There are different ways that a back runner can help create a “Time Play.” With a runner on second, the batter singles to the outfield and makes a hard fake to second base drawing a throw. This is what happened in the Moss/Molina play above. With runners on second and third and two outs, the […]
There are several different ways that a runner can help to create a “Time Play.” With runners on second and third and two outs, the batter hits a ground ball to the third baseman or shortstop who fields the ball in front of the runner. The runner must allow the fielder to field the ball but […]
Q. In a 2014 game, the Brewers’ Martin Maldonado hit the cover off a baseball in a game against the Pirates. With a runner on first in the sixth inning, Maldonado hit a ground ball to Pirates’ third baseman, Pedro Alvarez. Somewhere between Maldonado’s bat and Alvarez’s glove the cover peeled off the baseball. What’s […]
The two different obstruction rules (Type A and Type B) came to life this past week. First a brief review of the obstruction rule: Obstruction is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner. Contact […]
There is no doubt that the advent of the Instant Replay has changed the game. Because fielders are holding the tag longer on tag plays, hoping that the replay will overturn a safe call, runners are at risk. In many cases umpires must determine whether the runner’s momentum took him off the base or did […]