<"Always deploy so that the right oblique can be readily established in case the objective plane remains open or becomes permanently located on the centre or on the King's wing, or that the crochet aligned may readily be established if the objective plane becomes permanently located otherwise than at the extremity of the strategic front.">

<I would assume that there is no "best" score, but that everything depends on audience and purpose. 40s and 50s are probably good average readability scores for adults, neither trivial nor abstruse.>

That previous paragrah got a grade 14 and a readability of 24. Must have been the word "abstruse". Let me try again:

<I assume there is no "best" score, but that audience and purpose must be taken into account. Scores in the 40s and 50s are probably in a good area for adults, and a passage far outside that range may need to be rewritten.>

<Tigers rookie Quintin Berry did something Wednesday you might never see again. The first hit of his career was (ready?) a BUNT DOUBLE. He lofted it over a charging first baseman (Casey Kotchman), past a scrambling second baseman (Jason Kipnis) and into right field for the goofiest double of the year. With the help of the Elias Sports Bureau and Baseball-Reference.com, we've determined: (A) It's the first bunt double by anybody since Oakland's Cliff Pennington got one April 8, 2010; (B) it's the 18th bunt double in the big leagues since 1988; and (C) it's the first by any hitter in all those years that went for his first major league hit. It's a good bet that nobody in history ever got hit No. 1 like that. But we can't verify that. If you can, drop us a note at uselessinfodept@yahoo.com, or tweet it at us, at @jaysonst. As always, operators are standing by.>

Cobb was sliding into second.

Wasn't there one which bounced into the crowd and hit Keith Olbermann's mother?

You should plug in one of ChrisOwen's posts. Jim, I wonder if the several long Indian words in your post dragged down your readability score.

I plugged in this and got a 5/76. I'm rather pleased.

Kenneth Rogoff

But on the limited utility of the Flesch-Kincaid, see this interesting article:

http://news.yahoo.com/who%E2%80%99s...

Giants on first and second, no outs. Ground ball to third, picked up right in the baseline. As the Miami third baseman turns to throw to second the runner (Huff) gets out of the way by diving toward the infield grass, instead of just hitting the dirt. Marlins complete the double play, second to first.

Could this be a triple play, since Huff ran out of the baseline, even though it wasn't to avoid a tag?

Could Huff have tried to slide into the third baseman (or bump him) to impede the throw, even though he was still fifteen feet or so from the base?

No.

<Could Huff have tried to slide into the third baseman (or bump him) to impede the throw, even though he was still fifteen feet or so from the base?>

Around 1960 the Saturday Evening Post had a weekly cartoon called "There Oughta Be a Law." One had two panels. In the first the home team pitcher was throwing over to first base and the fans were shouting, "Way to be alert, keep him close!" And in the second the visiting team pitcher was throwing over and the fans were yelling, "Come on, let's play ball! Throw a pitch!"

I do recall that part of the joke was that the home team's pitcher was lobbing the ball over to first with the runner standing on the bag, while the visiting teams' pitcher came within an inch of picking the runner off.

As for the rules question, here are a couple of things to chew on:

7.08 Any runner is out when:

(a) (1) He runs more than three feet away from his baseline to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielding fielding a batted ball...

(b) He intentionally interferes with a thrown ball, or hinders a fielder or fielders attempting to make a play on a batted ball.

So I would assume that a runner can dodge out of the baseline to avoid a throw. Of course, if he's Reggie Jackson, it's a different matter.

There is also: 7.08 (f)

If, in the judgement of the umpire, a base runner willingly and deliberately interferes with a batter ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate. In no event may bases be run or runs scored because of such action by a runner.

Where is the man on second gonna run to? 1st base? I don't understand this new rule.

I read the same thing in last Sunday's SF Chronicle, man on 1st and 3rd, one out, one-hopper to second base, and the runner from first delayed (ran back and forth) long enough for the man on 3rd to score before tagg'd out.

Diamond doesn't argue that the Eurasians were superior, but makes a convincing case that geography conferred upon them advantages that were ultimately decisive in supplying them with the proximate means of conquest. Interestingly, he goes on from this to assert that, if anything, individuals living in technologically "backward" societies may be more intelligent than their "civilized" counterparts.