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
A runner on base can attempt to advance without the ball being in play (stealing) only if the pitcher or catcher is in possession of the ball. If the ball is in play then another set of rules applies, and if the ball is outside the play area of the field designated by the foul lines (dead ball) no advancement is allowed.
If the ball has been hit by the batter and is in the air, no advancement is allowed unless the ball touches the ground. If the ball is caught before it touches the ground all runners have to return to their base but then can try to advance if possible.
In your situation when you advanced to second before the ball was caught, you were supposed to have been at first when the ball was caught so were out when the outfielder threw to first.
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