Did You Know This Baseball Rule? 

That entire play by 3B was a work of art

runner leaves the base path and is automatically out, no discussion!

@@jamesberry3230 lolll

@@jamesberry3230 Tell me you didn't watch the video without telling me you didn't watch the video. The video explains the rule pretty well.

@@jamesberry3230 where did he leave the base path?

Same thing with my wife except, it was football. She got into baseball too, but not nearly so much as football. After a few years of watching and learning, she was much more knowledge that 95% of the guys I knew that were fans.

Where do I find someone like thus

@@DoritosClipz You get lucky. She was an electronics tech as well. So she was quite aware of the need for good tools. I had pretty much carte blanch to get any tool I needed to get a job done. When the first 18 V cordless tools came along, she told me to upgrade all of my 12 V ones.

​@@scottydog1313 I remember my Dad buying me (and himself) a 14.4 Dewalt Drill/Driver in early 95 right after I graduated high school and started working at his locksmith shop in Houston. I'd went 18v and then 20v over the years and run essentially every option....expensive, cheap, awesome, shitty, you name it. I actually still use that DeWalt my old man gave me for minor stuff around the house, although I can't make myself use his.

too long make your point!

Terrific analysis of this play, 'covered all the bases' as it were. 👌

It seems like a simple play because professional ball players are amazingly good. Likewise, outstanding breakdown. Thanks!

same way I teach it

​@@timgriffith9333, I'm torn here. In spirit, I couldn't agree more. When the rubber meets the road, however, It kind of makes me think of war: When you are trying to defeat your enemy, are there really rules? When I started playing hockey goalie, I felt uncomfortable about lying and and telling someone that the puck didn't go in the net when I knew it did on a few occasions. Obviously, my teammates got p***** when I said that it went in because no referee is going to disallow a goal that the goaltender himself says was a goal. I learned to just not speak in those situations to avoid creating bad energy with my own teammates; however, once I started playing for money I knew for a fact that telling the truth in a situation like that would do more than damage my chemistry with my teammates- it would end my career. Just like this play has so much to consider in it's breakdown, so does the consideration of whether or not you should interfere with an opponent's ability to successfully beat you, possibly even in ways that take a chance that you'll get in trouble or that you are knowingly doing something that defies the paper-rules of the game. Again, in spirit, I could not agree more; in a perfect world, you would run straight at the base and shake your opponent's hand if he throws you out! Blessings 🙏🏾

@@pauls.2308 but no rules are being broken, the runner isn’t cheating at all! (As explained in the video) this is part of the game! Edit: now he can really shake the opponents’ hands for throwing him out despite his best efforts

Absolutely. And this is a great breakdown but Antonelli focuses a lot on the runner hoping to catch the ball in his back; really he’s forcing a tough play that could fail in other ways such as the third baseman’s challenging throw instead sailing right of the catcher to the backstop, or simply blocking the catchers vision of the ball; but well executed by the defense despite all this.

I ALWAYS LIKED PLAYING INFIELD, THINKING IN TERMS OF AN AGGRESSIVE DEFENSIVE MINDSET, AN OFFENSIVE, DEFENSIVE WAY OF THINKING. THAT ALWAYS FOSTERS CONFIDENCE, IN A PLAYER'S DEFENSIVE ABILITIES. ALWAYS PLAY DEFENSE, ON YOUR TOES, NOT YOUR HEELS.

There’s a major league third baseman who knows how to play his position, anticipate possible scenarios, and react instantly and properly to a rapidly developing play. And a smart runner who tried to maximize his advantage.

The runner made a mistake, he did not run right at the catcher, to much inside. With the way the catcher is squared up withe third base line and reading his eyes ,(his eyes will go to the ball,) the runner can get an idea of where the fielder is and the direction of the thrown ball. I thought the explanation of the play was excellent. Good job on explaining the runners path to the plate, where he can go and at what time he has to come in line with the base path. Also very good at sharing the contact play used by teams, when and why it might be used. I played all the way up through one year in college. Then, umpired for a few years. A lot of people, for lots of reasons,, do not know the rules or the game. What is incredible is the ridiculous comments made by some thinking they do understand it. Again. If I may, great job here with your explanation in breaking down this play. Enjoyed your presentation.

A very instinctive play. Well done.

Yeah the runner didn't guess to far in, he made the 3rd baseman take step to the right and side arm the throw to get it around him.

Great play at 3b.

line of sight*, not line of site.

This is standard play that any HS player should know.

@@mkwy8782HAHA I played baseball for decades. High school, legion and college, and a senior league from age 28 to 48. I was an above average player and played with lots of really good players. Even players that played minor league ball. If you think the average high school player can do what this third baseman did here every time you don’t really know baseball. This is a professional play that a major leaguer will make 3 out of 4 times. A high school player will make it 1 out of 4 times. That’s the difference between a really good player and a major leaguer.

same for me, i did not realize the base runner could do so. I just assumed they'd be out because of purposeful running out of the baseline. I'd be curious to know what the actual "out of the baseline" running rule is.

ONLY AT FIRST BASE, IS THE POTENTIAL BASEPATH/BASELINE, CLEARLY ESTABLISHED, AHEAD OF A PLAY. AS A THIRD BASEMAN, YOU SOMETIMES SEE, ESPECIALLY ON MANY OUTFIELD THROWS FROM THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE OUTFIELD, TAKING A THROW WHILE OUT AHEAD OF THE BASE, CAN GIVE YOU A BETTER CHANCE OF TAGGING OUT A BASE RUNNER, TRYING TO SLIDE INTO THIRD BASE. FOR ONE THING, YOU GET THE THROW FROM THE OUTFIELDER, OR CUT-OF-MAN, 1/2 OF A SECOND EARLIER. SECONDLY, SUCH A MOVE MIGHT BE A SURPRISE, A THIRD BASE COACH, OR THE BASERUNNER COMING IN, MAY NOT EXPECT, THIRDLY, IT MAY NEGATE ANY ATTEMPT BY THE BASERUNNER, SLIDING IN, TO "BLOCK" A THROWN BASEBALL, INTERFERRING WITH THE THIRD BASEMAN'S PATH TO CATCHING THE BASEBALL, AND THEN MAKING A CLEAN TAG.

@@dallasmuzikboy THE RULE MAY STILL HOLD FOR 3 FEET, WHEN A BASERUNNER IS TRYING TO AVOID A TAG PLAY, BUT, BUT, IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A PLAY, A BASERUNNER HAS THE RIGHT TO MOVE FURTHER OUT, TO ESTABLISH THEIR OWN LINE OF ATTACK, WHEN MOVING TOWARDS A BASE. SAY YOU ARE ON SECOND (NO OUTS, NO ONE ON FIRST BASE), WITH A GOOD LEAD, A BALL IS HIT SHARPLY TO THE SHORTSTOP HOLE, SINCE YOUR BACK IS TO THE PLAY, AS YOU MOVE TO THIRD, MAKE A WIDE OUTSIDE TURN, TO MAYBE GET HIT BY A SHORTSTOP'S THROW TO THIRD, AN "UNINTENTIONAL" BLOCK OF THE BASEBALL, RIGHT? THAT CAN ALSO BLOCK THE THIRD BASEMAN'S SIGHT OF THE BASEBALL THROW, FROM THE SHORTSTOP, ALSO, "UNINTENTIONAL", BY YOU, THE BASERUNNER, BECAUSE, YOUR BACK IS TO THE PLAY. NOW, DO NOT LOOK BACK, OVER YOUR SHOULDER, ON SUCH A PLAY. WHAT YOU CAN NOT SEE, IN BASEBALL, YOU CAN NOT "INTENTIONALLY" BE TRYING TO BLOCK.

@@dallasmuzikboyThe runner's base path is established when a tag is attempted and is a straight line from his position to the base he is headed to. If he deviates more than 3 feet to avoid a tag, he is out. If no tag is being attempted, the runner can run wherever he wishes.

@@dallasmuzikboy explained in the video at 3:40

WE KNEW MARK, THROUGH LARRY CAHN, A COACH IN LONG BEACH. WE TALKED TO HIM AT DODGER GAMES, WE SAT AT THE FOUL POLE, NEXT TO THE BULLPEN, IN "BAKERSFIELD" (DUSTY BAKER). I PLAYED SPORTS, AS AN OILER (COACH MOATS), THERE. AS A LITTLE LEAGUER, SEAL BEACH SEALS, MY DAD, OUR COACH, PRACTICED SITUATIONAL BASEBALL. WE HAD VARYING RUNNERS PUT ON VARYING BASES, VARIED THE SCORE, VARIED THE INNING, VARIED THE NUMBER OF OUTS. MY FATHER HIT THE BASEBALL, TO VARIOUS PLACES, ON THE FIELD, THE RUNNERS MOVED (WE KNEW THE FOOT SPEEDS OF ALL OUR RUNNERS), AND US LITTLE LEAUGERS, MADE THE BEST POSSIBLE PLAYS, STRATEGICALLY, WE THOUGHT WOULD BE BEST PLAYS. WE LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT THE VARIOUS RULES, STRATEGY, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION, THE INNING AND THE SCORE. WE WERE TAUGHT MANY OBSCURE RULES, AS WELL.

Nope,not instinctive.Many hours ,years ,studying situation ball,but always thinking ahead

@@robertmaxwell3220 Lots of athletic instinct involved. Practice, yes. Situational study, yes. But also pure instinct.

Agree with everything you said about the play except this throw is maybe 25 yards since the 3rd baseman is on the infield grass when he throws the ball.

@@davidroman1654 Oh I was just talking about a third to first throw. One hop down the line with a back hand snag to turn and throw out the runner is an incredibly athletic play, was using it just for an example. This play here was a another fun play to watch as a fan of course.

You're right in that it probably wasn't a forced out play but that doesn't mean the runner on third couldn't make the run home. There are other "runners on base" scenarios with the current batter lineup where running home makes sense. Also, this could even be a forced out situation given what is on the video. The catcher may have thought he was off the plate and it was quicker to make a tag than it would be to fumble blindly for the foot touch.

Thanks!!!

With all the information you gave us, I wouldn't call that a good base running because there was a chance to get the base loaded with just one out or if the throw attempted to first base then he could have tried to steal home.

@@อัครัตน์จารุมณี i have a friend that works in the analytics department of an MLB team. He once said “if theres a play at the plate, its already the right decision” and thats changed my perspective. Theres probably a 65% chance of executing between the difficult hop, the difficult throw and the difficult tag all applying versus 98% chance out at first and you dont really lose that much. It was good baserunning imo

​@@อัครัตน์จารุมณี That might have been a better option in hindsight, but only because the 3B played this literally perfectly. 95 times out of 100, that's a run.

Thank you for this additional information. This clarifies that the runner on third, indeed, made the correct decision. With runners on 2nd and 3rd this is a running on contact play. Here, you make the defense execute a difficult play-if they so choose. And worst case scenario you end up with runners on 1st and 3rd.

You had bad coaches :)

My best coach,a guy that had played with Manny Sangillian , would.give us an hour of verbal situation baseball after practice and windsprints.We went undefeated that year!😊

He spouts some error so double check what he says vin regard to rules.

There used to be a series of books called "So you think you know baseball". Almost everyone who read it realized that they did NOT know baseball rules very well. Baseball has by far the most complex set of rules - and less than 1/10 of 1% actually know them. I think the people who did not know this rule just assumed that because there is a running lane going to first, there must be a lane from third to home. This same situation happened on April 12 in the Braves/Reds game. The Braves announcers gave a correct explanation of the rule.

Also, I don't think the runner really had a chance unless he blocked the throw. You can see the catcher is standing on the plate, steps forward to catch the ball and then tags the runner well in front of him, probably 4 feet from the plate. The catcher and third baseman deked and worked around him perfectly.

I don't see that he ran toward the catcher's glove. Looks like he ran where he thought he'd be in between the fielder and the catcher, making the throw going to the left or right of the runner. I'd think after that was done, then you'd next be looking at his glove to try to get in the line of the throw. Left or right.

You have to setup basically on the side of the plate then enter the lane when you have the ball. Typically the catcher will go in front of the plate as that's where the throws come from - and give a lane to the back side of the plate to the runner. Most runner who round third swing wide and come at the plate through the batter's box. This situation was different as the runner came so far to the front of the plate. But the runner still had access to the plate as you can see.

Word. Especially when you’re aware of the stratospheric levels above average at which the “average” professional plays. They’re so smooth (like 30,000 rep smooth) we delude ourselves into thinking it’s easy. Then we go out and take a routine two-hopper off our shoe top, wrist, elbow, and chin, then wing the ball 53mph into the parking lot somewhere in the neighboring zip code of 1B.

Prep should be embarrassed by the length of this video; sounds more like a PVMHS grad.

Yeah he got better at lowering the time with his newer videos

No kidding

…because electing to spend mass amounts of time talking about the sport is so NOT what baseball is all about. Riiight. No point in actually sitting through the games either, then: might as well just watch the recap after it's over. easy peasy.

Not the running lane, the runner's base path is established when a tag is attempted.

This happens all the time on a bunt and the runner runs inside for the same reason.

​@@oscarwinner2034 but running to first is different. You run inside the "3 foot line" and interfere, you "Should" be called out. You can be called out at any base really, say the runner throws his hands up to block the throw even if he (she) acts as if it were 'natural'... If the umps deam it 'on purpose' then the runner could be called out... And everyone says what a terrible call it is. Lol. Friggin Internet, the world of 50/50.

Base path only comes into play once the defender has the ball and is trying to attempt a tag.

No. Runners are free to choose their own path to a base until a fielder is in possession of the ball and a tag attempt is imminent. At that point, they are restricted to +/- 3 feet from a direct line from their position to the base.

There is no base path until the defender attempts to make a play on the runner. That’s when it’s created. The runner can go all the way to centre field if he wants if there was no attempt in him.

You are all not seeing what I asked..if no tag on the runner is necessary, i.e. force play, does this still apply

@@Joehammy77 No, it does not apply. "Out of the baseline" is only for avoiding a fielder trying to tag you. But remember on force plays, there's usually a force play slide rule you have to adhere to that doesn't exist in MLB. Also the veering into the throwing lane COULD be deemed intentional interference by the umpire, but most likely will not be called.

He was supposed to be reading the catchers glove-he could have done better.

You're such an expert that this is depressing. Must be tough having all your knowledge

Y hi is was a very redundant video but I guess it’s toll needed? 😢 oh well moving on

@@DAatDA I'm reminded of that "Fools rush in..." proverb. I love how the morons and ignorant people in this site self-identify, so that we don't have to discern how little they know by the context of their commentary.

@@teebob21 Elvis Presley song. Music by Rube Bloom and lyrics by the great Johnny Mercer. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Ignorant simpletons are intimidated by people with knowledge

@@DAatDA you are embarrassing yourself.

I think you're right, but Reynolds followed his training and tried to take away the angle. It didn't work out this time, but in many situations it would be better.

Staying on or just outside the line also increases the chances of being able to sneak a hand or foot in ahead of the tag on the slide.

True, it comes down to whether you want to make more work for the fielder or the catcher, and since the fielder made it clear that choosing the former didn't work, then yeah! But hindsight is 20/20.

Reynolds made a great play. He is out because the hitter hit the ball to absolutely the worst place he could. Just bad luck.

I don’t think so, when the ball was caught he was still nearly 2 full strides away from home, even straight lining it the whole way wouldn’t account for that

I’m commenting on my own post. I didn’t realize that was the 3rd baseman, I thought pitcher. But you do make comment on the play.

You may need to get your ears checked

I hear it too!

that's what I was thinking. He was so focused on getting in the way of the throwing path that he increased his route by like 20-30%

Not really. He was at most 6 feet from the basepath, so assuming the straight line is 80 feet and using Pythagoras, if you assume he got 6 feet away at the midpoint it adds less than 1 foot of extra distance.

Perhaps. Let's say he cut inside by 6 feet at the farthest, and (roughly) 15 feet from the plate he cut back in and ran straight for the plate. That's an extra distance of about 1.4 feet, or about 17 inches (calculated by drawing two right triangles and doing the Pythagorean theorem on each). His path will be a bit longer if he takes a more natural curved path, but then again, it looks like he cut inside only about 4 feet, so the true length was probably close to 1.4 feet, or even less. If he's running 20 feet per second, it costs him about 70 milliseconds. If the off-balance throw is 70 mph, the ball passes him about 7 feet farther away from the plate than it would if he ran straight. (Yes, I do have too much free time.)

I hear yall. But in this play, he might have known that he had a better chance of being safe if he crossed over the lane to make the throw more difficult for the 3rd Baseman. But the 3rd baseman made a hell of a throw, so much props for that. I guess its one of those plays where you take the gamble?

By a fraction of a second, yes. But by blocking the thrower, he forces the 3rd baseman to alter his throw, which buys him far more time than he loses.

Nope, not under current interpretations of the definition of interference. Intentional interference requires an act. The runner is free to choose his basepath between bases, provided that there is no fielder in possession of the ball between the runner and the base to which they are advancing.

@@teebob21 Intentionally running that far out of the shortest path to home could be construed as an act.

@@gscurd75 Not by any competent umpire, it wouldn't. The path was chosen before the ball was thrown. The runner committed no intentional act to interfere with the thrown ball itself. You're right that the path to the base was chosen intentionally to make the throw more difficult, but that in itself is not illegal.

@@teebob21 The 3rd base umpire signaled the runner out of the lane.

@@williammaddock9179 LMAO no he didn't. He signaled a fair ball.

Good question, but no it doesn't affect the base path rule if the bases are loaded.

Catcher had the ball (and, catcher wasn't in the running lane). AND, the runner ran inside (or, beyond the running lane) - it would have been interference if he got plucked with the ball.

@@larrysquires5321 There is no running lane between third base and the plate. The runner would not be out if he is hit by a thrown ball unless he does something intentional to interfere.