Re-tagging base after Foul Ball

[UmpCoach]

I have been umpiring a long time over 20 years and never have enforced baserunners to re-tag the bases they are occupying after a foul ball.

What is the actual rule on that if a runner doesn't re-tag the base after a foul ball?

To me it's such a ticky-tack conversation if a Coach brings it up because you can't appeal it after a picther has thrown a pitch and I was always told to tell the runner to re-tag the base.....what is the penalty if they do not do this? Unsportsmanlike?

I have never told any runner to do that or had any coach tell me a runner didn't re-tag base....im just curious. 

[Rich Ives]

25 minutes ago, UmpCoach said:

I have been umpiring a long time over 20 years and never have enforced baserunners to re-tag the bases they are occupying after a foul ball.

What is the actual rule on that if a runner doesn't re-tag the base after a foul ball?

To me it's such a ticky-tack conversation if a Coach brings it up because you can't appeal it after a picther has thrown a pitch and I was always told to tell the runner to re-tag the base.....what is the penalty if they do not do this? Unsportsmanlike?

I have never told any runner to do that or had any coach tell me a runner didn't re-tag base....im just curious. 

There is no penalty.  The rule says the umpire shall not put the ball into play until the runners have retouched. So if you did, and they hadn't, it's on you.

 

5.06(c) (5) A foul ball is not caught, in which case runners
return to their bases. The umpire-in-chief shall not
put the ball in play until all runners have
retouched their bases;

[BrianC14]

There is no penalty for not retouching.... however, this rule was put in way back when Warren first started umpiring, if I recall correctly.... the intent of the rule was to prevent a runner from standing very close to the next unoccupied base after a foul ball, and when the umpire put the ball in play, the runner could 'steal' the next base with just a step or two. So, the rule got put in the books to prevent a baserunner from gaining an unfair advantage.

The idea of actually going all the way back and retouching the base they occupied at the time of the pitch (and subsequent foul ball) actually protects the runner from being at risk of being put out when the umpire calls "Play" following the foul ball.  

The reality is that the runner needs to return to the vicinity of the base;  if they want to stay 5 feet away, and pitcher and batter are both where they need to be for the ball to become 'live' again, then play on.  Waiting until they've actually retouched can be pretty ticky-tack, especially if you have a pitcher who doesn't waste time between pitches.   99% of the time you will see a runner return to touch, and immediately begin taking a lead from the base prior to the ball being put back in play.  Recall that two things still need to happen in order to make the ball 'live' again:  pitcher in his legal pitching position (in contact) and the batter set in the box.