TOWER GROVE - Going to open up the phone lines for PostCard questions all day today as there were more answers than questions in this week’s mailbag. Readers rose up en masse to answer why Casey may have had two teammates at second base during his legendary at-bat and to describe how it was possible that Tyler Johnson throw a one-hitter without allowing a real hit.In Johnson’s case, it’s a quirk of the rules.

One that could be fixed.

To refresh your memory, last week’s (repeat) PCQ was about how the Cardinals’ lefty specialist took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of a minor-league game. He walked a batter and then game up a hit, but it was not an actual hit. As many readers researched and discovered - or just flat knew - Johnson gave up a groundball that hit the runner he walked. By rule, the batter is awarded a hit and the runner is ruled out.

Post-Dispatch Colleague — and fellow Maneater alum! — Jake Wagman gives the rundown:

As I recall, Tyler Johnson’s no-no was broken up after — having allowed a runner to reach first with two outs, presumably from a walk — the next hitter sent a batted ball that hit the runner. The result was that the runner was out, and the “hit” was ruled a hit. How’d that happen? We look at a trio of major league rules that tell the tale.

The first of is 70.8 (f), which says a runner is out “if touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has touched or passed an infielder. The ball is dead and no runner may score.” Hmmm… OK, that tells us why the runner is out and the ball dead. But why does the runner get first? See rule 6.08 (d), which sees a batter is entitled to a base when “a fair ball touches an umpire or a runner on fair territory before touching a fielder.”

Yes, but is it a hit? Wouldn’t it be more like a HBP or balk — where the runner advances without a hit? Apparently not. See this final rule, in the scorer’s section of the MLB code. Rule 10.05(e) says that a hit is scored when “a fair ball which has not been touched by a fielder touches a runner or an umpire.”

So, there you have it. One rule says the batter is out. Another says the batter gets first. And a third tells us that it’s a hit. In other words, if a batter hits a ball that hits a runner, the runner is out, and the batter is safe, with a hit no less.

The rule, I think, in most cases is sound: Hey, batter? You want to hit one of your own — it’s a hit, but the runner is out. Fair enough, but what about when it’s two outs? If the ball is dead and the third out recorded once it hits the runner, how can you have a hit? It’s almost like a posthumous hit, if you will, recorded after the inning is over.

(DG Note: See one of the questions below about a World Series inning that ended with a hit.)

My take on the rule is that it should stand, unless there are two outs, in which case the inning should be over and no hit awarded. At least the ball hit by the last batter TJ faced did not hit an umpire — in addition to losing his no-no, he would have been in a first-and-second-one out jam.

Can’t argue with the facts, as illustrated by Wagman and many other readers (listed below). My question is this: Why can’t it be ruled a fielder’s choice? That way the hitter and the runner are both penalized and we don’t run the risk of rewarding what could have been a groundball out or, even worse, two hits resulting in one base runner. (When else could that ever happen?) If Joe Tinker singles but is struck by Johnny Evers groundball on his way to second, why not rule Tinker out and give Evers first on a fielder’s choice?

That seems the way the rule should work.

Tinker gets a hit because he got a base hit. Evers does not get a hit, because the ball he hit - no matter if it was headed for a hole or if it was a line drive - resulted in an out. Seems more in the spirit of the game. And years from now, after this rule is changed, Tyler Johnson can reclaim his rightful no-hitter.

We’ll try the first pseudo-chat of the offseason today. I’ll stick around for the rest of the working day answering questions filed below or to postcards@post-dispatch.com.

On with PostCards Live!:

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Q: What are the Cardinals chances of picking up Rich Aurilia for second baseman next year? He’s a free agent. I moved to Reds country a few years ago, so I have followed him as a Red, and know he is versatile (played 1B, 2B, 3B and SS last year), cheap and has some pop in his bat (23 HR, 25 doubles, 70 RBI in 122 games/440 AB). As a veteran, Tony LaGenius  has to like that. He’s still relatively healthy, has range, .300 hitter last year. He won’t command Soriano kind of money, and they could use the savings elsewhere (like re-signing Jeff Suppan?). What do you think? I’d love to see him in Cardinals red–my friend suggests the Cards trade for Edgar Renteria and move David Eckstein to 2B. I don’t like that–and I doubt the Cards would do that. There shouldn’t be any qualms about Aurilia at 2B (though he played little there last year, he had much more playing time there in 2005). Just throwing the idea out there–have you heard whispers involving his name?

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Q: I have been a Cardinal and Baseball fan for over 50 years. Played through high school and American Legion - sadly not professional talent. However my girlfriend stumped me by asking why home plate is shaped as it is. Why not just a rectangle? Glad you are running PostCards during the winter.

– Don Nahnsen
Eugene, Ore.

DG: According to baseball history, home plate was once a 12-inch square rooted into the ground like a diamond - to help establish the angle of the base paths. That left a point toward the pitcher and a point toward the catcher. The strike zone was defined by home plate, hence, I believe, the phrase “pitching on the corners” or “cutting corners”. Inspired by gripes from the pitchers, those corners were flattened and the front point was smoothed into a flat line to give the pitcher a better view of the plate and sense of the strike zone. The back point (toward the catcher) remained to establish the base paths and therefore the bounds of the game. Voila!, the pentagonal home plate.

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Q: (Concerning the Tyler Johnson near no-hitter.) For what it’s worth, that play happened in the 1982 World Series. Steve Braun hit a ground ball that hit someone and ended an inning, but Braun was credited with a base hit. By the way, the Cards wore the baby blue uniforms in Milwaukee in the summer of 1997. I remember, because it was a game that Fernando
Valenzuela started for us. Living in Guam at the time, it was the only time I saw highlights of Fernando in a Cards’ uniform and it had to be the old baby blues (it was a flashback game, as the Brewers wore their 1982 threads). As I recall, Fernando almost won that game, but the bullpen blew it - as it was, he never won a game for the Cards before he was released.

– Jerry Modene
Las Vegas

DG: In the ‘82 World Series, Steve Braun was the player hit by a batted ball. In the eighth inning of Game 2, Braun pinch hit for the designated hitter and walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. Willie McGee lined out to shortstop. Ozzie Smith followed and he chopped a grounder that hit Braun as he ran between first and second base. Braun was out and Smith was credited with a hit, his second of the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory. Ya’ll remember that the run Braun brought in was the winner.

Some of the Cardinals still had their baby blues from the game against Tampa Bay in their lockers this season. The picture of Valenzuela in the blues is famous for the reasons you state. He went 0-4 in five starts as a Cardinal in 1997. That baby blue-clad start was one of the last in his career.

Permit me a brief tangent. Guam was one of the exotic locales for a internship we all considered and perhaps coveted at J-School. I did not apply. I wonder …

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Q: Elaine La Russa was in St. Louis for the final game of the World Series. How many trips did she make to St. Louis during the regular season? If you don’t know for sure, what would be your guess? Why does she not come more often, even though she does have West Coast activities?

– Larry Harnly
Springfield, Ill.

DG: Thanks Mr. Harnly for consistently offering a question. I got the impression that Mrs. Tony La Russa was around a lot this postseason because she enjoyed the ride. That’s not always the case. As detailed in the book 3 Nights in August, Mr. La Russa becomes consumed during the baseball season by his job. It is one of the best parts of the book where he describes to author Buzz Bissinger how much his family has given up in his pursuit of baseball. Her home is in the Bay Area. That’s where, according to Mr. La Russa, she oversees the care of their menagerie, the ARF enterprises, etc. I know it will always be a sticking point with La Russa that he does not call St. Louis home 12 months of the year, but home is where his family is. He does not get the only vote. Mrs. La Russa visits during the season. Mr. La Russa visits her during the season - what a daily double for Mr. La Russa that he gets to manage the All-Star Game and go home this coming summer.

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THIS WEEK’S PostCards QUESTION

With the exception of Gary Cooper, why do ballplayers run the bases counterclockwise? Seriously, why?

Write postcards@post-dispatch.com with your answer.

LAST PCQ

Inspired by the story I read to the little man several times a week: What is the  quirky misidentification- or, for lack of a better word, typo - in the famous ballad of the republic sung in the year 1888 “Casey at the Bat”?

Readers who had the correct answer, included …

Scott David, Baltimore: Jimmy Blake mysteriously becomes “Johnnie” when he gets to second.

Tom Weible: Are you referring to the line “There was Johnnie safe at second…” refering to Jimmy Blake? Apparently the first published version read like that. In some (more recent) publications, it has been corrected to read Jimmy.

L.R. Gray, Franklin, Tenn.: I’m not certain which quirky identification (or misidentification) you are speaking of. There are two that have always struck me as odd, but your question got me to look them up. The two are the descriptions of Flynn as a “hoodoo” and Blake as a “cake.” Hoodoo is an actual term, but I doubt that there were many baseball players involved. A hoodoo is a person that practices a particular style of religion that was more like witchcraft, often times as a healer. Although some sources say it is a practitioner of voodoo, I read a couple of other sources that claim that this is incorrect and that voodoo and hoodoo (the religion was also called hoodoo) are separate and distinct. It is odd that Thayer used this term to describe a weak hitter, since a hoodoo would be considered a powerful and dangerous person. Since this is a baseball column and not a course on the history of religion, I will stop here. The other odd description is “cake.” There is nothing in any dictionary that I can find that even gives a slang definition of cake that makes sense. I have always just passed the term off to Thayer using poetic license to call Blake a softy.

(DG Note: Bingo. That’s how I understood it. But ask about “hoodoo” and another reader provides …)

Christopher Schellenbach, Austin, Texas: The typo/misidentification that you refer to I believe is when Blake is referred to as Jimmy before Flynn bats, yet when Blake was safe at second, he is then known as Johnnie. Also, Flynn is referred to as a “lulu” in the original, but later on it was changed to “hoodoo”.

Nadeem Hasan, Morristown, N.J.: A true classic indeed. First let’s look at the third stanza…

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.

So the batting order is: Flynn, Jimmy Blake, Casey. In the fourth stanza….

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Johnnie safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

So Flynn singled, Jimmy Blake doubled and … somehow Johnnie ended up on second? Unless they were playing beer league softball, where pinch runners can take off from the batter’s box, I’m not sure how “Johnnie” ended up on second base.

As for the Tyler Johnson PCQ, here were the tallies. Those who offered the correct answer: Nadeem Hasan of Morristown, N.J., who provided the exact rule outlining the events. Barrett Dunn of Louisville, Ky., who played detective, followed the clues and found the answer tucked into a previous PostCards (See: Sept. 5). Tim Boeckelmann, Cory Edwards, John Glaenzer of Woodridge, Ill.; Ron Behm of Arlington Heights, Ill.; Alan Pestronk of St. Louis. Christopher Schellenbach of Austin, Texas; L.R. Gray of Franklin, Tenn.; Chris Thompson of Defiance, Mo. Gunner Dunne of Lubbock, Texas; Chris Bebermeyer, Phoenix, Ariz.; James Wyrsch; Dalton Sullivan of Pocahontas, Ark.; Greg Wren. And fellow Mizzou alum Chris Muskopf of St. Louis.

And those who admitted ferreting out the info from USA Today or on Google: Joe Barker; Tom Weible; Michael Foutch of Alexandria, Va.; and Eric Marler.

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Questions permitting, every week during offseason, The Post-Dispatch’s baseball writer Derrick Goold will answer fans’ emails in a mailbag called PostCards, published in the Bird Land blog. To comment and discuss PostCards visit the Bird Land blog on StlToday.com. To submit questions write postcards@post-dispatch.com or file them as a comment on the blog. All questions should include your name and hometown.

PostCards will run online exclusively at StlToday.com.

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