Runner fails to tag - dead ball is called....???

[Tru_in_Blu]

Originally Posted by EricH

NOTE: "Once the ball is declared 'dead'... the (runner) has to go back to the base they left too soon."

The runner can return after the ball has been declared dead. That should clarify.

ONLY if the ball has gone out of play.

That was not the crux of this string. It was an umpire probably calling time too soon. Although in slow pitch, once all action has ceased, the umpire is supposed to call "time".