Rule changes

Also over at MLB.com, there is this story about some rule changes:

Several rule changes in effect for 2007
Alterations address ties, pace of game, official scoring

Relax: It's still the game you know and love. Committeemen haven't messed with the game's guts. In fact, although some of the changes are substantial, the most significant aspect of Friday's announcement is that it introduced the first alterations to the Official Baseball Rules since 1996.

Potentially most consequential is the manner in which games that end in a tie, due to weather or other uncontrollable elements, will be resolved. While previously such games were considered official and replayed in their entirety from the beginning, hence they will be "suspended" and resumed at the point of stoppage.

This makes sense. There is probably some situation in which this might not make sense and I'm not going to obsess over this and come up with a scenario in which, say, the Mariners and A's game in Oakland on September 19, the last time they meet in 2007, is tied 4-4 in the eighth inning and a Thunderstorm rolls through forcing the suspension of....Sorry, back to the story:

Tie games will resume prior to the next scheduled game between the teams, in the visitors' park if no more games are scheduled at the same site. If no more games are scheduled between the teams, the tie would stand unless an outcome would decide a playoff spot -- in which case the game would be replayed in its entirety.

Oh, never mind the ramble above.

There is one thing to point out and it is a minor thing:

Gender objectivity: The rulebook now includes the disclaimer that references "to 'he,' 'him' or 'his' shall be deemed to be a reference to 'she,' 'her' or 'hers'" where applicable.

Doesn't basic English teach this already -- without the disclaimer? I'll need to check my 10th grade grammar book and get back on this one...with an 5,000+ word post...stopping now.

The changes to Rule 10, governing official scoring, may have the most direct bearing on fans' perception of the coming season by affecting the game's lifeblood: statistics.

For instance, the guidewords for deciding whether to credit a batter with a sacrifice bunt have changed from him being possibly retired on a "perfect play" to "ordinary effort" by the defense.

And fans weary of hearing "defensive indifference" on stolen-base attempts will be heartened to learn that the scorer must now base that call on all game circumstances, not merely on whether someone covered the base or the catcher got off a throw.

Merhige, who oversees all official scorers at big-league parks, had noted several areas that needed to be improved and standardized. The work of the committee she assembled "came up with a substantial rewrite of Rule 10," Burns said.

But, minor league managers will still complain if their guy isn't credited with a stolen base or if their catcher is charged with a stolen base against his percentage.