Baseball Rules Corner.

Some rules of the game are enforced unevenly

DURING GAME 2 OF THE 2000 World Series played between the Yankees and Mets, TV cameras caught opponents John Franco and David Cone talking to each other over the Yankee Stadium bullpen fence during the seventh inning.

Sandy Alderson, the executive vice president of Baseball Operations, said he would look into it since there were concerns about the rule prohibiting fraternization.

Give me a break, Sandy. Everybody knows there is more socializing going on between players before and during games than a singles pub on Friday night. A section of rule 3.09 reads, "Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform."

This aspect of the rule has been referred to as the "Stargell Rule", because of Willie's friendliness with both teammates and opposing players.

But let's not get hung up on all of this. The truth is this rule is simply one rule among many that is seldom enforced. Let's take a look at a few.

Rule 1.14 addresses the size of a fielder's glove. It stipulates that the glove shall not measure more than 12 inches from the tip of any one of the four fingers, through the ball pocket to the bottom edge or heel of the glove." Has anyone ever seen Luis Polonia's glove over the years? From 1988-1991 the little flychaser used a glove that measured almost 17 inches. It looked more like a jai-lai cesta than a fielder's glove and far exceeded the 12-inch limit from the tip to heel. It took awhile, but to give credit where credit is due, the American League subsequently outlawed Polonia's illegal piece of leather.