3.3 Special Situations

Tagging Up: Generally, when you're on base and batter hits the ball in the air that may be caught, you have some decisions to make. If you start running right away and it's caught, you'll have to run all the way back, perhaps faster, to avoid being out. If you stay on the base to be 100% cautious, you may not be able to advance as far as you could if the ball isn't caught. What you should do is go $D_{\rm thr}$ away from your base while the ball is in the air, where $D_{\rm thr}$ is the distance you can comfortably travel in the time it would take to throw the ball from where it's caught to your base. As the ball is hit farther, or to a part of the field away from your base (i.e., LF if you're on 1B), $D_{\rm thr}$ can increase. And there are some no-win situations: you're on 1B and the batter pops-up between 1B and 2B. Barring a defensive catastrophe, either the batter or you will be out regardless of your base-running skill: the batter if it is caught, you if it is dropped (and you're forced at 2B). Accept it and don't run into an out by becoming greedy. (Note: this is where the infield-fly rule comes into play: with runners on at least 1B & 2B with less than 2 out, a pop-up to the infield could be turned into an easy double play at 3B & 2B if a fielder intentionally drops it. To avoid this, the batter is out once he hits an easy-to-catch pop-up, and thus the runners aren't obligated to advance if it's dropped. There's no such thing as an ``infield line-drive rule" however.)

There's an exception to the $D_{\rm thr}$ rule if you're on 3B, and the ball is hit deep enough to the outfield that you know you can score comfortably whether the ball is caught (by tagging up) or not. In this case, just stay on the base, watch the ball, and start running when you see it touch the outfielder's glove.

When you do tag up and try to advance, you must be tagged out: once you touched your original base when/after the ball was caught, you longer have a mandatory base. The fielders have to tag you out at the base you're trying to reach, or even at the base you came from if you change your mind halfway and come back. Note also, that while you can't advance or be put out on a foul ground ball, a foul ball caught on the fly works just like any other ball caught on the fly: you can tag up and try to advance, or be thrown out at your old (mandatory) base if you strayed too far away. If a foul ball is dropped, it becomes just any other foul ball and you can't advance or be thrown out anywhere (it's sometimes in the fielder's best interest not to catch a foul ball, if preventing your advancement is more important than the out).

in When to Run When Not Forced: Here we can consider two cases, you're on 2B (fig b) or on 3B (figs c,e, and f).

First, when you're on 2B, and the batter hits a:

• ground ball to the P -- stay.
• ground ball in front of you (SS, 3B) -- don't commit yourself to running to 3B until you've seen the throw to 1B leave the fielder's hand (otherwise the fielder could just hold the ball and tag you out on the way). You can be a little off the bag (the $D_{\rm thr}$ rule) before the throw, and if you don't think you can get to 3B before the ball can be thrown back from 1B, you don't have to try.
• ground ball behind you (2B, 1B) -- go.
• ball to OF that might be caught -- see ``Tagging Up" ¶.
• ball to OF that clearly won't be caught -- go to at least 3B. In an ideal world, your team would have sent someone to coach third, who would be looking at the play and could tell you whether to stop or continue. Otherwise, you'll have to use your own judgment: where was the ball hit, how quickly can the outfielder get to it, how long will the throw take, etc.

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  Usually you are more likely to try for home with 2 out (a rule of thumb: you don't want to make the $2^{\rm nd}$ out at home, because there are so many ways to score from 3B with 1 out).

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  Likewise, if you're trying to go from 1B to 3B on a hit, you don't want to make the $3^{\rm rd}$ out at 3B; the advantage of being at 3B instead of 2B with 2 outs isn't that great.

in Second, when you're on 3B, and the batter hits a:

• ground ball to P -- stay.
• ground ball to 1B -- stay, maybe dance down the line a little ways (the $D_{\rm thr}$ rule); but the first-baseman can see what you're doing the whole time.
• ground ball to 3B -- stay on the bag until you've seen the throw to 1B or 2B leave the third-baseman's hand. Even then, going can be risky if the other infielders are alert.
• ground ball to 2B or SS -- go, unless they're playing in quite a bit (it's a pretty long throw from their usual positions).
• ball to OF that might be caught -- see ``Tagging Up" ¶.
• ball to OF that clearly won't be caught -- go.

in When 2 Are Out: When there are two out, the worries about whether or not a hit will be caught on the fly become moot: if it is, there are 3 outs anyway and it doesn't matter whether you're on your mandatory base or not. Hence, you hear, ``2 outs -- run on anything." (However, you have to stay somewhat awake; you yourself could still make the third out by trying to run a base too far.)

Interesting complications also arise if a run scores as the third out is being recorded. If the third out is a force-out at any base, the run does not count. If the third out is not a force-out, then the run counts if the runner crossed home before the tag was actually applied to the other runner for the third out (relativistic questions of simultaneity almost never arise, but I would assume all events should be expressed in a coordinate time defined by the proper time of a point comoving with the pitching rubber, since it's fairly central). As examples:

• You're on 3B with 2 out, and the batter hits a ground ball. If he is thrown out at first, your run doesn't count regardless of how quickly you got home.
• You're on 2B with 2 out, and the batter hits a ground ball through the infield (so that you could score without being out yourself), but instead of stopping at first tries to reach 2B. If he is tagged out before you cross home, your run doesn't count; if the tag comes after you cross home, it does. (Hint to the batter: don't be stupid -- stay at first if it will be that close.)
• You're on 3B and someone else is on 2B with 2 out, and the batter hits a ground ball to the second-baseman. If he throws to first in time to get the batter, your run won't count. If (for whatever reason), he throws to third and the runner at 2B (who wasn't forced) runs very slowly to third and thus isn't tagged out until after you've crossed home, your run does count. (Hint to second-baseman: don't be stupid -- throw to 1B or get the force out.)
• You're on 3B and someone else is on 1B with 2 out, and the batter hits the same ground ball. With two outs, your run won't count if an out is made at either 2B or 1B.
• Now the extra-credit: Same situation as above, same ground ball, but now with only 1 out. If the defense makes a typical double-play by getting the force-out at 2B and then retiring the batter at 1B, your run won't count. However, if they (for whatever reason) put the batter out at 1B first, the runner going to 2B is no longer forced and thus must be tagged. If she is alert, she will get herself into a run-down by stopping in between the bases and making the fielders come to her. If she can avoid being tagged (or going out of the base-path) until after you've crossed home, your run does count.