Twins/Mariners Ichiro play at 1B

[RogersUmp]

He was avoiding a tag, not rounding a base to go to the next base. The turf and the dirt are points of reference. How far are you willing to allow a player to wander away from a baseline/base or let his running momentum carry him away from the baseline/base, when he is trying to avoid the tag? BR is clearly not thinking about going to B2 when F3 has the ball between B1 and BR and he is now at least 6 feet from the next base he must touch. Maybe I'm missing something. Sorry.

[youngump]

Originally Posted by RogersUmp

He was avoiding a tag, not rounding a base to go to the next base. The turf and the dirt are points of reference. How far are you willing to allow a player to wander away from a baseline/base or let his running momentum carry him away from the baseline/base, when he is trying to avoid the tag? BR is clearly not thinking about going to B2 when F3 has the ball between B1 and BR and he is now at least 6 feet from the next base he must touch. Maybe I'm missing something. Sorry.

Try it this way. Suppose he gets lost on his way to first and runs to the pitching rubber. Now he turns and runs toward first. On his way there, he steps 2 1/2' to the left of the 1st baseman to avoid a tag. He's way out of the line between Home and 1st but still not out for leaving HIS basepath. (If he'd gone 3 1/2' he'd be out).
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[Ump Rube]

What I think Rogers is trying to get at is that when the tag attempt is made as the umpire you have to define the baseline in your mind. For arguments sake lets say the you determine in any given play that the baseline is the 1BL at the Dome. Lets also say that the edge of the dirt near 1B is 6ft across perpendicular to the 1BL and centered. When you have a tag attempt visually you would no then that if the runner were to move beyond the edges of that dirt he is outside of his baseline.

At least that is what I see Rogers trying to say, I could be wrong.

[SethPDX]

Originally Posted by Ump Rube

What I think Rogers is trying to get at is that when the tag attempt is made as the umpire you have to define the baseline in your mind. For arguments sake lets say the you determine in any given play that the baseline is the 1BL at the Dome. Lets also say that the edge of the dirt near 1B is 6ft across perpendicular to the 1BL and centered. When you have a tag attempt visually you would no then that if the runner were to move beyond the edges of that dirt he is outside of his baseline.

At least that is what I see Rogers trying to say, I could be wrong.

I see what he's getting at as well, but where the runner is running does not matter until the tag attempt. Like you said, you make a judgement on where the baseline is at the time of the tag attempt:

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

But it's Ichiro's baseline, not "the" baseline correct?

Like Johnny said, the baseline is the straight line between Ichiro and 1B. If his baseline matches the foul line, you could use the edge of the dirt as a reference--if the dirt is the correct width. Otherwise, forget running lanes, foul lines, cutouts, etc. How does anyone know how wide the dirt is from one field to the next anyway?

[johnnyg08]

I think on this type of play...the last thing you want is to get into a measuring contest w/ the offense or defense. The spirit of the rule must come into play on a sitch like this.