Baseball rules clearly state that you can NOT block a base without the baseball. So much for the rules. Many players don’t just bend this rule but completely break this rule. If you’re not going to enforce a rule, why do we still have it in the rule book?
Catchers do it on almost every close play at the plate and get away with it 100% of the time. Infielders get away with it 99.9% of the time. They say the hand is quicker than the eye but in this case, quite often the knee is quicker than the eye. What the infielders will do is block the base a fraction of a second before they receive the throw. It happens so fast that they get away with it. The runner often gets to the base beforehand but has no access to the base.
First basemen are very good at blocking the base on a pick-off throw from either their pitcher or their catcher, before they actually receive the throw. What the first basemen will do is to get their knee down to block the base an instant before they catch the ball and then bring their tag down. They get away with it because the knee blocks the base at the very last split second before they receive the ball. Most are so good at it that it has to be viewed in slow motion to be seen. We’re talking a fraction of a second.
A base runner can discourage this from happening. If the base runner is retreating to a base or advancing to the next base, he can slide in feet first instead of head first. The last thing we want is to see anyone hurt on the ball field so hopefully the player in the field will follow the rules. And even if the player in the field does not follow the rules, we still don’t want to see anyone injured. » Read more: A Baseball Rule That is Broken All the Time
Tags: base runner, baseball rules, clo, first baseman, fraction, next base, quicker than the eye, school coach, slow motion, time baseball
