"Last Time By" in Softball

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Well, I brought up baseball, but not to discuss the gross versus near miss discussion. Rather, I just find it strange that a relatively straightforward concept—may a runner correct a missed base by touching it the next time he/she goes to or past it in the course of play—is completely and diametrically opposed in how to rule between the two sports. It’s not as if only one sanction within baseball or softball is the outlier. All major baseball orgs allow it, and all major Softball do not.

As you say, you brought up baseball; and others brought up the fact that baseball itself only allows that correction some of the time, when they have arbitrarily generated that there are two types of missed bases. It seems to me that once it becomes part of the discussion on this softball board that I'm not out of bounds for having an opinion about it; or even to extend that to other areas where baseball feels the need to have two types of rules that make simple concepts more complicated. Sorry that the baseball types feel that way on the softball board.

I cannot tell you why baseball has last time by, but only sometimes; but I can (and believe I did) very logically tell you why softball does not. A runner cannot remedy the requirement to touch bases, when retreating, in THIS order (3-2-1) by touching them in THAT order (3-1-2). No matter how nearly or grossly the runner doesn't touch them in the correct order. The runner in THAT order has missed 2nd when required to, even if standing on 2nd when it is appealed.