Quote:
Originally Posted by MD Longhorn
No. And it bothers me when otherwise solid and experienced partners get this wrong. I wonder if this is carryover training from baseball...
The rule doesn't says FIRST awarded base... it says NEXT awarded base. If they were between 1st and 2nd when the ball was released, but between 2nd and 3rd when it went out of play and 3rd base was awarded... THIRD BASE is the next awarded base. If they touch 3rd they can't return. If they do not touch third, they ABSOLUTELY can go back and return to first to retouch properly.
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I somewhat disagree. I think BretMans explanation may have been an oversimplification, but would be true if the umpire immediately awarded the bases upon the ball entering DBT. IMO, the next awarded base is the first base of the award. Nothing is awarded until the umpire says it is. And there needs to be the consideration that just because the umpire calls, yells, bellows "dead ball" doesn't mean everyone hears or instantaneously heeds the call and continues playing through a lot of noise and sometimes confusion.
This was a bullshit rule change for 2003. The reason offered was "To prevent the possibility that once a base runner advances, they may not return to any base they've gone beyond on the award. This would permit the defensive team to make any appeal as soon as the base runner advanced to or past the next base."
When it went into effect, we were clearly instructed (and passed this on to the local umpires) to not be hasty in announcing the awards simply to avoid this type of mess.