Quote:
Originally Posted by The Poet
It is ludicrous to equate deeks and fakes, which play a part in most sports, with doctoring a ball or other such tactics like corked bats. The first is a legal strategy, the second a violation of rules.
For instance, a catcher will be lauded for his ability to "frame" or "pull" a pitch back into the zone in an attempt to fool the ump into believing a ball is a strike. "Good" catchers will try this dozens of times a game, and will get away with it on some of those. Is this cheating? Ehhh, OK, strictly speaking it is. Is it illegal? Not in the least.
|
Before 1920 it was the duty of every pitcher to doctor the ball as soon as he got it. They would scuff it, cut it with a bottle cap, spit tobacco juice on it, use vasoline, etc., they used one ball for the whole game, unless it was lost over the fence, which was rare. In the 1860's players were expected to be gentlemen and honest about their play. In those days, players would say if they were out or not. Getting back to my point: the constant rule changes of football are difficult to keep up with for the casual fan and makes the game needlessly complicated.