[greymule]

One of the classic confusers is the old "one plus one," common terminology (like "one base on an overthrow") that does not appear in any rule book that I know of. Abel on 1B, Baker hits a liner and Abel takes off running. F6 spears the liner and throws the ball into DBT in an attempt to nail Abel before he can return to 1B. Many spectators (and some untrained umps) assume that Abel gets the base he was returning to (1B), plus one (2B). But Abel gets 3B (though he still has to tag up at 1B).

Or this one: Abel on 1B steals on the pitch. Baker hits a ground ball to F6, who throws to F4 too late to get Abel sliding in. F4 then throws the ball away trying to get Baker at 1B. Though Abel may have been lying on his back with his foot touching 2B, he gets home. Baker, on the other hand, who was not yet at 1B when F4 threw the ball, gets 2B. Note that if F6 had not played to 2B and had made the play directly at 1B (and thrown the ball away), Abel would be awarded only 3B, even if he had reached 2B by the time F6 threw the ball (assuming that Baker hadn't already reached 1B at the time of the throw).