Quote:
Originally Posted by JJ
So if the defender is standing in a spot with the ball in his hand, and the runner goes more than 3 feet (arm's length) away from the defender to avoid a tag, even though that means he's running more than 3 feet (arm's length) out of his direct line to the base he's running to, you're not going to call him out for running out of the baseline? You say potato...
JJ
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Either I don't understand your question, or you don't understand the rule. As stated, your question is unanswerable - you have not provided the relevant information to make the call.
Where the defender starts is COMPLETELY irrelevant. The "arms length" is only appropriate if the defender happens to be perfectly directly between the runner and the base at the time he begins to make the tag. On your typical play, this is very very rarely the case (usually, especially at the plate, the defender begins the tag from significantly inside (closer to the interior of the diamond) of the line between the runner and the plate.