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
Both of those situations were the same: you were supposed to return to first base before getting tagged or someone getting the ball there first and you failed to do so.
Latest Answers