No Advantage - Spirit of the Rule

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Originally Posted by youngump

Not to anybody with any sense it's not, but it is against the strict letter of the rule.

So that part of the slippery slope is okay?

As officials, we apply judgement to the black-and-white of the rules book. Officiating happens in the grey. (At least the difficult part ... the part we're really paid to do ... does.)

Perhaps I used my grey crayon a bit outside the lines in my sitch. This discussion has certainly caused me to rethink whether or not I handled this the best way.

The NFHS rulebook says a runner cannot leave a base "for any reason" when the ball is in the pitcher's possession in the circle. Whether erroneously believing a ball was foul or losing contact with a base while shifting feet, runners in both situations are leaving the base. A runner tagged by a fielder with the ball in either sitch are out.

My point is: the same arguments can be made for the foot-shifting scenario that were made against the brain-farting baserunner. Directives from higherups notwithstanding, why would it be okay to call an out in one situation, but not the other? Are they not, essentially, the same situation in that the runner is leaving the base "for any reason"?

Discuss.