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Baseball rules corner: problems result when a player bats out of turn.
I'M SURE THAT YOU REMEMBER THE famous line in the movie, Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Batting out of order or perhaps more appropriately put, "failure to bat in turn," normally results from the manager failing to communicate with his coaches, players, and umpires. The lack of communication can manifest itself in different ways.
Take what happened at Wrigley Field on April 16 where the Cubs hosted the Reds in a wild affair. Cubs' skipper Dusty Baker made a double-switch at the start Of the seventh inning replacing shortstop Alex Gonzalez with Ramon Martinez and pitcher Todd Wellemeyer with reliever Kent Mercker.
Baker wanted Martinez batting ninth so he would lead off the Cubs' seventh. Gonzalez, the eighth place hitter, had made the last out in the sixth, so his spot wasn't due up again until the Cubs had gone through the order. Dusty, however, did not properly communicate the change to plate umpire C.B. Bucknor. Because of that, the umpires assumed Martinez would take Gonzalez's spot in the lineup and Mercker would bat ninth in place of Wellemeyer.
After Marintez led off the Cubs' seventh (batting in the No. 9 spot) with a double to left, Reds' bench coach Jerry Narron, appealed that Martinez had batted out of turn. He claimed that Mercker was due up in the No. 9 spot. Narron led the charge because Reds' manager Dave Miley was ejected earlier in the game for arguing balls and strikes with Bucknor.
The umps honored Narron's appeal and Mercker was called out for failing to bat in turn (the No. 9 spot).
"They brought in a new pitcher (Mercker) and a new shortstop (Martinez) and never informed the plate umpire (Bucknor) there was a double-switch," explained crew chief Mike Reilly. "It's the responsibility of the team making the switch to inform the home plate umpire. Otherwise, they go in the batting order the way they appear."
Mercker was announced in the press box in the eighth spot and Martinez ninth, but it didn't matter. The lineup card in the possession of the plate umpire is the bible for the game.
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