Base Awards From A Fly Ball Thrown Out Of Play
Bob asks:
The runner on 1st leads off and the batter bunts the ball. The pitcher catches it in the air and throws to 1st but the ball goes out of play. At the time of the throw the runner was going back to 1st base. Does he get 2nd or 3rd?
In any scenerio where a fielder throws a ball out of play and it is not the first play by an infielder (in this case the first play was the catch), the runners get two bases from where they were at the time of the wild throw, so in this case third.
However, if the runner does not go back to retouch first base while the ball is dead (since he had not retouched it after the ball was caught), then it is possible for him to be called out on an appeal.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Runners, MLB Rule 7.05(g) and (i)(comment)