Why is the ruling on this move being changed?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Well, you answered the opposite of my question.

Why is it OK to feint to 3rd? Or 2nd? It might be less critical to hold a runner there, but if a pitcher is going to take the time to decide not to pitch and instead stride toward a base, obviously holding the runner was important enough. So why allow them to feint?

A baseball move is allowed until it's not.

The reason to prohibit feinting to 1B is that it's easier and more important to steal 2B than 3B or home, and harder to throw a runner out at 2B than 3B or home. Since these reasons apply only to 1B, it makes sense to limit the prohibition.

Prohibiting feinting to 1B gives a better balance of offense and defense.

In other news, it seems the minor league record for stolen bases is likely to be broken this year (145 — maybe they need to prohibit feinting in MiLB).