Caught By Surprise ...

... that it has poured in Framingham in the last hour, then it stopped. But by 7:30, it has started again. The radar shows another heavy rain cell bearing down on us, due in around the time of the First Pitch, and possibly rain throughout the morning. I hope that you use some common sense and check this out before leaving home.

As much as it pains me, there is NO GAME TODAY!

Check back late today-ish for details on the plans for the annual "Old. vs. Young" Game and more.

Meanwhile, go put on AMC for the conclusion of "Bull Durham" and think about the best all-time baseball movies. Submissions for an upcoming poll are welcome!

Odds and Ends

This Saturday, the Special Olympics have Merloni. Their rain date is Sunday, meaning that we wouldn't have a game if it rains on Saturday. Be warned and keep an eye on the forecast. Fortunately, no forecast (like the new weather widget on the right?) shows any rain until at least Monday.

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Rules reiteration regarding dead balls, pickoffs, and The Hidden Ball Trick : 

The ball is dead once it crosses the plate if a) the hitter does not make contact and b) the catcher does not make a clear and immediate attempt to pick off a runner. If a pick-off is attempted, all runners must tag up before advancing until such time as the pick-off play completes, either as a clean play or to the point at which an error occurs.

To clarify: on a clear pick-off attempt, all runners need to retag before advancing. The intent of this is to prevent excessive leads off a base to sacrifice the runner in order to score another runner, while still allowing for runners to tag up on a pick-off play and then attempt to advance.

The ball is also dead once fielders make a reasonable effort to return the ball to the pitcher.

Once dead, the ball remains dead until the pitcher is again set on the rubber.

I suppose this leaves the door open to a legal hidden ball trick. But we're not all lawyers and I am not going to spend endless hours closing loopholes. So officially add it to our list of "rules changes" from MLB: The hidden ball trick is not allowed. Period. Yes, I've pulled it in the past and it's all good fun. If you must, feel free to try to convince me why having it would benefit the game. But foremost, the spirit of good sportsmanship rules.

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Rules reiteration II: The basics of the infield fly rule are that when there is a man on first and second or bases loaded with less than two out and the fielder can make a fair ball out with "ordinary effort", 1) while the ball is still in the air, the umpire will immediately call that the infield fly rule is in effect, 2) the batter is automatically out, 3) runners may advance at their own risk.

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The ball order still hasn't arrived. For two weeks, we'll use a different, fat seamed ball. Enjoy, pitchers.

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Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler

And we're rolling on, not even close to being halfway into the season, but nearing the annual "Old vs. Young Game" come early August.

The atmosphere is jovial. The last two weeks have been the closest games of the year, with extra innings last week. We finally got rid of Jarod Q., and Jared B. returned. Tony is up from the Carolinas this week. The wet is over and Sunday looks like baseball weather. Let the good times roll.