Pretty straight forward question. I am curious to know what "baseline" means in the rule book. A player on our team was called out today for avoiding a tag running out a soft grounder along the first baseline. 1B fielded the ball and attempted to apply the tag but our runner swerved around the tag while running towards first base. She was called out for running outside the baseline. But what is actually the baseline? Our first base coach watched the play as she was running towards first base and he said that the runner took one big stride to the right to avoid the tag. The first basemen missed the tag, but runner was called out.
What is "baseline" mean?
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The runner was called out for running more than 3' outside the basepath, not baseline. The baseline is a direct line between any 2 bases and has little to do with anything except being the foul lines along the 1st and 3rd baselines. The basepath is set by the runner and could literally be anywhere on the field. At the time the defense is attempting to make a play on the runner, being more than 3' outside their basepath is determined base on a direct line from the runners current position and a direct line to the base they are headed to.
The rule is base path, but the ASA Participant Manual index has "running out of baseline" under Runner. smh
MT 73 covered this earlier today on another thread - Is there a base path between 3rd and home? (post #4)
MT 73 covered this earlier today on another thread - Is there a base path between 3rd and home? (post #4)
What's in a name?
The ASA rule book also references "dropped third strike", when the actual rule is about an "uncaught third strike" and "ground rule double" for a two-base award that isn't related to a ground rule. It's like they use the layman's terms in the index just so folks that don't know the technical names can find them easier.
It's kind of like when people talk about a softball pitcher "taking the mound" or being "on the rubber". There's no mound on a softball field- wrong sport- and the rule book calls that little rectangular slab a pitcher's plate. These aren't the technically correct rule book terms, but if somebody uses them you'll probably know what they're talking about.
Interestingly, if you read "The Official Rules of Baseball" their rules say that a runner is out for running three feet out of the baseline, even though their rule is exactly the same as the softball rule. What else would you expect from a game that calls catcher obstruction "catcher interference", when interference is a rule violation by member of the offensive team?
Yes, the baseline and the basepath are two different things, but the two terms get interchanged. While that's technically wrong, if your player gets called out for being "out of the baseline", she's going to be just as out as if the right term was used.
The ASA rule book also references "dropped third strike", when the actual rule is about an "uncaught third strike" and "ground rule double" for a two-base award that isn't related to a ground rule. It's like they use the layman's terms in the index just so folks that don't know the technical names can find them easier.
It's kind of like when people talk about a softball pitcher "taking the mound" or being "on the rubber". There's no mound on a softball field- wrong sport- and the rule book calls that little rectangular slab a pitcher's plate. These aren't the technically correct rule book terms, but if somebody uses them you'll probably know what they're talking about.
Interestingly, if you read "The Official Rules of Baseball" their rules say that a runner is out for running three feet out of the baseline, even though their rule is exactly the same as the softball rule. What else would you expect from a game that calls catcher obstruction "catcher interference", when interference is a rule violation by member of the offensive team?
Yes, the baseline and the basepath are two different things, but the two terms get interchanged. While that's technically wrong, if your player gets called out for being "out of the baseline", she's going to be just as out as if the right term was used.
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