[greymule]

“When the ball becomes dead, runners may return to touch a base left too soon if they have advanced, touched, and are a base beyond the base left too soon.”

Leaving aside the fact that the sentence is a grammatical nightmare, for precision, "if" should read "whether or not" or simply "even if." Obviously a runner can return if he has not yet advanced to the next base.

The only difference between the ASA and NFHS words in that sentence is the word “NO,” and it totally changes the meaning of the rule.

ASA also changed "remains" to "are," which throws a monkey wrench into the structure.

In the area of how the extent and timing of the runner's advance affects his ability to return to touch a base missed or left too soon, ASA and Fed differ greatly. ASA's rule is close to OBR's (but it is not the same).

[Edited by greymule on Apr 29th, 2004 at 08:40 AM]