How about 8 body lengths?

[Warren Willson]

Originally posted by greymule
Am I correct in saying the following?:

"If a runner has missed retouching 2B by 20 feet, he cannot, once he returns to 1B, correct his gross error, either by running to 2B and then 1B, or by 'last time by.' Regardless, the defense must still appeal."

A base runner may ALWAYS correct even a GROSS base running error while the ball remains alive and in play. The fact that he "may" doesn't necessarily mean he "can", however. The game action and the position of other runners will effect his ability to undo his error, regardless of his right to do so.

OTOH, a runner may not correct a GROSS base running error using Last Time By. I agree that that the wording of the J/R interpretation could appear confusing in that regard:

A runner is vulnerable to appeal if

(1) he does not touch a base when advancing (or returning) by such base (within a body's length) the final time. An advance or return "by" a base does not include a complete bypass of such base (outside a body's length) in an attempt to reach a subsequent base safely.{my underlines and emphasis}

Did you read that interpretation as a runner can never correct an error if it was more than a body length? If that's the case, I'd have to say that the J/R is actually talking about how big an error may be corrected "the final time" by the base. It is not talking about the correcting of errors by undoing them in the normal course of live ball play.

Hope this helps

Cheers