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bfriendly
376 Posts |
 Posted - 06/26/2015 : 01:22:07
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I have seen several times where a Player would be stealing 2nd or 3rd base and the Defender would have his foot directly in the middle of the bag, blocking access from the runner; appears to be intentionally doing so in the cases I am referring.
Is there a rule regarding this situation? The last thing I want to see is any Kid get hurt. However, it seems this defense tactic will lead to an injury if the runner decides he WILL get his foot on the bag even if he has to go through the ankle/shin of the defender.
In the situations I am referring, the runners have consistently ended up short of the bag(in an effort to avoid contact) and are called out.
Is this a common coaching tactic? Is there a rule regarding this? |
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CaCO3Girl
1989 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2015 : 10:09:08
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| Hopefully an ump will be along soon.....BUT.....in the meantime, what I have always heard is unless the kid has a 15 inch shoe that is 3-5 inches high it is impossible to actually "block" the base. I don't know why any runner would be trying to avoid contact with 2B or 3B, perhaps a few metal spikes will remind the position players why they don't want their foot exactly there. |
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HeyBlue
92 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2015 : 16:47:53
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| Unless all access to the base is blocked off it is legal. The infielder can not drop their knee to completely block off the base until they have the ball. The infielder does not have to give the runner their preferred path to the bag while receiving the ball (i.e. outside part of the bag, force the runner inside and cut down on the tag distance) |
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bfriendly
376 Posts |
Posted - 06/28/2015 : 12:04:09
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quote:
Originally posted by CaCO3Girl
Hopefully an ump will be along soon.....BUT.....in the meantime, what I have always heard is unless the kid has a 15 inch shoe that is 3-5 inches high it is impossible to actually "block" the base. I don't know why any runner would be trying to avoid contact with 2B or 3B, perhaps a few metal spikes will remind the position players why they don't want their foot exactly there.
Thats what I thought.........I have seen the coach argue about it so I didnt know what the ruling was, if any.
I agree and have been trying to teach my kid(and the others) that they MUST get their foot on the bag, contact or not, always feet first and go in HARD. |
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zwndad
170 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2015 : 11:38:34
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In the younger ages, I have seen kids block the bag with their leg, and as long as they have the ball, it's ok. That's the answer I've gotten consistently from umpires.
It's also legal with older kids, but once metal spikes come into play, infielders learn quickly not to block the bag with their leg. It usually only takes once to learn that lesson.
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Blocking base question
