Tagging a Base or Runner Without the Ball
Jeff Duke from Smyrna, Tennessee asks:
A defensive player has the ball in his bare hand and tags the runner or touches a base with an empty glove. Safe or out; tag or no tag?
The answer to the first part of this question, the part asking about tagging the runner, can be found here. As for tagging the base, as long it is a force play, the runner will be out if the fielder has possession of the ball and touches the base before the runner does. A good way to think about this is that the fielder, as long as he has possession of the ball, can tag a base with anything (foot, glove, hand, etc.) in order to retire a runner.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
Keywords: Fielders