{"id":5016,"date":"2015-07-28T08:09:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T12:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5016"},"modified":"2015-07-28T08:34:30","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T12:34:30","slug":"playing-by-the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5016","title":{"rendered":"playing by the rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1433785567155-bf5530cab72c\"<\/a>Funny how this world works\u2026 how one thing leads to another\u2026 how what we learn in one area is so often applicable to something else\u2026<\/p>\n

As the year\u2019s summer baseball season wraps up for my middle son, we found ourselves neck-and-neck in the late innings of one game in a highly competitive tournament last weekend. In fact, since this team has found significant on-field success, we were playing mostly teams a year older.<\/p>\n

This game was especially\u00a0tight, but with two on and no out, our cleanup hitter came\u00a0to the plate. He quickly smacked a long double to right center field, giving us a two run lead, which seemed somewhat insurmountable in a game where runs were rare.<\/p>\n

Before the cheers had yet to subside in the stands, the coach of the other team was out of his dugout, yelling at the umpires. \u201cCheck his bat! Check that bat!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, we were playing in a wood bat tournament, a series where no metal nor composite wood bats are allowed. Funniest thing\u2026 our four hitter\u2019s bat sure looked like it was wood. And it was. But buried deep within the rules was the edict that the bats must be made of a singular<\/em> piece of wood. The bat in question was actually made out of two pieces. Granted, it was not a error of deception; rather, it was an innocent error by a teen with a previously-thought, cool looking bat. After an extended conference with both umpires and opposing coaches, the batter was called out and our two run lead was erased.<\/p>\n

Let me be clear. The opposing coach was right. He was completely within his jurisdiction to question what was a potential violation of the rules. In fact, I learned later that this coach was a baseball bat salesman; he knew what he was talking about.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the problem. Remember we found ourselves neck-and-neck in the late innings of the game. This was the third time the cleanup hitter was at bat. The previous two times at the plate, his at bat did not affect the outcome of the game. Only when it affected the outcome of the game did the opposing coach speak up.<\/p>\n

Hence\u2026 my questions of the day \u2014 my learning from one area applied to another\u2026<\/p>\n