ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons and trainer George Poulis jumped out of the dugout mere moments after J.A. Happ was struck by a line drive but had to stop because the play was still alive and wait for a break in the action.
Several players on the field were caught in the same dilemma, leading to the obvious question of whether play should be halted immediately under such circumstances.
The answer from the rulebook is both yes and no.
Under 5.10, the umpire-in-chief is implored to call time for a handful reasons, none of them covering a line drive felling a pitcher.
Subclause A states an umpire should stop play “When in his judgment weather, darkness or similar conditions make immediate further play impossible;” or “(b) When light failure makes it difficult or impossible for the umpires to follow the play;” or “(c) When an accident incapacitates a player or an umpire; (1) If an accident to a runner is such as to prevent him from proceeding to a base to which he is entitled, as on a home run hit out of the playing field, or an award of one or more bases, a substitute runner shall be permitted to complete the play.”
So within that reading, play Tuesday night should have continued.
But Rule 9.01 (c) offers umpires a very wide berth to stop play under extraordinary circumstances such as a severely injured player, although not everyone may interpret the clause that way. It says, “each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.”
Protocol when pitchers are struck by comebackers isn’t covered in the rules.
Interestingly, Rule 7.04 (c) covers how many bases a runner may advance when a fielder falls out of the field of play while making a catch, allowing for a maximum advancement of one bag.
Desmond Jennings took third after his line drive ricocheted off Happ, while runners on the corners both scored.
Jose Bautista was among the many Blue Jays who had to pause on his way to try and help Happ, but was caught in the middle of play being alive.
“You do,” he said when asked if he wished play had been stopped, “but maybe it’s going to have to be an unwritten code between us players like they do in soccer, when somebody’s hurt they kick the ball off the field. I don’t think there are any rules that need to be changed because it becomes a judgment, when someone is hurt so bad that you need to call play off. If you put that in the umpire’s hands, it’s just more for them to worry about and it can become chaos. It just has to be one of those baseball plays where maybe you get to first and take a knee, or kind of call the play dead on your own, we’d have to figure that out. I don’t think any rules need change.”