Advantageous 4th Out

[mbyron]

Originally posted by cbfoulds
PS, FWIW, I tend to agree w/ mb that Roger's citation does not, by it's specific language, require the ruling I would make: neither does it support the contrary position.
[/B]

Right: Roger wanted to stand on the "logic" of his original citation, but he added substantive information in his most recent post. If that's right, then authorities at most levels have ruled that BR CAN continue to run (to prevent a 4th out) even after the end of the inning. And cbfoulds's case offers a reasonable basis for ruling that way. He also helpfully distinguishes between allowing BR (or another runner) to continue running after 3 outs and disallowing a runner to continue after THAT RUNNER is out.

I also agree with DG that we could distinguish between (a) BR continuing to run to 1B after 3 are out, and (b) R returning to a previous base to correct a baserunning error. Both might be motivated by a desire to prevent a 4th out, but that would not mean that both are allowed. In (a) we have a runner FINISHING his task, and in (b) we have a runner CORRECTING his task. One might be allowed after 3 are out and the other not; DG seems to be raising the question of whether allowing (a) entails allowing (b), and I think that the answer is no.

I'm inclined to allow (a) but not (b) on the grounds that in (a) the offense has committed no infraction. But it would be good to know whether both are allowed by authoritative rulings. (And Roger, I'm sorry if I'm being dense, but I don't see the relevance to this question of 7.08k, which concerns whether the tag for a missed base must be applied to the base or the player.)

I have no problem accepting authority and am glad to learn of an authoritative ruling on the topic. I apologize for not having been on the board in 2001 when the topic came up originally. Thanks!

[Edited by mbyron on Jan 30th, 2005 at 08:28 PM]