Double Base - Foul Territory

[Dakota]

If you accept the premise that the double-base at first actually is useful in minimizing collisions at first (at debatable point to some on this board), then you would want the rules constructed to provide for that while minimizing (also) providing an advantage to either the offense or defense that they would not otherwise have with a single base.

If the play is coming back to the base from foul territory, and you prohibit the defense from using the orange base, then you are requiring the defensive player to cross the base path of the runner to get to the white base.

While it is true that allowing the defense in these situations to use the orange base gives them a small advantage, the judgment of the ASA rule writers must have been that the resulting safety improvement was worth it.

OTOH, in the case of allowing the defense to use the base for extra stretch room on a bad throw, this gives the defense a significant advantage.

BTW, to that end, I think the 2006 ASA changes are wrong-headed. They compromise safety for the dubious reason of dumbing down the rule to help the, well, dumb.