7. The defense gets the benefit of the doubt when the tag beats the runner.

R1 stealing. The catcher guns the ball to second, and F4 gloves it in plenty of time for an out. As the runner hits the dirt, the fielder sweeps his glove to the ground in front of the bag and then pulls it up, holding it high to show he still has the ball. You yell: "He's out!" Instant reply shows the glove was off the ground before the runner reached the base.

Who cares?

When I first met Old Smitty, he wanted to force that fielder to slap the tag on that sliding foot. After a few sessions of explaining to the fielder's mother why his wrist is gashed, he began to sing in another key. If you're calling in the major leagues, with eight cameras dogging your butt on every play, fine: Make F4 tag the runner. If you're on a Babe Ruth field at 10:30 Saturday morning, call out that runner. (Now if he's sliding head first, you might want to insist on a tag because there's little likelihood of injury to the runner. You might want to do it.)

Continued...