side goes to the bat the players must immediately return to and seat themselves upon the players' bench and remain there until the side is put out, except when batsman or base runner. All bats not in use must be kept in the bat racks, and the two players next succeeding the batsman, in the order in which they are named on the score, must be ready with bat in hand to promptly take position as batsman; provided, that the Captain and one assistant only may occupy the space between the players' lines and the Captain's lines to coach base runners.

SEC. 2. No player of the side at bat, except when Batsman, shall occupy any portion of the space within the Catcher's Lines, as defined in Rule 6. The triangular space behind the Home Base is reserved for the exclusive use of the Umpire, Catcher and Batsman, and the Umpire must prohibit any player of the side "at bat" from crossing the same at any time while the ball is in the hands of, or passing between, the Pitcher and Catcher, while standing in their positions.

SEC. 3. The players of the side "at bat" must occupy the portion of the field allotted them, but must speedily vacate any portion thereof that may be in the way of the ball, or of any Fielder attempting to catch or field it.

PLAYERS' BENCHES.

RULE 21. The Players' Benches must be furnished by the home club, and placed upon a portion of the ground outside the Players' Lines. They must be twelve feet in length, and must be immovably fastened to the ground. At the end of each bench must be immovably fixed a bat rack, with fixtures for holding twenty bats; one such rack must be designated for the exclusive use of the Visiting Club, and the other for the exclusive use of the Home Club.

THE GAME.

RULE 22 SEC. I. Every Championship Game must be commenced not later than two hours before sunset.

SEC. 2. A Game shall consist of nine innings to each contesting nine, except that,

(a) If the side first at bat scores less runs in nine innings than the other side has scored in eight innings, the game shall then terminate.

(b) If the side last at bat in the ninth inning scores the winning run before the third man is out, the game shall terminate, upon the return of the ball to the pitcher.

A TIE GAME.

RULE 23. If the score be a tie at the end of nine innings to each side, play shall only be continued until the side first at bat shall have scored one or more runs than the other side, in an equal number of innings, or until the other side shall score one or more runs than the side first at bat.

A DRAWN GAME.

RULE 24. A Drawn Game shall be declared by the Umpire when he terminates a game on account of darkness or rain, after five equal innings have been played, if the score at the time is equal on the last even innings played; but if the side that went second to bat is then at the bat, and has scored the same number of runs as the other side, the Umpire shall declare the game drawn, without regard to the score of the last equal innings.

A CALLED GAME.

RULE 25 If the Umpire calls "Game" on account of darkness or rain at any time after five innings have been completed by both sides, the score shall be that of the last equal innings played, unless the side second at bat shall have scored one or more runs than the side first at bat, in which case the score of the game shall be the total number of runs made.

A FORFEITED GAME.

RULE 26. A Forfeited Game shall be declared by the Umpire in favor of the club not in fault, at the request of such club, in the following cases:

SEC. 1. If the nine of a club fail to appear upon the field, or being upon the field, fail to begin the game within five minutes after the Umpire has called "Play," at the hour appointed for the beginning of the game, unless such delay in appearing or in commencing the game be unavoidable.

SEC. 2. If, after the game has begun, one side refuses or fails to continue playing, unless such game has been suspended or terminated by the Umpire

SEC. 3. If, after play has been suspended by the Umpire, one side fails to resume playing within five minutes after the Umpire has called "Play."

SEC. 4. If, in the opinion of the Umpire, any one of these rules is willfully violated.

SEC. 5. If, after ordering the removal of a player, as authorized by Rule 57, Sec. 5, said order is not obeyed within five minutes.

SEC. 6. In case the Umpire declares a game forfeited, he shall transmit a written notice thereof to the President of the Association within twenty four hours thereafter.

NO GAME.

RULE 27. "No Game" shall be declared by the Umpire if he shall terminate play on account of rain or darkness, before five innings on each side are completed.

SUBSTITUTES.

RULE 28. SEC. 1. In every championship game each team shall be required to have present on the field, in uniform, at least one or more substitute players.

SEC. 2. One player, whose name shall be printed on the score card as an extra player, may be substituted at the end of any completed innings by either club, but the player retired shall not thereafter participate in the game In addition thereto a substitute may be allowed at any time in place of a player disabled in the game then being played, by reason of illness or injury, of the nature and extent of which the Umpire shall be the sole judge.

SEC. 3. The Base Runner shall not have a substitute run for him, except by consent of the Captains of the contesting teams.

CHOICE OF INNINGS--CONDITION OF GROUND.

RULE 29. The choice of innings shall be given to the Captain of the Home Club, who shall also be the sole judge of the fitness of the ground for beginning a game after rain.

THE DELIVERY OF THE BALL--FAIR AND UNFAIR BALLS.

RULE 30. A Fair Ball is a ball delivered by the Pitcher while standing wholly within the lines of his position, and facing the batsman, the ball, so delivered to pass over the home base, not lower than the batsman's knee, nor higher than his shoulder.

RULE 31. An Unfair Ball is a ball delivered by the Pitcher, as in Rule 30, except that the ball does not pass over the Home Base, or does pass over the Home Base above the batsman's shoulder, or below the knee.

BALKING.

RULE 32. A Balk is

SEC. 1. Any motion made by the Pitcher to deliver the ball to the bat without delivering it, and shall be held to include any and every accustomed motion with the hands, arms or feet, or position of the body assumed by the Pitcher in his delivery of the ball, and any motion calculated to deceive a base runner, except the ball be accidentally dropped.

SEC. 2. The holding of the ball by the Pitcher so long as to delay the game unnecessarily; or

SEC. 3. Any motion to deliver the ball, or the delivering the ball to the bat by the Pitcher when any part of his person is upon ground outside of the lines of his position, including all preliminary motions with the hands, arms and feet.

DEAD BALLS.

RULE 33. A Dead Ball is a ball delivered to the bat by the Pitcher that touches the Batsman's bat without being struck at, or any part of the Batsman's person or clothing while standing in his position without being struck at; or any part of the Umpire's person or clothing, while on foul ground, without first passing the Catcher.

RULE 34. In case of a Foul Strike, Foul Hit ball not legally caught out, Dead Ball, or Base Runner put out for being struck by a fair hit ball, the ball shall not be considered in play until it is held by the Pitcher standing in his position.

BLOCK BALLS.

RULE 35. SEC. 1. A Block is a batted or thrown ball that is stopped or handled by any person not engaged in the game.

SEC. 2. Whenever a Block occurs the Umpire shall declare it, and Base Runners may run the bases, without being put out, until the ball has been returned to and held by the Pitcher standing in his position.

SEC. 3. In the case of a Block, if the person not engaged in the game should retain possession of the ball, or throw or kick it beyond the reach of the Fielders, the Umpire should call "Time," and require each base runner to stop at the last base touched by him until the ball be returned to the Pitcher standing in his position.

THE SCORING OF RUNS.

RULE 36. One Run shall be scored every time a Base Runner, after having legally touched the first three bases, shall touch the Home Base before three men are put out. If the third man is forced out, or is put out before reaching First Base, a run shall not be scored.

THE BATTING RULES.

RULE 37. A Fair Hit is a ball batted by the batsman, standing in his position, that first touches the ground, the First Base, the Third Base, any part of the person of a player, Umpire, or any other object that is in front of or on either of the Foul Lines, or batted directly to the ground by the Batsman, standing in his position, that (whether it first touches Foul or Fair Ground) bounds or rolls within the Foul Lines, between Home and First, or Home and Third Bases, without interference by a player.

RULE 38. A Foul Hit is a ball batted by the Batsman, standing in his position, that first touches the ground, any part of the person of a player, or any other object that is behind either of the Foul Lines, or that strikes the person of such Batsman, while standing in his position, or batted directly to the ground by the Batsman, standing in his position, that (whether it first touches Foul or Fair Ground) bounds or rolls outside the Foul Lines, between Home and First or Home and Third Bases, without interference by a player. Provided, that a Foul Hit not rising above the Batsman's head and caught by the Catcher playing within ten feet of the Home Base, shall be termed a Foul Tip.

BALLS BATTED OUTSIDE THE GROUNDS.

RULE 39. When a batted ball passes outside the grounds, the Umpire shall decide it Fair should it disappear within, or Foul should it disappear outside of the range of the Foul Lines, and Rules 37 and 38 are to be construed accordingly.

RULE 40. A Fair batted ball that goes over the fence at a less distance than two hundred and ten feet from Home Base shall entitle the Batsman to two bases and a distinctive line shall be marked on the fence at this point.

STRIKES.

RULE 41. A Strike is

SEC. 1. A ball struck at by the Batsman without its touching his bat; or

SEC. 2. A fair ball, legally delivered by the Pitcher, but not struck at by the Batsman.

SEC. 3. Any obvious attempt to make a foul hit.

RULE 42. A foul strike is a ball batted by the Batsman when any part of his person is upon ground outside the lines of the Batsman's position.

THE BATSMAN IS OUT.

RULE 43. The Batsman is out:

SEC. 1. If he fails to take his position at the bat in his order of batting, unless the error be discovered and the proper Batsman takes his position before a fair hit has been made, and in such case the balls and strikes called must be counted in the time at bat of the proper Batsman: _Provided_, this rule shall not take effect unless _the out_ is declared before the ball is delivered to the succeeding Batsman.

SEC. 2. If he fails to take his position within one minute after the Umpire has called for the Batsman.

SEC. 3. If he makes a foul hit, other than a foul tip as defined in Rule 38 and the ball be momentarily held by a Fielder before touching the ground, provided it be not caught in a Fielder's hat or cap, or touch some object other than a Fielder before being caught.

SEC. 4. If he makes a foul strike.

SEC. 5. If he attempts to hinder the Catcher from fielding the ball, evidently without effort to make a fair hit.

SEC. 6. If, while the first base be occupied by a base runner, three strikes be called on him by the Umpire, except when two men are already out.

SEC. 7. If, while making the third strike, the ball hits his person or clothing.

SEC. 8. If, after two strikes have been called, the Batsman obviously attempts to make a foul hit, as in Section 3, Rule 41.

BASE RUNNING RULES.

WHEN THE BATSMAN BECOMES A BASE RUNNER.

RULE 44. The Batsman becomes a Base Runner:

SEC. 1. Instantly after he makes a fair hit.

SEC. 2. Instantly after four Balls have been called by the Umpire.

SEC. 3. Instantly after three strikes have been declared by the Umpire.

SEC. 4. If, while he be a Batsman, his person or clothing be hit by a ball from the pitcher, unless--in the opinion of the Umpire--he intentionally permits himself to be so hit.

SEC. 5. Instantly after an illegal delivery of a ball by the pitcher.

BASES TO BE TOUCHED.