Runner hit by ball

[Saltydog]

OK, it's late and I'm tired. I've just reread two sections three times and I am missing something. Name of the game is OBR.

5.09 Ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, ..., when -
(f) A fair ball touches a runner or an umpire in fair territory before it touches an infielder, including the pitcher, or touches an umpire before it has passed an infielder other then the pitcher.

Yet 7.08.(f) says (runner is out if)'He is touched by a fair ball in fair territory before the ball has touched or passed an infielder. The ball is dead and no runner may score, nor runners advance, except runners forced to advance.'

5.09 seems to say that runners advance (or return), yet 7.08 clearly says dead ball, no advance. Which is it? And if the answer is runners do not advance (7.08) then what is 5.09 talking about? (And it sure would be nice if the author would have put an OBTW, the runner is out in 5.09.)

Thanks in advance,
SD

[Dave Reed]

The Official Rules of Baseball aren't perfect-- not by a long shot. There are so many omissions, inconsistencies, and simply wrong assertions that careful study may be amusing, but it is unlikely to be illuminating. Buy a copy of Jaksa and Roder to get a clear understanding of the rules of baseball as they are actually played "under OBR rules."

There isn't any inconsistency between 5.09 and 7.08. 5.09 simply tells us that in this situation (and in several others,) the ball is dead, and the runners are under no liability to be put out. Note that the runner who was struck by the fair batted ball is already out, and is no longer a runner. By 7.08, the remaining runners either return to their time-of-pitch base, or advance one base only if they are forced to advance. If the the batter-runner was not struck by the ball, then he is awarded first. As far as I know, the placement of the B/R is not explicitly stated anywhere in the rules, although you can infer it from 10.05(e) which credits B/R with a base hit. Or, if you aren't bothered by the idea that every B/R is forced to first, then he is among the runners "forced to advance," and is therefore placed at first.

J/R Chapter 13 is titled "Offensive Interference", Section II is Runner Interference, and subsection A refers to Batted Balls. You'll find everthing you need to know in the next few pages. It's a lot better than reading rule 10 on scorekeeping to find out what happens to the batter-runner when enforcing 7.08.

[Russ]

After the dead ball, runners could be force to the next base by the batter becoming a runner.

Bases loaded, R2 hit by fair ball. He's declared out, R3 back to 3rd, R1 forced to 2nd, Batter awarded 1st.