In Oakland Sunday afternoon, the Orioles screwed up two bunt plays in the 10th and lost, the run scoring on an overthrow at third base. They probably would have lost even if A’s third-base coach Mike Gallego had not been allowed to get so close to his runner, while alerting him to the overthrow, that he stepped on the foul line (which is fair territory) just afterwards, while the play was still on.

Did Gallego violate the rules?

I can’t tell. The relevant rule first declares that the coach shall “remain within the coach’s box at all times.” That’s cut and dried, right? But the subsequent comment muddies the waters. Here’s the rule entire, Rule 4.05(b):

Base coaches shall be limited to two in number and shall (1) be in team uniform, and (2) remain within the coach’s box at all times.

PENALTY: The offending base coach shall be removed from the game, and shall leave the playing field.

Rule 4.05 Comment: It has been common practice for many years for some coaches to put one foot outside the coach’s box or stand astride or otherwise be slightly outside the coaching box lines. Until a batted ball passes a coach, a coach is not permitted to position himself closer to home plate than the coach’s box nor closer to fair territory than the coach’s box. Otherwise, a coach shall not be considered out of the box unless the opposing manager complains, in which case the umpire shall strictly enforce the rule and require all coaches (on both teams) to remain in the coach’s box at all times.

It is also common practice for a coach who has a play at his base to leave the coach’s box to signal the player to slide, advance or return to a base. This may be allowed if the coach does not interfere with the play in any manner.

OK, if he leaves the box, he’s ejected … except that he can leave the box, as long as the ball has passed him and he doesn’t interfere with the play.

I thought the comments were supposed to clarify the rules, not contradict them.

This is a chronic problem with the MLB rulebook. They’ll take the trouble to add what should be a helpful comment, without noticing (or without caring) that the actual rule itself is absolute. If you don’t want the rule to mean “at all times,” then rewrite the rule.

The murk doesn’t end there. Look at that last sentence of the comment again, about a coach leaving the box: “This may be allowed if the coach does not interfere with the play in any manner.” It may be allowed? Does that mean the umpire can penalize the coach even if he doesn’t interfere with the play? That couldn’t be the intent of the framers, could it? But that’s the literal meaning.

Writing rules can be hard. But it’s not hard to know the difference between “may” and “shall,” and to use the word that means what you want to say about that situation. There’s just no reason for such vague wording, except sloppiness.

Getting back to the play in question: Given the state of the rule, I can’t say that the umps were wrong to let it go. But suppose Nate McLouth had been confused by Gallego’s presence on the foul line as he looked towards home to make the throw. After all, there’s not supposed to be a guy in an Oakland uniform in that spot. Now, I don’t think that actually happened; by the time McLouth came up with the ball, Gallego had backed off a couple of steps from the foul line and wasn’t in McLouth’s direct line of sight towards the plate.

But it could have happened, no? If McLouth had come up with the ball a half-second sooner, Gallego would have been standing right on the foul line just as McLouth was lining up his throw. He’s looking for the runner, and he sees this other white-gold-and-green uniform 15 feet north of the bag. He double-clutches, and the runner scores.

What then? Would that constitute interference? It would meet the practical definition, clearly, but would it satisfy the rulebook? Would any ump have seen it just right to make the call? It would be a whirlwind of confusion.

There’s a simple way to avoid such muddles: (1) Decide how much range you want to allow the coach. (2) Paint the box that size, and keep the coach in the box. At all times.