Running out of the baseline: when is the runner out?
There's no baseline until a fielder tries to tag the runner. Then it's a straight line from wherever the runner is to the base, with three feet on either side, and the chalk has nothing to do with it.
You’ve probably heard it yelled from the other dugout. A runner rounds first wide, way out on the grass, and cuts back toward second. The opposing coach is on his feet: “He’s out of the baseline!”
No, he isn’t. There isn’t a baseline yet.
A runner is out for running more than three feet away from his base path to avoid a tag. It’s worth reading that sentence twice, because the most important part is at the end (to avoid a tag). If no one is trying to tag him, he can run wherever he wants. Wide turns and big loops around a fielder don’t matter at all.
So where does the base path come from? It gets drawn the instant a fielder with the ball tries to tag him. It’s a straight line from where the runner is at that moment to the base he’s going for — not the chalk line, and not the line between the bags. It runs from him to the base, with three feet on either side. If he leaves that lane to get around the tag, he’s out.
The rundown. This is where the arguments really start. The runner’s caught between first and second. He turns, he stops, he goes back, and all of that is fine. The path resets every time he changes direction, and it gets drawn from wherever he is when the fielder reaches for him. What he can’t do is jump three feet sideways when the glove comes at him. A dive around a tag that carries him out of the lane is an out. But a dive that stays in the lane and gets under the tag is a great play.
The running lane. The lane to first base, the one drawn in chalk for the last half of the line (30 feet on a 60-foot diamond), is a different rule entirely. That one is about interfering with the throw, and it only applies to the batter-runner. As coaches, we mix the two up constantly. The running lane has its own card.
This one’s a judgment call, and it belongs to the umpire. Before you yell it next time, ask yourself: Was anyone actually trying to tag him?
Which rulebook? Official Baseball Rules 5.09(b)(1): out for running more than three feet from the base path to avoid a tag, and the base path is set when the tag is attempted. NFHS 8-4-2a says it the same way. The running lane over the last half of the line to first is 5.09(a)(11) and NFHS 8-4-1g, a different rule entirely.
A runner rounds first wide, way out on the outfield grass, then cuts back toward second. No one is trying to tag him. The other coach says he’s out of the baseline. Is he?
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“A runner can go get a hot dog on his way to second, as long as no one's trying to tag him.”
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