00:00Have you ever had to play sports with hazards in the way, like as a kid?
00:04Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure.
00:06Growing up, I had a basketball court in my neighborhood
00:08where the front of the rim would always bounce.
00:12So if the ball hit the front of the rim,
00:14it would be like some Super Mario shit where the ball would be like,
00:17shoot out.
00:18And I assume it's like only one team has to deal with that.
00:21Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22So it always got to play for, y'all got that side.
00:25It's like, fuck, all right.
00:26We have to adjust.
00:28Nothing but bank shots the whole game.
00:30Yeah, I played tennis growing up on a concrete court
00:33where only on one side of the net there was a crack, like in the cement.
00:38How big are we talking?
00:39Like deep, like you could definitely trip on it.
00:42So obviously you just feed all the balls to the backhand side.
00:46Were you the guy that brought people there and was like,
00:48I just love this side a little more for no specific reason.
00:51So I'm going to go on that side and then, yeah.
00:54You could like disappear.
00:56It looked like a fault line, like an earthquake had caused it.
00:59Like I ask because while most sports have firm rules about the playing surface,
01:07baseball is the exception.
01:08And like obviously there are, you know, the bases can only be so far apart.
01:13The mound and home plate can only be so far apart.
01:16There are rules about how distant the home run wall can be.
01:20But there's also some flexibility.
01:22So the playing surfaces can be a little bit different from one place to the next,
01:27the way the grass is planted.
01:29The home run walls can be different depths and different heights
01:32as long as they are within certain rules.
01:34And also certain things can be in play and have rules for them.
01:40So there's a ladder.
01:42It's up on the green monster.
01:43And there's a rule about what happens if the ball hits the ladder.
01:45There's the catwalks of Tropicana fields.
01:48If you hit one of them, it's in play.
01:50If you hit one, it's a home run.
01:52There's like different rules.
01:54And so each stadium has its own set of ground rules.
01:57And one stadium, Wrigley Field, has such an iconic feature
02:01that's been around for so long that its ground rule is actually written into the rule book.
02:06Let me read you the rule.
02:07Rule 5.06 B4.
02:10You are awarded two bases, a ground rule double,
02:12if such and such things, the ball bounces over the wall,
02:15or if the ball goes through or under shrubbery or vines on the fence,
02:21or if it sticks in such fence, scoreboard, shrubbery, or vines.
02:25It's only one place.
02:26Yeah, I love how they just say at Wrigley Field.
02:29If this happens, it's not at any other ballpark.
02:32There have been other stadiums in the past, in the distant past,
02:36with shrubbery on the outfield wall.
02:40Because, again, we're not talking about past the wall.
02:42We're not talking about a ball that's out of play.
02:45We're talking about on a surface that would otherwise be in play.
02:48If the ball gets lodged in some shrubbery or some vines,
02:52then it is a ground rule double.
02:54That only happens at Wrigley.
02:55Only at Wrigley.
02:56The vines, the ivy at Wrigley Field, are really dense.
03:01They can fully swallow up a baseball.
03:04And so all kinds of stuff can happen with the ball headed that way.
03:08Like, Andre Dawson once basically got his head stuck in it.
03:12Like, legit.
03:13Legit.
03:14And I don't know if you remember,
03:15there was that State Farm commercial a few years ago
03:17where, like, someone's reaching in and pulling stuff out of the vines
03:21and then they pull a full person out of there.
03:23That was Andre Dawson, I assume, as a reference to that.
03:25I assume in modern day, if you tried to build a new stadium
03:29and you were like, hey, we're going to plant
03:31a, like, several inch deep wall of ivy on the outfield wall,
03:37which is in play, they'd be like, no, don't do that.
03:39But Wrigley gets away with it because it's so old.
03:41My favorite thing that has ever led to it,
03:44I actually want to show it to you.
03:45This is not that long ago.
03:46This is during Chase Utley's career.
03:48So this is in the 2000s.
03:51Chase Utley hits the ball.
03:52The ball rolls all the way to the ivy and boink!
04:00What did you see there?
04:01Another ball popped out of the wall.
04:05So the ivy has swallowed up so many things
04:07and it's so dense and goes so deep
04:10that people find shit in there.
04:12Like, just by reaching in,
04:13they'll pull out, like, a fossilized baseball from a while ago.
04:16But in that one instance,
04:17the ball actually dislodged the second ball.
04:20So which ball is in play?
04:22I think they should both be.
04:23Yeah.
04:24In that case.
04:25Wait a second.
04:26So the ball hits another ball.
04:28Yeah.
04:28And the other ball pops out.
04:30So that's two balls.
04:31What was the result of the play?
04:32There's no rule for that.
04:34There's no rule for the second ball?
04:35There's no rule for the second ball?
04:36There's a rule that tells you what happens
04:37if the ball gets stuck in the ivy.
04:39If the ball bounces back, it's still in play.
04:42But in this instance, yeah,
04:43the fielders have to be like,
04:44which one of you is the real ball?
04:46And, like, you don't have to play both of them.
04:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:48That would be a lot better, though,
04:50if you play both of them.
04:51Yeah.
04:52But the rule is,
04:53if the ball gets stuck in the ivy,
04:55it's a ground rule double.
04:56The ball's out of play.
04:57Technically, whatever that first ball was,
05:01the ball that popped out
05:02when Chase Utley's ball popped into it,
05:04at some point years ago,
05:06that was ruled a ground rule double,
05:08and the guy was awarded second.
05:10But decades later, that ball popped out.
05:12So I think that should be overruled.
05:14And he should go back to that game
05:16and be like, ball's live.
05:18Everyone come back.
05:18From, like, a 1965 game.
05:20This guy is still running.
05:22Bring him back.
05:23The ball has been dislodged.
05:24We found it.
05:25We can play it now.
05:26But what if the person's passed away, though?
05:28You know what I mean?
05:29Then, like, he's going to get a pin to put you on it.
05:31You need to take a tag out.
05:32Put you on it.
05:33My question is,
05:34if you had the opportunity,
05:36let's say,
05:37to build a new stadium
05:38and you could put anything in play.
05:41So it's not going to be on the field,
05:42but it's probably, like,
05:43on the outfield wall.
05:44Okay.
05:44And if the ball hits it,
05:46it's in play.
05:47What are you putting in your stadium?
05:50Does any stadium have, like,
05:51a running, like, train track going around?
05:54The Mets used to have that.
05:56Did they really?
05:57They had something like that,
05:58but it was out of play.
06:00I feel like that would be cool enough
06:01where it, like, dips a little bit into play.
06:04You know what I mean?
06:05And someone can potentially get hit
06:07as they're, like, on the train.
06:09But then you've got to make it, like,
06:10if you hit the engine,
06:13then that's a home run.
06:14If you hit any of the middle cars,
06:16then it's in play.
06:17The caboose, you're out.
06:18You're out.
06:19Automatically out.
06:20I do think that's where I'm going with this, too,
06:22is, like, to have stuff that moves.
06:24I would have a merry-go-round.
06:26The merry-go-round,
06:26mostly out of play,
06:28but there's one gap in the outfield wall
06:30where, you know,
06:32one of the horses,
06:33or maybe it depends,
06:34if it's a horse
06:35and you hit the horse,
06:35that's in play.
06:37Just play it on the wall.
06:38If you hit the unicorn,
06:40that's a home run.
06:41That's got to be,
06:41it's got to be a home run
06:42if you hit the unicorn.
06:43I'm just, like,
06:43if we have a world
06:45in which MLB can make ground rules
06:48specific to these weird oddities
06:50in the outfield,
06:51like,
06:51you might as well have fun with it.
06:52In this case,
06:53with Wrigley Field,
06:54this is a living thing.
06:56Like,
06:56can't control the living land.
06:58You can't control the living.
06:59Like,
06:59what if there's, like,
07:00a monkey living in there
07:02and the monkey's, like,
07:03smashing baseballs?
07:04Like,
07:04how much does it?
07:05It just runs out
07:05and they play.
07:07Yeah,
07:07can the monkey come out
07:08and be like,
07:08nope,
07:08that's grand rule double.
07:09Like,
07:09that's mine.
07:10That's mine.
07:10Or they count for an out
07:11for the team,
07:12whatever team it is.
07:13The monkey comes out,
07:15snags a home run.
07:15Yeah,
07:16sorry,
07:16he's not on the team,
07:17so,
07:17it doesn't count.
07:20Anything could be happening,
07:21man.
07:21Right.
07:22There could be a guy
07:23that, you know,
07:24was chasing a ball
07:25in the 80s
07:25and just disappeared
07:26and he's still in there,
07:27man.
07:28He's in there,
07:29he's microwaving pizza rolls
07:30and he's watching
07:32the game on TV
07:32and if a ball comes
07:33in his way,
07:34he's just like,
07:34there could be
07:36skeletons in there.
07:38There are dead,
07:38there are genuinely,
07:39for real,
07:40there are artifacts in there.
07:41Like,
07:41every once in a while,
07:43after something happens
07:44with the ivy,
07:45guys will get curious
07:46and they'll go
07:46and just root around
07:47and they'll literally,
07:48there are documented
07:49incidences
07:50of people pulling out,
07:52like,
07:52dusty old baseballs.
07:54I thought you were
07:55going to say
07:55dusty body parts
07:56and be like,
07:57that's possible too,
07:58like,
07:58oh,
07:58the scene of a murder.
07:59They finally
08:01solved a murder
08:02from 30 years ago.
08:03You know there's
08:04evidence in there.
08:05I don't know of what,
08:05but it's in there.
08:06Steve Bartman,
08:07it wasn't his name.
08:08His body's in there somehow.
08:10But you're right,
08:11they definitely had
08:12to put the kibosh
08:13on, like,
08:13no more living things.
08:14Right.
08:15We cannot have,
08:16like,
08:16imagine if you had,
08:17like,
08:17Venus flytraps,
08:18you had just a bunch of
08:18plants in there,
08:19like,
08:20snacking up the baseballs.
08:23That'd be pretty dope,
08:24though.
08:24I do think
08:24other sports
08:25should get
08:26a little more flexible.
08:28Like,
08:28if NFL stadiums,
08:29you could make
08:30one thing weird
08:31about,
08:32say,
08:32like,
08:33the goalposts.
08:35Right.
08:35You know,
08:36like,
08:36one's,
08:36like,
08:37a little flagged,
08:38or...
08:38One's a little
08:39squeezed in.
08:40Yeah,
08:40as long as the total,
08:42you know,
08:42area is the same.
08:44If the Cubs are allowed
08:45to have a living thing
08:46on the field
08:47in baseball,
08:48then what if
08:48the goalposts
08:50at an NFL stadium
08:51were also a living thing?
08:52Like,
08:52you got two
08:53big-ass sequoias,
08:54and if,
08:56listen,
08:56this year
08:57the tree grew
08:58a branch
08:59that goes across
09:00where the kicker
09:00might want to kick it...
09:01Hey,
09:01that's nature,
09:02baby.
09:02That's nature.
09:03What am I supposed to do?
09:04Tell the tree how to grow?
09:05I can't do that.
09:05It's all the way up there.
09:07That'd be rude.
09:08That'd be rude of you.
09:08Or just two
09:09dinosaurs
09:10with really long necks
09:11and you better hope
09:12they stay still.
09:13And also,
09:14dinosaurs exist,
09:15but only for this purpose.
09:16So you can thank
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09:24for Weird Rules
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