Look Back Rule - ASA vs. OHSAA

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Is there a difference between the ASA and OHSAA Rule Books as it pertains to the Look Back rule? The following situation occurred in an ASA game this past weekend:

R1 is on 3rd base, two outs. B1 (a power hitter) is intentionally walked on four pitches. F2 throws the ball immediately back to F1 in the circle after ball four. As B1 jogs down to first base, a.) she rounds it turning left towards second base and comes to a complete stop a few feet off the bag while facing the pitcher who has possession of the ball in the circle. The pitcher is standing motionless and makes no attempt to raise an arm, let alone fake a throw. b.) After she hesitates for a couple seconds, B1 takes a step back towards first base, and as she is doing so is instructed to run to second base by her coach. c.) She then changes direction and runs towards second base. At this point, and only at this point, the pitcher F1 proceeds to make an attempt on the batter-runner B1 by throwing to F6 covering second base.

After reviewing the OHSAA Look Back Rule, my interpretation is that the batter-runner B1 should be declared out in situations a.), b.) and c.) above. Is there something unique/different in the ASA Look Back Rule that would require the ruling to be different? For example, do they require the pitcher to be on the pitching plate...or to have the ball in her glove and not in her hand, etc.?

 

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She is out. Cannot change once you commit. In this case, once she stops she should have gone one way or the other, not start back to first then go to second.

 

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The NFHS and ASA Look Back Rules are essentially identical- at least with respect to your play.

The only difference I'm aware of is well documented in the case books and interpretations, but would have no bearing on this play. In ASA, the LBR states that the pitcher must have "possession AND control" of the ball in the circle. That means that the ball must be securely held in the hand or glove. The NFHS rule says that the pitcher need only have "possession" of the ball. If the pitcher were to, say, place the ball and glove between her knees in an NFHS game, that satisfies their requirement of "possession" for the LBR. But it does not in an ASA game and the LBR would not be in effect.

As for your play...

a) The rule says that after rounding a base the runner may stop one time, then must "immediately" either return or advance to the next base. You say that this runner stopped for "a couple of seconds". Since there is no finite time limit associated with "immediately", the length of the runners stop is at the umpires judgment. Generally, we should give the runner enough time to locate the ball, access the situation and realize whether or not the LBR is in effect. As a rule of thumb, many umpires go with a silent count in their head of "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two" to gauge the length of the runner's stop. After that, she better be heading one way or the other!

So, on this part of the play...the runner could be out, if the umpire judges her stop was longer than "immediate". Might be ruled an out, might not be. But just the fact that she stopped isn't in itself a rule violation.

b) After the stop, the runner stepped back toward first base. This committs her to returning directly to first base. So as long as she returns directly to first base, without stopping or reversing direction a second time, she is fine.

c) Now we have a problem...This runner has already committed herself to first base. If she then reverses direction, she should be out under the Look Back Rule. The ball is dead, the runner is out and any other runners must return to the last base held at the time of the violation.

 

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Thanks for the response joed and bretman. I respect and appreciate your feedback. I guess the one area I still find a little open to interpretation (by the way it is worded in the OHSAA rulebook) is when a batter-runner "turns left and then comes to a stop" after being issued a walk. I know this has been a topic of discussion with our local association recently. Some interpret the act of going anywhere but straight through the bag to right field and turning right or returning directly to the bag, as an attempt to advance towards the next base.

 

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Nope, there is actually an illustration in I believe the NFHS rulebook that shows different examples and defines clearly what the rule is. I will always defer to bretman though, he will not lead you astray!

 

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All of those examples about a runner "turning to the left" or "turning to the right" when the pitcher gets the ball before the runner gets to first apply to a runner who overruns first base- that is, goes across the bag and straight up the foul line, without making any attempt to advance to second base. They are there only to illustrate possible ways that the Look Back Rule can apply when a runner overruns first base.

A runner rounding first base is something different and should always interpreted as an attempt to advance toward second.

 

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bretman...I thought a batter/runner could round first towards second and then still stop and reteat to first, correct?

 

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Well.........What was the on-field ruling????

 

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Umpire said the look back rule did not apply since the ball was received in F1s's glove on return throw from F2 and when she separated it by pulling it into her hand, even though the ball was held motionless down at her side, it constituted making an attempt.

Basically it seemed he was trying to justify missing the call to avoid embarrassment by trying to put that spin on it, IMO. (We were certain we had a black and white understanding of this rule from experience as we were burned on the receiving end of the exact same scenario in a previous game. One of our players rounded first and stopped and froze for a second or two and was called out for not "immediately returning to first base."). Then again, I'm not ASA certified so I thought there was the possibility that ASA had some wording or nuance that was different from OHSAA (NFHS) that would support the umpire's interpretation.

The plate umpire agreed that what I described above is what he witnessed, but said it was the field umpires call and he wasn't going to overturn it. To the plate umpire's defense, he did go talk with the field umpire, but the original call was not overturned.

 

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Yep, they blew the call.

 

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bretman...I thought a batter/runner could round first towards second and then still stop and reteat to first, correct?

Sure, she can do that. Again, you are talking about rounding the base.

There is a list of things that the runner can or can't do after overrunning the base (as in running across the bag and straight up the foul line) relating to the Look Back Rule.

 

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Umpire said the look back rule did not apply since the ball was received in F1s's glove on return throw from F2 and when she separated it by pulling it into her hand, even though the ball was held motionless down at her side, it constituted making an attempt.

While any "attempted play" is at the judgment of the umpires, I would be hard pressed to rule what you describe as "making a play".

There isn't any list of things a pitcher might do that constitute "making a play". A good rule of thumb is that any action by the pitcher that a runner might reasonably view as an attempt to put her out might be regarded as "making a play".

Raising the arm with the ball in the throwing hand is the classic example of faking, or making, a play. A pitcher taking a step toward the runner, as if she is going to exit the circle to attempt a tag, might be another.

But just standing there and removing the ball from her glove, while holding her arms at her side? I don't think so. If an umpire is judging that as "making a play"...I think that he is using poor judgment.

 

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I agree with you, bretman. Thanks for the response. We'll definitely review it in practice again this week!