“Yet there is one baseball rule that gets broken every day and by virtually every player, coach and manager. Disobedience is rampant, and not only are the rule-breakers never punished, they're never caught. They defy and disobey the rule with a sort of unwritten impunity. The illegal practice is far too widespread. Rigid enforcement and suspensions would wipe out the rosters of every team. We speak of Major League Baseball Rule 4.06, the most fractured, least-honoured, oft-overlooked law in the MLB rule book.

Rule 4.06 states: “Players in uniform shall not address or mingle with spectators, nor sit in the stands before, during, or after a game. No manager, coach or player shall address any spectator before or during a game. Players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform.

Haha! Rule 4.06 gets battered and broken before and after each game, whether it's signing an autograph or tossing a ball into the stands. Opposing players, usually a baserunner and an infielder, break the rule each time they talk on the field, even if they're just comparing the amount of zeros in their new contract extensions.”

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Canadian Baseball Network contributor Patrick Kennedy writes about legendary Chicago White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio now being the Hall of Fame’s oldest living member (OLM) after Willie Mays’ death on June 18.

Being the “OLM” is a “strange accolade,” Kennedy writes, “one that’s earned simply by waking up each morning and, as the Irish like to say, “looking down at the grass and not up at the roots.”

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