Offense opens the gate

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by celebur

I'm going to be contrary and put the runners back to the bases they had at the time the ball went OOB (or hit the gate before going OOB).

The player that opened the gate is not yet the ODB and had no business opening the gate or being on the field while the ball was live. I am hesitant to reward this act by awarding bases to the runners, so I lean towards no award. . .

. . .but I do stand to be corrected. I fully recognize that this may be one of those situations where my 'gut' reaction is simply not supported by rule.

Fair enough. I can understand the desire not to reward stupidity... but I don't think it matters who opened the gate, even if it was the Team Mom or an asst coach. Without intent, I can see no rules justifying treating this any differently than a simple ball out of play.

Would you award extra bases if it was the DEFENSE unintentionally opening the gate, deflecting the ball in such a way that it stopped the runner's progress?