High school baseball playoffs are moving into their second round, and I thought a few final looks at uncommon rules and rulings might be fun before we move on.

I heard the other day about a controversial ruling surrounding an alleged illegal bat. It seems the batter on one team hit a double, scoring the tying and winning runs.

The opposing coach asked the umpires to examine the bat he used. The story, as I heard it, was the hitter’s teammates attempted to hide the bat but when it was found the bat did not have the BESR, or Bat Exit Speed Ratio, sticker attached, as is required for a bat to be legal.

Supposedly the bat was a youth model, which would be much smaller and could be more easily handled by a batter if power alone was not wanted. I have since heard the umpires ruled the bat legal and allowed the hit and the runs to stand.

I was not at the game, so I certainly do not pass judgement on the ruling. A couple of high school umpires have told me that had the bat been found to be illegal the batter would have been out and the runners would have returned to their bases.

I am sure I will hear more about that situation in the weeks ahead, as the losing team likely feels they should have won and maybe moved on in the playoffs. The umpires I talked with also told me had the bat been originally legal but altered or damaged, the only result would be to disallow that bat from use in the game, with no penalty attached.

As always, I invite comment.

There are a couple of more high school baseball rules I have recently read about that the casual fan may misunderstand.

When an umpire calls foul ball, the ball is automatically dead. If, for instance, a batter hits a fly to left, and the umpire calls foul ball, then the ball is caught, since the ball was dead it is merely a long strike.

However, if a batter hits the ball over the, say, left field fence but the umpire, because the sun might be in his eyes, calls foul ball, the home run would stand because the ball has become dead when it left the park.

There is also a strange rule about the ball becoming lodged in a player’s equipment. For instance, a batter hits a slow roller down the first-base line. The pitcher fields the ball but can’t remove it from his glove.

Instead, he tosses the glove, ball and all, to the first baseman. When he tosses the glove, the umpire should call time, and each runner, including the batter, will be awarded two bases.

I hate to revisit the balk rules, because that brought more comment than almost anything I have written about (except maybe Australian Rules Football). When a pitcher is pitching from the set position, before he has come to the set position he may turn his shoulders to check the runner on first. If he is going from the windup, once he starts his motion he may not turn his shoulders to check runners, or a balk will be called.

Need clarification? Ask an umpire.

The Joe Fortunato Celebrity Golf Classic is this weekend. This event if for a great cause and needs the support of the whole community.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. Reach him at

AlanWard39157@aol.com

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