Rule 8 - Section 2 - TOUCHING, OCCUPYING AND RETURNING TO A BASE - Baseball Rules Academy (2024)

FAQs

Can you return to a base after touching the next base? ›

While the ball is dead, the batter-runner may return to first base to correct the error before touching second; but if the batter-runner touches second he may not return to first, and if the defensive team appeals, the batter-runner is declared out at first.

(1) In advancing, a runner shall touch first, second, third and home base in order. If forced to return, he shall retouch all bases in reverse order, unless the ball is dead under any provision of Rule 5.06(c). In such cases, the runner may go directly to his original base.

All awarded bases must be touched in their proper order. The runner returns to the base he had reached or passed when the ball became dead. In the event of interference, a runner returns to the base he had legally reached at the time of the interference.

The obstructed runner is awarded a minimum of one base beyond his position on base when the obstruction occurred. If any preceding runner is forced to advance by the awarding of a base or bases to an obstructed runner, the umpire shall award this preceding runner the necessary base or bases.

A batter cannot refuse to take a hit by pitch.

If the ball is thrown in such a way that the batter cannot avoid it, then he has no choice but to take it and be put on base.

When a baseball player hits the ball, he must run to each base -- in order -- and touch it with his foot. It is the only way to score a point. If the player hits the ball and fails to touch all the bases, the point will not be counted.

Yes a runner can return to a previous base even after having tagged the next base. However he/she must run the bases in reverse order touching each base in turn.

NEW YORK – Starting extra innings with a runner on second base during the regular season was made a permanent rules change by Major League Baseball on Monday after three seasons of use during the coronavirus pandemic.

What about when the runner actually does run outside the base path to avoid a tag? Rule 5.09(b)(1) allows a runner up to three feet either way off his base path to avoid a tag.

The rules mandate that the pitcher's pivot foot must remain in contact with the rubber or must drag on the ground away from the rubber on the delivery motion. It's legal if the pivot foot turns or slides as the pitcher pushes off the rubber, providing there is no loss of contact with the rubber.

Do you have to step off the rubber to throw to a base? ›

The pitcher does not have to step off the rubber to throw to a base. (You don't want to throw to a base after stepping off. If the throw goes out of play it is a 2 base award. If the throw goes out of play when throw is from the rubber it is a 1 base award.)

According to Rule 7.09 (h), it is interference, if in the judgment of the umpire, the base coach at third or first base, by touching or holding the runner, physically assists the runner in returning to, or leaving third or first base is interfering with the runner.

A player who dives unsuccessfully for a ground ball and remains on the ground, delaying the progress of a runner, could be guilty of obstruction, as could a first baseman who stands at the inside corner of first base despite it being clear that no play will be made at first, causing the batter to adjust his/her path to ...

There need not be physical contact for obstruction to be called; rather, if a fielder causes the runner to alter his normal running path, or deliberately blocks his view of the plate, he can be guilty of obstruction.

If the backswing hits the catcher after a ball has been batted and the catcher is prevented from making a play, it is treated as a regular interference. The batter-runner is out and any runner on base returns to the base he occupied at the time of the pitch.

On an intentional walk, every runner gets to move up a base. 3. The hitter can decline the intentional walk, as if it were, oh, a holding penalty.

No. If a batter is hit by a pitch, he is automatically entitled to first base and must go there. He cannot refuse the base and remain at bat. The same applies to any other situation where the batter is awarded first base (base on balls, catcher's interference, batted ball hitting a runner).

There is no steal attempt on a dead ball, whether the runner is sent back to the original base (as on a foul ball) or is awarded the next base (as on a hit batsman). On a base award when the ball is live (such as a walk), the runner could make a steal attempt beyond the base awarded.

For a legitimate tag, the fielder must have the ball held securely in either the hand or the glove. Nowhere else. With the ball held securely in hand or glove, the fielder can, in a force situation, touch (tag) a base with any portion of his body, including his gloved hand, foot, non-glove hand, and so forth.

Answer: Yes, the batter is out. A fielder can put out a runner by tagging a base with an empty glove.

Can you please touch base? ›

Touch base is an idiom often seen in business contexts meaning to make contact or reconnect with someone briefly, as in "let's touch base next week." The phrase is thought to have some relation to baseball where both runner and fielders have to "touch base" in order to be safe or record an out.

Can the baserunner attempt to dislodge the ball from the hand or glove of a fielder attempting a tag? No. A runner may not intentionally attempt to dislodge the ball as a fielder attempts a tag.

If in the judgment of an umpire, a runner is pushed or forced off a base by a fielder, intentionally or unintentionally, at which the runner would have otherwise been called safe, the umpire has the authority and discretion under the circ*mstances to return the runner to the base he was forced off following the ...

That means middle infielders must touch the second-base bag while in possession of the ball in order to ensure the out is made on a ground-ball double play.

The Ghost Runner Rule is Here to Stay

MANFRED BALL! The league has confirmed that the so-called “ghost runner” rule will remain permanent. This rule, implemented in the 2020 season, gives teams a free runner on second base at the start of every necessary inning following the ninth.

Major League Baseball's Joint Competition Committee voted to make the rule automatically placing a runner at second base at the start of every extra inning in regular-season games permanent Monday, MLB sources confirmed to The Athletic. ESPN first reported the news.

A baserunner can only attempt to steal an unoccupied base, unless there is a double steal. If the runner fails in his attempt, it is a caught stealing.

It is a force out when a runner is called out for not tagging up on a fly ball. An appeal on a runner who missed a base cannot be a force out. A runner is out if he runs out of the baseline to avoid a fielder who is fielding a batted ball.

- Fielders without the ball often stand on a base or in the base path. Doing so does not make them guilty of obstruction. They're not obstructing unless a runner's advance or path is altered.

As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without liability to be put out, and entitles any runners to advance if forced.

Can you balk with nobody on base? ›

If no runners are on base and the pitcher commits an otherwise balkable action, there generally is no penalty. However, delivering a quick return or pitching while off the rubber (which constitute balks when runners are on base) results in a ball being called with the bases empty.

“Crow Hopping” is still illegal. Crow hopping into a leap is illegal. *This rule change was meant to allow girls who get slightly airborne not to be called illegal. For the pitch to be illegal, a girl would have to have both feet in the air and land with her hands together thus starting the pitch from a new position.

From the windup position, the pitcher may not go into a set or stretch position—if he does so, it is a balk when runners are on base.

The pitcher must come set by coming to a complete stop before he throws a pitch home. Once the pitcher is set he can't move his shoulders or move around unless you step off the back of the rubber. Once you start your motion you must complete it, if you stop a balk will be called.

If a left-handed or right-handed pitcher swings his free foot past the back edge of the pitcher's rubber, he is required to pitch to the batter except to throw to second base on a pick-off play.

The rule provides that a runner must vacate any space needed by a fielder to make a play on a batted ball, unless the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when the interference occurs. In this case, the runner should not be called out unless the hindrance is intentional.

By rule, the first-base coach must stay within the designated coach's box on the first-base side of home plate prior to each pitch. The coach may leave said box to signal a player once a ball is in play, provided the coach does not interfere with the play.

A stolen base occurs when a baserunner advances by taking a base to which he isn't entitled. This generally occurs when a pitcher is throwing a pitch, but it can also occur while the pitcher still has the ball or is attempting a pickoff, or as the catcher is throwing the ball back to the pitcher.

With a runner on first base, the batter hits a ground ball toward the second baseman. The batted ball strikes the runner from first base before it reaches the second baseman. Ruling: This is interference, the ball is immediately declared “dead,” the runner is declared out and the batter is awarded first base.

If the umpire determines that the baserunner has interfered with the player taking the throw at first base by running to the left of the foul line or to the right of the runner's lane, the baserunner can be called for interference.

Can an umpire call a runner out for missing a base without an appeal? ›

The most familiar of these are when a base runner fails to tag up on a caught fly ball, or a runner fails to touch a base while advancing or retreating. To get an out for these infractions, the defense must make a proper appeal at the time of the offense – that is, before a following pitch or play.

Blocking a portion of the bag with a foot is obstruction. You can change up this scenario in a dozens of ways, move it to any base, and you get the same result. The point is, a fielder without possession of the ball cannot deny access to a base to a runner advancing or retreating.

And when a defensive player does not have possession of the ball, or is not in the act of receiving a throw, the runner now has the Right of Way and the defensive player must not hinder or impede the progress of the runner in his base path.

If a runner is stealing home the batter has a right to the pitch if one is being delivered. After the pitch has been delivered, the batter can not interfere with the defenses ability to make a play on the runner. The batter must vacate the congested area if they have the time to do say during the play.

Verbal obstruction can be called on any member of the defensive team. If an umpire judges the catcher hinders or prevents the batter from attempting to hit a pitch by yelling loudly as the pitch nears the plate (e.g. “swing”, calling the batter's name) there is rule support to call this catcher's obstruction.

hit the ball while he is being intentionally passed. A batter cannot jump or step out of the batter's box and hit the ball.

Yes, a runner is permitted to run anywhere on the field of play, unless a tag attempt is being made on him. If a tag attempt is being made, the runner must move in his base path, defined as from where they are to a base they are trying to safely acquire (this could be either advancing or retreating).

Runners may attempt to advance from base to base on any fair ball that touches the ground. When a ball is hit in the air (i.e., a fly ball) and caught by the defending team, runners must return and touch the base they occupy—called tagging up—after the ball is first touched by a fielder.

8-1-1 A batter becomes a runner with the right to attempt to score by advancing to first, second, third and home bases in the listed order when: he hits a fair ball (2-5-1); He becomes a batter-runner when entitled to run.

With the ball held securely in hand or glove, the fielder can, in a force situation, touch (tag) a base with any portion of his body, including his gloved hand, foot, non-glove hand, and so forth.

What is the two disengagement Rule? ›

Pitchers are allowed two disengagements per plate appearance without penalty. The disengagements rule resets if a runner or runners advance a base within the same plate appearance.

Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching the same base, the following runner shall be out when tagged.

And then this: The base runner is out if "running more than three feet away from the baseline to avoid being tagged." At the moment the base path is established (when the tag is attempted), the runner cannot veer more than three feet to the left or right of the base path for the purpose of avoiding a tag.

Second, the runner always has the right to the base path, except when required to avoid a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball, or if a fielder is in possession of the ball and is waiting to make a tag,.

In almost every instance of a home run, a batter hits the ball in the air over the outfield fence in fair territory. In that situation, the batter is awarded all four bases, and any runners on base score as well. The batter can circle the bases at his leisure, as there is no threat of him being thrown out.

Umpires will judge a quick pitch as one delivered before the batter is reasonably set in the batter's box. With runners on base the penalty is a balk; with no runners on base, it is a ball. The quick pitch is dangerous and should not be permitted.