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Old Tue Oct 31, 2000, 11:17pm
Carl Childress Carl Childress is offline
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My favorite position for a runner scoring was illustrated by Ed Montague in the first game of the World Series. He took the play in fair territory. He looked terrific, I thought!

I've been arguing for years that's the best spot (except for passed ball/wild pitch/infield grounder) for any runner scoring on a base hit.

Second choice: I'll stick with Brinkman here and go first-base line extended. For about 100 years that was the standard. Then someone thought up the "dangerous" third-base line and amateur umpires have been getting run over ever since. (I find it difficult to argue against Jim Porter, but in this instance, I must.)

First-base line is better simply because most runners (in my experience) swing away from the infield since that's the farthest away from the throw and hence requires the most dexterity from the catcher. Since the runner is sliding toward you, you have a pretty good shot at not getting blocked. The problem you face is the runner may still swing his legs into you if you're not careful.

OTOH: If you begin inside, you can follow the runner, looking for the tag, with no chance of getting hit, either by the fielders or a misplayed throw. You simply let the throw turn you into the play and then move as you need to since all the action is in front of and moving away from you.

Piece of cake, as Montague demonstrated for us all.
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