‘Skunk in the outfield’

And the best part is that opposing players and coaches still felt insulted and angry years later that the tricksters weren't playing "the right way".

Misleading comment.

7.08 (a) 2 specifically applies to the scenario like in this comment:

> Rule 7.08(a) Comment: Any runner after reaching first base who leaves the base path heading for his dugout or his position believing that there is no further play, may be declared out if the umpire judges the act of the runner to be considered abandoning his efforts to run the bases. Even though an out is called, the ball remains in play in regard to any other runner.

Essentially the runner has to obviously abandon his attempt to reach the next base. In the scenario outlined in the article the runner is still advancing to the next base, trying to draw a throw. According to your interpretation, any runner taking a lead without specifically advancing should be out, which is incorrect.

When it comes to judgement calls like this it all comes down to the umpire. Many umpires have noted[1] that this is a legal play. And it was ruled as such in the article's example. Calling it "misleading reporting" is a smear on a very well written story about an edge case that isn't clear cut.

(I will note that is very easy for the offense to execute incorrectly and for the umpires to get it wrong. For example: https://youtu.be/WnI4KlUNf38)

[1] http://www.austinumpires.org/skunkplay.html

But, if you read the comments in the rules, it's not clear this play would constitute abandonment. Not clear it wouldn't either but you can find umpires on discussion boards who take the side that it's a legal play.

But were they playing under MLB rules? A high school team?

In baseball, there is a long tradition of deception and trick plays. Anything that agrees with the rules is fair to use against your opponents. You can hide the ball and pretend a different person has it, pretend there are three outs when there are only two outs, pretend that the ball has gone past you into the outfield when you've actually caught it, etc. Contrary to the article, it is even an accepted part of the game in youth baseball, because it isn't considered a negative gesture towards your opponents. (I played youth baseball, and I can tell you that there are people who get very angry about trick plays, but they are typically people who have not played the sport and don't realize that it's done in a spirit of cleverness and desire to win, not disrespect.)

What was extraordinary about the trick play in the story was that

1) it took advantage of a rule that even competitive players and coaches might not understand perfectly, especially in the heat of the moment, and

2) it flustered the other team so much that it caused intense distress, and they handled it just well enough that the distressing situation dragged on to the point of making everyone uncomfortable, even the team that executed the play.

Of course everyone who was there that day had to live it in a real time, and you can't complain about how they reacted, but with a little bit of distance, I don't think the batting team did anything wrong. I don't approve of personally disrespectful behavior, but baseball has a long tradition of this kind of trickery being completely orthogonal to the question of respecting your opponents. Winning on a trick play is no less respectful than winning by hitting a triple or striking someone out. Both teams are constantly challenging each other in ways they hope the other team can't handle, and one team gets beat and goes home losers.

in extreme brief, an offense player is expected to stay on a straight line between the bases, and if they go too far off the line (i.e. to dodge someone trying to tag them with the ball) they're out. the loophole in the rules is that this only applies while someone is trying to tag the runner, so if the defense isn't trying to tag the runner, the runner can go wherever they want.

this is extremely weird and confusing to everyone, as described in the article.

That is funny, I was hoping someone from the rest-of-the-world would ask this.

It seems that this 'sport' (and other U.S. 'sports') is one of those uniquely American things like 'customary units', tea drinking and non-standard spellings where British-ness has to be eradicated. The whole point of the game is that the rest of the world (particularly British people) just don't get it. Life is too short to bother knowing the rules to these U.S. only 'sports', unless you are working with Americans there is no conversation value whatsoever in knowing all those stats that U.S. 'sports' fans obsess over.