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
If a ball is hit by the batter, but is caught before it hits the ground (or wall) by a defensive player, the batter is just automatically out. HOWEVER, any base runners must “tag” the base they belong on *once/after* the catch is made. If the ball does hit the ground, that rule doesn’t apply and you can just run at any time.. even before the pitcher throws the ball. If you do run prematurely, you must turn around and tag your base, or they’ll try to get you out. By “tag”, I just mean touch the base, almost definitely with your foot/shoe.
So when the ball is hit but runners are not sure whether the ball is going to be caught, they stay near their base so they can “tag” the base safely and stay there, or make a run for the next base if it doesn’t get caught with some running lead advantage. If they’re sure the ball will be caught, they typically just stay on the base and don’t run until immediately after it’s caught.
If you don’t tag up, you are out simply if the defensive team can get the ball to the plate you’re supposed to be at before you return to it.. in the same sort of way that the batter tries to reach 1st base after hitting the ball, only the runner is running the other direction.
Side note: since the distance the ball has to be thrown matters to whether you can make the run, you usually only see this done if the ball is right at the edge of the field, and usually only runs from 2nd to 3rd, or 3rd home, since those are some of the longest distances involves for the ball to travel, and gives the runner the best chance.
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