How Many Runs is a Touchdown Worth?

I tend to like the “Courtesy Corner” in each monthly edition of Metro-North mouthpiece Mileposts. Courtesy Corner offers suggestions for being a good train rider, as in, keep your cellphone calls quiet and keep your f***ing feet off the seat. Each time, the writer cushions the schoolmarmy lessons with some sort of timely and topical theme, like Christmas or spring or the Fourth of July.

The current edition, available on seats today, says:

During a professional baseball game…the team at bat may use courtesy runners for both the pitcher and/or catcher.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a courtesy commuter–unlike those highly paid athletes, you’ve got to go it alone and are responsible for your behavior.

CC then suggests a handful of tips regarding good train behavior.

That bit about the courtesy runner got me thinking. I know all about pinch runners–if you’re pinch-run for, you’re out of the game. But courtesy runners for pitchers and catchers?

It sounded fishy, so I consulted the Major League Baseball rulebook, which MLB handily offers on its Website.

Alas, it sounds as though the concept of the courtesy runner was done away with like a half-century ago, or just about when Julio Franco was coming up with the Rangers.

According to Rule 3.04 in the “Game Preliminaries” section of the rulebook:

A player whose name is on his team’s batting order may not become a substitute runner for another member of his team. Rule 3.04 Comment: This rule is intended to eliminate the practice of using so-called courtesy runners. No player in the game shall be permitted to act as a courtesy runner for a teammate. No player who has been in the game and has been taken out for a substitute shall return as a courtesy runner. Any player not in the lineup, if used as a runner, shall be considered as a substitute player.

Perhaps Mileposts should’ve consulted the rulebook before working that little metaphor into the Courtesy Corner.