Over the course of their last three games, the Cubs have been subject to a pair of MLB’s unnecessarily subjective rules, both of which have cost them. Well, the one really didn’t cost them recently so much as it has throughout the season. And the other has been botched so many times that every team will be burned by it from time to time.
By opting for Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s “I know it when I see it” standard for illegal pitching motions and checked swings, baseball is leaving open bothersome loopholes that could be closed with a few simple words.