Base runners are now using oven mitts to protect their paws when running the bases. A good idea.
And some of them add a few inches to their reach. Just like a defensive player, the glove is longer than the fingers.
However, is there a size limit for the oven mitt? Could a base stealer have an oven mitt a couple feet long? Baseball is a game of inches.
Thank you folks for your replies.
This is a PDF of the 2019 MLB Official Rules: https://content.mlb.com/documents/2/2/4/305750224/2019_Official_Baseball_Rules_FINAL_.pdf
They are called “sliding gloves.” I didn’t see anything in there at all regarding sliding gloves. I’d imagine that, like pretty much everything else that’s not codified in the rules, it’s umpire’s discretion.
“Things that make a mockery of the game”, like sending a little person up as a pinch batter, can be called by the umpire. If a runner dons a 90 foot long sliding glove, even if there’s no specific rule against it, would be called under the mockery rule, I think.
I can’t find a rule in there that says players can’t wear their fielding mitt while running the bases, or what constitutes touching a base. It’s a horribly organized document so all that may be in there somewhere, but it’s very poor at defining some of the terms it uses.
AS DCnDC and** kayaker** pointed out, it’s up to the umpire. If a runner objects to the umpire’s ruling on his glove he’ll have to find the rule that permits it.
I’m picturing a base runner with one of those huge foam fingers on one hand, using that to reach for a base.
The Official Rules’ technical statement on this is rule 8.01(c):
“Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules.”
If this is becoming a huge concern I’m sure MLB will address it this off-season. No one is running the bases with a 90 foot glove or a foam finger!
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