QUAKER BASEBALL

(how the game would look if Friends had invented it)

1. The Object of the Game: The object of Quaker Baseball is to follow the leadings of the Spirit as closely as possible, and to engage in a variety of ministries as the Spirit leads.

2. General Rule: The Rules of Major League Baseball apply except as modified herein.

3. Sense of the Meeting: All decisions are made by the designated group(s) through sense of the meeting. A decision is made when each member of the designated group has a clear sense that the proposed action is consistent with the leading of the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit leads her to stand aside.

4. The Playing Field: The playing field has seven bases: home plate, first, second, and third in the same places as in MLB; plus a base in left field 120 feet from third and second bases; a base in right field 120 feet from first and second bases; and a base in center field forming a right angle with the left field and right field bases. (If playing softball, these dimensions are reduced by 1/3.) Basepaths run between the following bases: home and first; first and second; second and third; third and home; third and left; left and second; left and center; center and right; right and second; right and first (note: not between center and second).

5. Rosters: Each team comprises any who feel called to play for that team, and whose call is prayerfully confirmed by the sense of the meeting of current team members.

6. Lineups:

a. Batters and Fielders: Each team designates 9 members to perform the team’s batting ministry and 9 members to perform the fielding ministry. Players may be designated to perform both ministries.

b. Players left on the bench designate some from among them to serve as the Elders for that team. The Elders designate one of their members to be clerk of the elders and may:

1) substitute benched players for those in the batting or fielding ministries, without regard to whether the benched player has been in either ministry previously in the same game;

2) ensure that someone among the fielders is called to the pitching ministry, someone else is called to a catching ministry, and others are called to any other fielding ministries the elders feel led to fill.

3) record players as elders at first base, third base, in the bullpen, and/or from the bench. Players so designated shall minister to team members serving in the batting and fielding ministries, offering spiritual and practical guidance as the Spirit leads.

4) commission bench players for vocal ministry with the other team, such as shouting greetings, exhortations, rebukes, or Scriptural quotations to the other team's players, or receiving the same from them. Some members of this ministry may attempt to interpret signs and symbols the other team uses to communicate among its own members.

5) discreetly elder team members whose performance in their ministries seems to be lagging, or who can't seem to find the most useful place to play as fielders, or who may be missing the Spirit's leading to lay down a sacrifice bunt, etc.

6) designate replacement elders for elders substituted into any of the other ministries.

7. Base Clerks: Instead of umpires, the teams agree on seven base clerks, who may be members of either team, or of neither. One base clerk is posted near each base.

8. Playing the Game

a. Batting Order: The nine designated batters bat in whatever order the Spirit directs, as discerned by the team's elders. No batter may bat for a second time until all batters have batted once; nor may any batter bat for a third time until all have batted a second time, and so on. A substitute batter will be counted to have batted as many times as the batter for whom he substitutes, unless he has already batted more times. The elders designate who is to bat next by giving the batter a new "traveling minute."

b. The Pitch: Before the pitching minister for the fielding team may pitch the ball, he must ask in a loud voice "All hearts clear?" Any clerk, any fielder, or anyone from the batting team who is actively batting or on the bases, whose heart is not clear may say "No", and thus prevent the pitch from being thrown. After a prayerful interval, the pitching minister may ask again whether all hearts are clear, and may pitch the ball when none of the above people says "No."’

c. Balls and Strikes: If the batter discerns a leading from the Spirit to swing at the pitch, she may do so. If she misses the pitch entirely, the base clerk at home plate announces a "Strike." If the batter declines to swing at the pitch, but the pitch is in the strike zone, the base clerk at home plate announces a "Strike." If the batter declines to swing, and the ball is not in the strike zone, the base clerk announces a "Ball."  After three strikes the batter is out and is sent to the bench to prayerfully reconsider whether she is called to the batting ministry. A batter who accumulates four balls walks to either first or third base as the Spirit leads, while the pitcher takes a moment to prayerfully reconsider his calling to the pitching ministry.

d. Baserunning: If a batter walks, or hits a ball into fair territory that is not caught on the fly by a fielder, the batter embarks on a traveling ministry. A walked batter can go freely to either first or third base. If the batter hits the ball fair, she must attempt to reach either first or third base. Players already on the bases may stay where they are, or may attempt to reach any other base by advancing via the basepaths. (For example, a player may not go directly from third to first, center, or right field bases, but may reach any of them via basepaths.) Baserunners who are called to the outfield bases are called “missionaries.” There is no limit to the number of players on a base at one time – baserunners are not required to move until the Spirit leads them to ministry at another base. There are no force outs in Quaker baseball once the batter reaches first or third. There is no stealing of bases. Runners may not lead off from bases until the ball is pitched.

e. Outs: Players are out if they:

1) Mistake the Spirit’s leadings for their batting ministry, as evidenced by striking out, flying out, or (after hitting the ball fair) failing to reach either first or third before a fielder holding the ball touches the base they are attempting to reach, or

2) Mistake the Spirit’s leadings for their traveling ministry, as evidenced by being tagged out between bases.

Outs on the basepaths are recorded by the clerk at the closest base, after whatever discernment process she deems necessary. If discernment is difficult, because the play is close or the clerk wasn’t attending to it closely, the clerk may form a committee for clearness comprising the involved players, an elder from each teams, other clerks, and volunteers from the teams and the spectators. The committee for clearness will meet in a prayerful attitude, sharing as they feel led by the Spirit, until all hearts are clear about what call should be made.

f. Fielding: Players in the field understand their ministry to be to help the batters and base runners test their callings. If a fielding minister can put out a batter or runner, she should do so quietly and without fanfare so the other player is not distracted from attending to his calling. If two fielders might make a play, they should yell “We’ve got it!” and appropriately defer to each other while preparing to back each other up until one of them catches the ball or it drops nearby. On throws from the outfield, infield ministers should be in proper position to cut off the ball in case the Spirit so leads, while other infield ministers should be in proper back-up position in case a fellow minister misses her calling on that play.

g. Spectating: Spectators are those called to the spectating ministry. They remain in the stands, offering encouragement, support, and prayer for the welfare of the players of both teams. Spectators are generally expected to encourage players to play so the game’s outcome will be in harmony with the Divine will. Deviations from that will, as understood by the spectator, may be pointed out from time to time in a loving and tender spirit. While spectators are not to wish ill on either team or any individual player, spectators who have special connections with the players from one of the teams may find themselves called to spend most of their time ministering to those players. At no time should spectators say anything to any player that is unloving. So, for example, a spectator should not call a player a “bum” unless he is absolutely clear this is the Spirit’s leading. Even then, he should accompany the message with encouragement – perhaps like this: “Hey A-Rod, yer a bum. God loves ya anyway!” Other spectators, rather than repeating these messages, can affirm them simply, for example by saying, “That Friend speaks my mind!” or, depending on the spectator’s tradition, “Amen!”

h. Runs: Each time a baserunner occupies second base or an outfield base safely while play is dead between batters, he shows the base clerk his traveling minute. The clerk stamps the minute with the unique stamp for his base, unless it already bears that stamp. If the runner returns to home plate safely, he gives his traveling minute to the home plate clerk, who records a run for each of the following bases the baserunner visited: second base, left field, center field, and/or right field. If the runner has visited all four of these bases, his team earns a bonus run, making five runs in all. Base runnerswho are still on the bases when the team’s inning ends score no runs.

i. Home runs and ground rule doubles: If a fair ball is hit over the fence on the fly, the batter must advance around the infield bases back to home plate. Baserunners may advance 3 bases in any direction (along base lines, of course).  If a fair ball bounces over the fence, the batter must advance to second base. Baserunners may advance two bases in any direction along base lines. On these hits, batters or baserunners whose traveling minutes have not yet been stamped at an outfield base or second base may get stamps there as they pass without needing to linger between pitches. (Note: the theoretical maximum value of a homer is 41 runs: 8 baserunners with full traveling minutes + the batter.)

j. While occupying outfield bases between batters, especially dedicated missionaries will change into a retro version of their team’s jersey, so when they arrive safely back at home everyone will be able to tell immediately they have been missionaries.

9. Ending the Game

a. Innings: The game lasts nine innings. The batting team is out when

1) Three batters and/or runners go out, or

2) The team cannot send an eligible batter to the plate (e.g., has all nine batters on the bases, or has a player on the bases who has fewer at-bats than any available batter).

b. Winning: At the end of nine innings, the spectators, the members of each team, and the base clerks enter a time of open (unprogrammed) worship. After a period of silence, anyone who feels led by the Spirit may speak, sing, or pray. The base clerks listen to what people share until their hearts are clear that one team has won the game, and that the members of each team are at peace with the outcome and the members of the other team. Unless the Spirit leads otherwise, the meeting may consider:

1) the score, and

2) the degree to which either team engaged in un-Quakerly activities like deception (such as the hidden ball trick, or throwing a change-up), vanity (uniforms straying from simple greys or white), violence (such as sliding with spikes up, throwing brush-back pitches, blocking the plate, bowling over the catcher, etc.), breaches in love (such as insults, intimidation, unfriendly trash talk, running across the pitcher’s mound on the way to the dugout, etc.), or the like.

c. Extra Innings: If it proves impossible to discern the winner, the teams play an extra inning. The process is repeated until a winner can be discerned.

d. Disqualification: A team that commits an egregious breach of Quaker values, such as cheating, brawling, wagering, inebriation, discrimination, voting, or using non-organic performance enhancing substances, cannot be the winner. If both teams are guilty of such breaches, the game has no winner.