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Home Run


Guest Jared S.
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Guest Jared S.

Good Evening,

 

I had a question and some corollaries.

After you hit a homerun in baseball, are you required to touch all 4 bases? If so, can I have the appropriate rules that apply to this for the MLB. I have looked so far and I am unsure which ones do and do not apply to said questions.

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The rulebook MLB uses is here by the way:  https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/atcjzj9j7wrgvsm8wnjq.pdf

I assume you mean when the batter hits a fair ball out of the park...

If he wants it to count as a home run, he has to touch all the bases, and can be called/put out if he does not.   This shows up in several places in the rules 5.05(a)(9), 5.06(b)(1), 5.09(c)(2).

 

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5 hours ago, Guest Jared S. said:

Good Evening,

 

I had a question and some corollaries.

After you hit a homerun in baseball, are you required to touch all 4 bases? If so, can I have the appropriate rules that apply to this for the MLB. I have looked so far and I am unsure which ones do and do not apply to said questions.

Unless you area asking about some appeal situation, yes.

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7 hours ago, Guest Jared S. said:

Good Evening,

 

I had a question and some corollaries.

After you hit a homerun in baseball, are you required to touch all 4 bases? If so, can I have the appropriate rules that apply to this for the MLB. I have looked so far and I am unsure which ones do and do not apply to said questions.

Specifically for MLB with video replay if they reverse a foul to a fair on a homerun ball the runner does not have to go back and run the bases. He is awarded a home run.

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16 minutes ago, Jimurray said:

Specifically for MLB with video replay if they reverse a foul to a fair on a homerun ball the runner does not have to go back and run the bases. He is awarded a home run.

You sure? Never encountered that before. If it had been ruled foul he'd still be at the plate as the batter. 

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On 9/12/2021 at 12:47 AM, Guest Jared S. said:

Good Evening,

 

I had a question and some corollaries.

After you hit a homerun in baseball, are you required to touch all 4 bases? If so, can I have the appropriate rules that apply to this for the MLB. I have looked so far and I am unsure which ones do and do not apply to said questions.

The more appropriate question is whether or not there is a rule that says the runner does not need to.

You know (or should know) that by rule a person must touch first then second then third then home in order to score.   That is absolutely true when the batter hits one to the gap and has to run the bases.

So, unless there's a rule that says it is NOT true when the ball is dead, the requirement to touch all the bases must still be there.

Anyone suggesting the runner does not have to touch all the bases has the burden of proof to find the rule saying so.

 

Many recreational leagues do add a rule saying it is not required on "out of park" home runs (some even say it's not allowed)...if that rule isn't evident, the bases must all be touched.

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The OBR does say that.    It practically defines the out-of-park Home Run (and was the first section I quoted aove):

A fair ball passes over a fence or into the stands at a distance from home base of 250 feet or more. Such hit entitles the batter to a home run when he shall have touched all bases legally

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29 minutes ago, flyingron said:

The OBR does say that.    It practically defines the out-of-park Home Run (and was the first section I quoted aove):

A fair ball passes over a fence or into the stands at a distance from home base of 250 feet or more. Such hit entitles the batter to a home run when he shall have touched all bases legally

That's not the point.  The scorekeeping section says the same thing too, practically.

The point is, the rule book doesn't need to say this explicitly for this exact scenario...the requirement to touch all the bases in order, in order to score, is defined throughout the rule book.  It's a general requirement of the game.  The rule book doesn't state, in black and white, for every base award that gives the runner(s) home "as long as he touches all the bases".   It doesn't have to.       If someone is claiming otherwise, the onus is on them to find where the exception is documented.

One exception in MLB is as shown above - if on instant replay review a foul ball is overturned into a HR the runners are not required to round the bases...that's new the last couple of years (it wasn't the case when instant replay first started)

Another exception, in MLB, would occur if the batter got into a fight with a fielder while rounding the bases...if, in the umpire's judgment, the fielder initiated the fight the batter would not be required to touch all the bases (treat it like OBS) - he would get his HR and then (likely) be ejected.

 

The OP question is analogous to saying "I am not required to stop at a red light at two in the morning when there's no other traffic" and then challenging the officer, or the court, to show where the law says that he must stop at a red light at two in the morning when there's no other traffic...the onus would be on him to present the law/precedent that outlines that exception...that he can indeed run the red light at that time of day if there is no other traffic...as opposed to looking for the law/rulebook to outline every possible exception scenario and say "yup, it applies here too".

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On 9/12/2021 at 6:50 PM, Rich Ives said:

Players have to agree with rule changes. Not sure they'd give that up.  :)

 

Players do not have to agree. If MLB wants to implement a rules change they can. From the current CBA :

 If the Clubs and the Association fail to reach agreement on a proposed change which is subject to negotiation, the proposed change shall not be put into effect until the completion of the next complete succeeding season (including the Wild Card Game, Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series) following the date the change was proposed.

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4 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

Players do not have to agree. If MLB wants to implement a rules change they can. From the current CBA :

 If the Clubs and the Association fail to reach agreement on a proposed change which is subject to negotiation, the proposed change shall not be put into effect until the completion of the next complete succeeding season (including the Wild Card Game, Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series) following the date the change was proposed.

Requires negotiation.  That's why the "fail to reach agreement" is there. Not a good management move to just implement it. 

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13 hours ago, SH0102 said:

Wow, how can such a simple question turn into such a convoluted discussion.

Boards like this are like folks sitting at a bar or in someone's backyard at a BBQ, talking about topics of shared interest. The discussions wander, go off on tangents, come back to the original, take off again. As long as some respect is maintained, it's all good!

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Are you asking about a game-ending walk-off homer with runners on base?  In that case, all runners are allowed to score, even if they are "excess" runs.  The interesting part is this: what happens if the batter decides not to run the bases on his homer?

He still must reach first base of course (before three outs).  But if he stops there, I assume he is not awarded the home run, just an RBI single?  And what about the other runners; are they scored as runs if they cross home and are "excess" runs, even though the batter stops at first on his homer?

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Ordinarily on an out-of-the-park home run the runner(s) would be allowed to score even if the batter stopped at first. So the batter would receive credit for an RBI single. But circumstances can change the scoring of the play.

For example, in the 1999 National League Championship Series (NLCS), Robin Ventura hit an out-of-the-park walkoff grand slam home run but received credit for only a single and one RBI. He was mobbed between first and second base and never proceeded any further with only the runner from third base actually crossing the plate before the celebration prevented the others to run the bases.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, there have been at least two other instances of "grand slam singles." Both occurred when a batter hit a grand slam but subsequently passed the runner ahead of him on the base paths, which according to the rules of Major League Baseball causes the runner who passes his teammate to be called out. This happened on July 9, 1970, when Dalton Jones of the Detroit Tigers passed teammate Don Wert in a game against the Boston Red Sox, leaving him with a 3-RBI single.

It also occurred on July 4, 1976, when Tim He-who-shall-not-be-named of the Philadelphia Phillies passed teammate Garry Maddox during a 10–5 win in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates, leaving him with a 3-RBI single. In both cases, the other three runs still counted because only the player who passes his teammate is called out. The three baserunners are able to score. Both of these hits took place with fewer than two outs.

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