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 the batter hits the ball, and then a fielder catches it before it hits the ground, the batter is out and any runners on base have to “tag up.” This means they either have to stay on their current base until the ball is caught and then try to advance, or, if they had already started running to the next base before the ball was caught, they have to run back to their original base and touch it before they can attempt to advance. If the runner has started to advance to the next base before the ball is caught, and then a fielder holding the ball touches the runner’s original base before he can return to it, the runner is also out.
But none of that has anything to do with stealing bases. Stealing is something that happens in between pitches. As the pitcher starts to deliver a pitch, a runner on base can attempt to run to the next base.
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