I love baseball, but I’ve never understood the rules for when you can and cannot run and steal bases.
I figure the rules have to be simple enough for the players to follow and react to instantly, but I just don’t get it.
One specific area of confusion for me is when you can safely leave the base you’re on to return to a previous base:
I remember making it to first base as a kid, the next batter got a hit that was caught, so I had to return to first base, but the outfielder tagged me with the ball on my way back to first, so I was told I was out. The exact same situation happened again a game later, so I stayed on second, and the outfielder took the ball to first and I was told I was out. It made no sense and I was so terrified of it happening a third time that I started waiting at first base to see the result of the play before I would run to second. That didn’t go over well either. I got fed up and stopped playing shortly after.
What gives?
In: Other
No one explained it to you while you sat the rest of the season on the bench after those two games? Sorry, just kidding. But the top explanation here is correct.
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