Pine tar

[Tborze]

I really hate to bring this to you all, but I promised a fellow official who is stuck on the rule of PT on the barrel that I would get some experienced opinions.
 

How would handle PT on the barrel?  How much is needed? Is there a limit? Does it include fingerprint residue? Is there an official interp somewhere? Is there an unwritten rule?

Thanks for your response!  Trying to put this discussion to bed!  
 

 

[Kevin_K]

No foreign substances can be applied to the barrel more than 18 inches from the end of the handle.

NFHS 1-3-3

NCAA 1-12-3

OBR 3.02

Home plate is 17 inches wide. Use it as a guide like Tim McClelland did in the Pine Tar game and I'd bet you get a similar reaction.

Don't go looking for a problem to try to solve. Use the rules to solve problems not create them (Thanks @JonnyCat)

[Tborze]

3 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

No foreign substances can be applied to the barrel more than 18 inches from the end of the handle.

NFHS 1-3-3

NCAA 1-12-3

OBR 3.02

Home plate is 17 inches wide. Use it as a guide like Tim McClelland did in the Pine Tar game and I'd bet you get a similar reaction.

Don't go looking for a problem to try to solve. Use the rules to solve problems not create them (Thanks @JonnyCat)

So you are saying if PT or other substance is above 18’ you would enforce the penalty no matter the quantity?

[MadMax]

13 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

No foreign substances can be applied to the barrel more than 18 inches from the end of the handle.

… However… 

We would be doing all of baseball a disservice – and Lee McPhail the dishonor – if we did not discuss the “spirit of the rule”, the origin of and reason for it. 

The reason for the rule was to preserve the few baseballs that a game had, back in the day. What few (think: less than a dozen, tops) a game did have would be frequently reused, and by the end of the game, would be nigh unusable (further). As such, pine tar on the barrel was prohibited. 

The myth that pine tar on the barrel improves hitting results is just that, an abject fallacy. 

13 hours ago, Tborze said:

a fellow official who is stuck on the rule of PT on the barrel

Aside from the pun, why is he “stuck” on this rule? 

[Tborze]

4 minutes ago, MadMax said:

… However… 

We would be doing all of baseball a disservice – and Lee McPhail the dishonor – if we did not discuss the “spirit of the rule”, the origin of and reason for it. 

The reason for the rule was to preserve the few baseballs that a game had, back in the day. What few (think: less than a dozen, tops) a game did have would be frequently reused, and by the end of the game, would be nigh unusable (further). As such, pine tar on the barrel was prohibited. 

The myth that pine tar on the barrel improves hitting results is just that, an abject fallacy. 

Aside from the pun, why is he “stuck” on this rule? 

I explained to him everything you mentioned above but he says the rule is specific. He asked how I would rule in certain situations but I guess it wasn’t good enough so I came here to ask for others opinions. 

[Velho]

"Ok coach, you want me to check the pine tar at 18 inches. You know that likely means we'll be checking your bats too, right?"

[Kevin_K]

Since @Tborze and @MadMax may have overlooked some of the words in my post, I shall reiterate that

"Home plate is 17 inches wide. Use it as a guide like Tim McClelland did in the Pine Tar game and I'd bet you get a similar reaction"

Perhaps I should have included the  or  ?