B1 Turning Right

[ozzy6900]

Thought I'd bring this to the experts.

In the baseball world, it is a myth that when B1 runs through 1st base, turning left (toward fair territory) he can be tagged out. the "wives tale" states that B1 must turn right (toward foul territory).

Well, my daughter's coach told the team that if they turn left, they can are liable to be tagged out. This is girls 12U fast pitch using the double 1st base. I know nothing about softball so I need a bit of advise.

I don't know about baseball but in softball this is not true. Left or right foul or fair territory it does not matter. Making a move toward second base does.

[Brenda]

In softball you must make a move to second, although you will hear some coaches yell at his players "tag her, tag her" and when the player is tagged and not called out it takes a while to explain to him/her that she made no effort to go to second and that all she did was turn left instead of right.

[ozzy6900]

Thanks for the quick answers. I umpire baseball (over 20 years) and I just couldn't believe my ears when the coach made the statement. Being detached from softball, I wasn't sure if a new rule was snuck in!

[TwoBits]

Either the coach is ignorant of the rules or he was protecting his/her players from ignorant umpires.

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by TwoBits

Either the coach is ignorant of the rules or he was protecting his/her players from ignorant umpires.

That's correct and a good point. Some rule misunderstandings and myths come from what coaches teach. In this case, teaching a player to always turn right unless actually trying for 2nd is good strategy, not just for ignorant umpires but because that also minimizes the judgement factor on what the runner was trying to do. Also, it reduces the runner's exposure on the NFHS version of the rule.