[greymule]

Abel hits a ball off the fence, touches 1B, misses 2B, and slides into 3B as the throw goes into DBT. In Fed, Abel cannot return to touch 2B. In ASA he can, except that if he first proceeds home and touches the plate, he cannot.

ASA's rule seems more fair to me.

Abel on 1B. Baker hits a drive to right center. Abel takes off and is around 2B and halfway to 3B when F9 makes a diving catch. Abel begins to retreat to 1B. The throw to 1B goes into DBT while Abel is not yet back to 2B. In Fed, Abel cannot legally return to touch the base he left too soon. In ASA, he can. (In ASA, Abel is awarded home as long as he was past 2B when the throw left the fielder's hand; in OBR, Abel is awarded 3B.)

To me, Fed's rule rewards the defense's error. Why does Fed insert an arbitrary point at which to strand runners? In OBR, runners, no matter how far they have advanced, can return unless they proceed to the next base after the ball becomes dead. That rule (slightly different from ASA's) has not caused any problems that I know of. Is Fed trying to prevent a certain kind of play, or are they just simplifying things for umpires? What's the problem with allowing runners to return?