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So all the runner has to do is touch the spot where the base would be had it not been dislodged. I don't understand why there is so much debate over this subject.
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Luke,
I agree that following runners get their choice of spots. In fact, I would probably give considerable leeway to a 12 year old in this instance. If he came to a stop or touched in passing a spot that is reasonably close to where the base is supposed to be, I'd rule that he touched -- even if he missed by a couple of feet.
In any event it would be a good teaching moment for the coach after the play. With my younger teams, I try and explain at least one situation an inning to them. I tell them there's a thousand rules in baseball and the best way to learn them all is to experience them and make a mistake.
But the reason for the question is what happens when it's not the following runner that needs to touch the dislodged base? What if it's the runner who dislodged it? Or even a preceding runner? However unlikely, it could occur that R1 knocks 2B loose and then R2, who hasn't made it to 3B yet needs to come back to 2B. So where does he have to touch?
Is the "following runner" portion of the rule one of Bob's 456 known errors of the OBR? Should it really be
any runner?