Okay, Mike, now, based on the fact that Sidick played football in college, you're in a position to state that his slide was a "deliberate attempt to injure another player."

Nobody, nobody said anything about a deliberate attempt to injure. Not Washington personnel. Not Gateway personnel. Just you.

I have read, and re-read, and re-read the rule book. I know exactly what it says. And you're exactly right. It is a Text Book case.

But here's something you should know--the COMMENT is an integral part of the rule. The Official Rules of Baseball used to have a Case Book as a companion publication, but it was felt that that diminished the weight given to those particular interpretations of the rules.

The Case Book was integrated into the Official Rules as COMMENTS and are given the same weight. Interestingly, you have completely disregarded the TEXT BOOK case in your own argument.

It wasn't a cheap shot. It wasn't unsportmanlike. It was, in fact, a case specifically and directly dealt with in the rules--rules that were appropriately applied by the umpiring crew.

If it had been Saltzgaber sliding into Bethel the exact same way, you wouldn't be hailing the great hard slide that allowed the run to score. Of course, you'd be shouting at the top of your lungs that Saltzgaber should be ejected for his "deliberate attempt to injure another player", right?

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