The rules of order

I wondered if Gardiner had made a change in the batting order when first baseman Nick Maschino came to the plate as the third batter of the first inning Friday against Rockland. The lineup sheet I’d been given by Gardiner coach Jim Palmer had Alex Wheelock batting third and Maschino in the fourth position. It turns out the original lineup sheet was correct and Maschino batted out of order. But the rules of baseball are complicated if nothing else and this situation was not easily resolved. Maschino popped up to first, then Wheelock walked. Just as No. 5 batter Donnie Cray was coming to bat, Rockland coach Brian Plourde approached the home plate umpire, lineup sheet in hand. A long meeting between base umpire Don Sproul, the home plate ump (I didn’t catch his name) and both coaches ensued. When it was over, Cray was called out, Wheelock was sent back to the dugout and fans were left scratching their heads. Sproul explained after the game. “Because they threw a pitch to the next batter (Wheelock), Maschino became legal,” Sproul said. “The next batter due up after Maschino is Donnie Cray. He failed to bat next, Alex batted, so the batter who is called out is the batter who is supposed to bat and that’s Donnie Cray. But why was Wheelock taken off the bases? Because he was following Maschino and batting essentially in Cray’s spot which in effect made him Cray. “In effect Wheelock did not bat in that inning,” Sproul said. Had Rockland protested the mistake earlier, things would have gone much more smoothly. As it turned out, the visitors got an out and took a runner off the bases, too, to help shut down a potential big inning. Gardiner did score twice on Spencer Allen’s two out double but eventually lost the game 7-6. And you thought your taxes were complicated.