Baserunning Award Question

[etignor11]

Situation:

Runner on 1st. Pitcher goes from the wind up. R1 takes off on first motion. B2 hits ball to F4. By this time R1 is already on his way to 3rd. F4 fumbles the ball and overthrows F5 at 3rd base. Ball goes into the stands.

Question:

Does R1 get home because 2nd base was conceded by pitcher via the windup OR does R1 get 3rd because of 2 bases on overthrow from time of pitch....... OR does the act of fumbling the ball by F4 negate the award being from time of pitch?

[UmpJM]

etignor,

When a first play by an infielder is a throw which goes out of play, runners are awarded two bases from their position at the instant the pitcher initiated his pitching motion. In your Sitch, that would be 3B. The pitcher "conceding" 2B and the F4 fumbling the ball do not matter.

The only exception to this principle would be if ALL runners, including the batter-runner, had advanced one base at the time the errant throw left the infielder's hand. Then it would be two bases from their position at the time the errant throw left the fielder's hand.

JM

[sdix00]

that

[Thunderheads]

We all know how well the coaches know the rules, right? Can you imagine giving his runner only 3rd (regardless of if it's correct or not) ........Yikes!

[sdix00]

I had a kid hit a high ball to left that bounced, and bounced, and bounced into foul territory and then rollllllllllllleed across the DBT line and on to the concrete. F7 could not corral the ball and raised his hands when the ball got to DBT - the runner was nearly to 3B. I called time, and sent him back to 2B among a TON of "WTFs???" from the bench and stands.

Single man JV, and for a second, I seriously considered not saying anything and leaving him at 3B (against the rules), but then I imagined the OC coming out to argue for home, and he would force me to enforce the rule and put him at 2B and REALLY confuse everyone.

So I just put him at 2B and explained it to the OC. That was a really weird and lonely moment because everyone from both sides thought I got it wrong.

[mstaylor]

I saw a pick at first where it rolled down the line, hit the tarp and bounced out of play. Of course the runner is now on third.P U came out, killed the ball, put the runner at second and then talked to the OM that just lost his mind. The bad part was this was A ball and it lead to a protest.

[carolinablue]

I had a kid hit a high ball to left that bounced, and bounced, and bounced into foul territory and then rollllllllllllleed across the DBT line and on to the concrete. F7 could not corral the ball and raised his hands when the ball got to DBT - the runner was nearly to 3B. I called time, and sent him back to 2B among a TON of "WTFs???" from the bench and stands.

Single man JV, and for a second, I seriously considered not saying anything and leaving him at 3B (against the rules), but then I imagined the OC coming out to argue for home, and he would force me to enforce the rule and put him at 2B and REALLY confuse everyone.

So I just put him at 2B and explained it to the OC. That was a really weird and lonely moment because everyone from both sides thought I got it wrong.

You see it a lot in MLB. A ball that bounces over the fence with a R1 ends up being a break for the defense. It's a $65 call as they say around here.

[etignor11]

Thanks guys.

[semper_fi_72]

When thinking about base awards on balls entering Dead Ball Territory.

First decide which applies:

Time of Pitch, or

Time of Throw

Once you decided which, you will be able to award bases properly.