Break Up The Double Play Not The Player

Jul 20, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop

(13) leaps over St. Louis Cardinals left fielder

(7) as he completes the double play during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Give them an inch

For the next 20 years or so I was overseas and sometime during that period the neighborhood play became a thing. Shortstops decided they didn’t like simply using the base for protection and jumping over a sliding player so they developed a method of coming across behind the bag, tagging (or appearing to tag) it with his toe and being out of range of the runner as he slid.

That of course made it hard for the umpire to determine whether the tag and catch actually happened simultaneously and became known as the phantom tag.

This infamous phantom tag was called correctly, probably because the shortstop did it flat-footed and never attempted to touch the bag with his toe at any point.

The player, manager and announcers were astounded – nay horrified – that the middle infielder actually had to touch the bag to record a force out.   That kind of call, though correct, is rare.  Thus the double play became a game of action and reaction.

• Middle infielders continued to stretch the limits of the phantom tag
• Base runners began to overtly slide towards the middle infielder while in theory reaching for the base. Someone determined that as long as he could reach for and touch the base this was okay.
• Middle infielders moved farther away from the bag.
• Runners continued to slide at the infielders no matter how far away they were.
• Umpires continued to make the wrong call
• Wash, rinse repeat. . .

Next: Rules are rules only when enforced