beerguy55

Typical softball configuration is F3 in 30-40 feet from plate, but only a step off the baseline, and F4 playing normal position, but covers first on bunts - most teams have F3 play bunts down the first baseline, throwing to F4 who is covering first no matter who plays the bunt. My scenario is a hybrid of that, just shifting F3 over about five steps, covering off "no man's land" in between the rubber and 1B, then shifting F4 to cover the gap now made down the line. Since F4 typically covers first on bunts, receiving the throw is nothing new. The bigger glove gives F3 a bit of an advantage in that position, especially since quick reaction becomes more relevant, and simply knocking the ball down becomes more important. If you can just stop the ball you typically have time to throw out the runner. Having said that, I have ALSO done as you suggest, and switched F3 with F4 on standard bunting at bats, putting F4 about 30-40 feet from the plate, on the line, and then moving F3 over to where F4 normally plays, having F4 play the bunt/slap, as the better fielder, and F3 to cover first, as the better receiver. The other advantage here is if the batter does actually hit the ball, and hit it to F3, my F4 is fast enough (at least much faster than F3) to get back to first base. And, funny enough, I have also had coaches try to complain about that configuration, saying that my player is playing second base with a first baseman's glove. In either scenario, at the time of the pitch, F4 is closer to first base than F3, but F3 is wearing the trapper. But I have yet to find anything in the rules that says that the person with the trapper must be the person closest to first base. Not that it matter's who's closest. I've seen games where putouts are scored 3-4, 2-4, 1-4, or 5-4 eight or more times in seven innings, and F3 only gets a couple of putouts. Who's really playing first base?

Yeah, and what the announcers are saying doesn't makes sense from a rule book perspective. Because the MLB rules don't define where the first baseman has to play. It only makes sense, to me, if the second baseman was going to put on a first baseman's glove (which I think he did) - because you can't have two players wearing such a glove at the same time. In softball, it is common to have the first baseman in halfway to home on any bunting scenario, so they're not playing the bag - and though the second baseman is playing the traditional second base position, he/she is the one who is covering first on the bunt, whether the bunt went to the first baseman or not.

Maybe it's a Canadian thing - I've always called a 1B glove a "trapper" and a catcher's mitt a "decker"...although I meet very few people who get the "decker" reference. Softball Canada rule book specifically uses the word "trapper" for both.

On teams I coach, I have a code of ethics that parents must sign...and frankly, my statement to parents is very simple..."No matter how much you misbehave as a parent, in the end, I can't bench YOU." One of my rules is "learn the rules of the game you are watching". And I really have a couple of scenarios in mind: 1. Nothing drives me nuts more than a bunch of parents screaming at an umpire who has made the right call about a rule, simply because they're ignorant of the rules (frankly, I hate it when they're screaming at an ump who made the wrong call, but at least we can agree that the ump was wrong) 2. Second to this is parents who scream at their kid to run when the third baseman has dropped an infield fly, thinking they have to run. Now, i don't expect parents to memorize the entire rule book, but I think there are some general rules, and common situations that they should be versed in...but things that are a little higher than "baseball 101"...dropped third strike, IFF, the whole gambit of fair/foul scenarios, etc. Is there a "Softball/Baseball Rules for Dummies" book or website equivalent that would be valuable for this kind of knowledge...or is there a market for me to write a book on this?

This is more common a scenario in softball/fast pitch than baseball, though I can see use cases for it in baseball as well - maybe some strange shift scenarios. I will often, especially for known bunters/slappers, switch my first baseman and second baseman - move my first baseman almost next to the pitcher's circle, and have the second baseman play a couple of steps off the line, behind first base. In essence, I've given my second baseman a trapper. I have in a few different situations had coaches complain, but I have usually won the argument, except in one scenario where I had an umpire rule my "second baseman" - that is, the guy with the trapper was now a second baseman - was using illegal equipment, and rule they had to swap gloves when I did this shift - I decided in this game it wasn't worth filing a protest, but I still wonder if he knew something I didn't. My argument is simple - look at the lineup card...number 17's position is 3. There is nothing in any rule book, in any level or organization that I have seen, in US or Canada, in baseball nor softball, that says exactly where my first baseman has to play, except that he/she must be in fair territory. The only two positions defined in the rule books, as far as I can see, are the pitcher and the catcher. But I would like to know if I'm wrong. Is there a guideline that umpires are taught...especially if I were to abuse this rule and simply put my F3 (by lineup card) in the shortstop hole all game?

Thanks for the responses. Has anyone actually seen that enforced?

But where is the rule addressing this? The only thing I can find in MLB rules is in the Runner Interference section, about trying to impede the defense - "Rule 6.01(a)(5) Comment (Rule 7.09(e) Comment): If the batter or a runner continues to advance after he has been put out, he shall not by that act alone by considered as confusing, hindering or impeding the fielders." This tells me you can keep going provided you believe you aren't out - maybe you didn't hear the umpire call you out at first, for example, tied to the fact you know you beat the throw...you continued on to second believing your play was still live. You get to second base, then realize you had actually been called out. You appeal, the umps discuss, and rule you safe at first? Do you get sent back to first, or do you get to keep second?

There are a few possibilities. 1. Plate Umpire saw it hit the bat - it is conceivable that hitting the bat very close to the hands could still result in the hands hurting. It's also conceivable the ball hit the hands and the bat simultaneously. 2. Plate Umpire believes that "the hands are part of the bat" - highly doubtful at this level, but I've seen weirder things. In scenario 1 - if the defensive team doesn't appeal the play...and/or the plate umpire does not ask for help (it's possible they could appeal AND he still opts to not ask for help), I would stay out of it...even if I'm 100% certain the ball hit the player's hands and only the player's hands....he's closer than I am so if he's 100% certain that's good enough for me. In scenario 2 - I would only step in if it somehow became evident that he was misinterpreting the rule.

Let's say on a fly ball in the infield the runner on second base is napping and comes off the base...the second baseman catches the ball and simply happens to trip over second base as he makes the catch. Is that a valid appeal to call the runner out? Or, let's say it's evident that the second baseman thinks this is the third out...he catches the ball, and on his way back to the dugout happens to hit second base? Is this, technically, a valid appeal - and if it isn't, are umpires taught to enforce it?