[greymule]

ASA. I had a situation where the runner on 1B, while advancing to 2B after a walk to the batter, stopped twice in an attempt to decoy the pitcher into making a throw. The defensive coach, not without a little amusement in his voice, claimed that the runner had violated the LBR. I responded that the runner had the right to advance without liability to be put out.

But I wondered about it later, because even a runner not liable to be put out can still be declared out, for example, for passing a runner or committing interference. So apparently violating the LBR is not one of those cases, though I don't see where the rule book says so specifically. Further, ASA does not draw a sharp distinction between being put out and being declared out.

In the original post, the runner's stopping to talk to the coach would be irrelevant, since the batter had not yet reached 1B. Reversing direction twice in picking up the glove would be the violation.