Even though the call went against us, a few days ago I appreciated seeing Andino lose an out at second because his foot was planted 8 inches away from second base during an attempt to turn two.    Calling runners out when the pivot man does not touch 2nd base has never made sense to me.    The runner should be called safe.  A LOT.    Umps get ragged for missing every other call but this one, it seems.    Seeing it finally called right has made me watch closely again, and sure enough Andino slid his foot behind the bag and never touched it on the Alber's induced double play that saved Saturday night's game.   Later in the game, Mora makes a "force" at second on a shift play with his foot at least 4 inches off the bag.   Etc. Etc.

Maybe I'm also against calling the 'proximity play' because Tim McCarver is for it.   In "Baseball For Brain Surgeons" he defends umps calling 1-2 of every 100 times the pivot man misses the bag on grounds of protecting the safety of the infielder.   Yeah, if you put a guy out properly during a wipeout slide, you risk injury.   But so does the sliding player -- a knee to the face can undo your whole season.    So why isn't that a wash?   

What think you CCers?  Should outs be called carefully except when there is a double play involved? 

btw -- I learned this morning that "The simple fact is Tim McCarver is the best analyst in the history of the game."    John Feinstein "Play Ball."        I'm speechless.