Time to throw the first baseball questions of the year

From. April 6, 2015:

I recently went to an Angels springtraining baseball game. How come the bat boys were not in school?

Thank you for this question. Thank you for reminding us that baseball is back. God will be in his heaven and all will be right with the world.

Spring training is, of course, the ideal goofing-off event, the only drawback being that you’re likely to run into about half the rest of the office at the stadium, people you had told that you leaving work early because your child was sick and you were needed at home.

Now, let’s think, shall we?

Say you’re a teenage boy who likes baseball and has a choice between a day in school or a day at the ballpark being a bat boy for a big-league team.

Which would you choose?

Well, duh.

There are coaches’ boxes on the first and third base lines, but the coaches never seem to stay in them. They wander up and down the lines. What are the rules regarding coaches’ boxes and are there penalties for not using them?

As for the coaches’ boxes, there are rules and then there is reality. The two are not always the same.

This is what Major League Baseball’s Rule 4.05(b) says: “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.”

That rule, however, comes with this comment: “... 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.”

Further, it says: “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.”

It’s sort of like the rule about the batter staying in the box. There are rules and then there is reality.