LBR (Again!)

[WestMichBlue]

It is known that the best way to learn something is to have to teach it. This is what I am going through as I prepare my teaching for our upcoming umpire classes/clinics. What is surprising is that, under scrutiny, rules that you thought you knew for years suddenly become unclear. So it is with a minor area of the LBR.

The issue is a B-R running (not rounding) through 1B towards right field. ASA or NFHS: There are four sentences dealing with run-through, three of which seem to be unrelated to LBR.

e) says that a runner who turns right must return to 1B. No stop, no decision – just go to 1B. Why? How is this LBR?

d) says that a runner who turns left and starts back towards 1B must continue to 1B. No stop, no decision – just go to 1B. Why? How is this LBR?

c) says that a runner who turns left and moves towards 2B – and stops – is committed to 2B and must go non-stop to 2B. Why can’t she return to 1B after the stop?

b) is the only one that follows LBR logic. It says that a runner that turns left – and stops – then must move non-stop to either 1B or 2B.

IMO, the first three are absolute garbage. They were just made up by somebody with no logical tie-in to the LBR. B is the only one needed (if it were re-worded to say “turns left or right”).

Fortunately, this situation will seldom happen. A B-R running through 1B indicates that he/she is trying to beat the play. For the pitcher to have the ball indicates that the fielder decided they did not have a play and, rather than chance a bad throw, simply flipped to ball to the pitcher. But if it did, would you know what to call. If I could go on any softball field in this country on some night in May, I doubt if I would find 1 umpire in a 1,000 that would know these four rules. (1 in 10,000?)

Any opinions as to why they exist? Do the first three make sense to you?

WMB