Rules Question

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Yesterday had a player lay a bunt down it was in foul territory when she ran by the ball. The ball ended up in fair territory. My player ran almost to first stopped and hesitated and maybe took 1 step towards home then immediately returned to first . Umpire called her out for the step towards home he said it was illegal. No the ball was not in the circle, it was in the catchers hand 4 feet up the line. The reason she turned around somebody on the opposing bench or one of the spectators yelled foul ball, she turned around and seen umpire signalling fair and returned to first. The question is should she have been called out.

 

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Bad call.

Already this year I've had several questions about this rule. The actual rule says that a batter-runner may not step back toward home plate to avoid or delay a tag. It seems like a lot of people read the first part of the rule about stepping backwards, but neglect to read the second part about it being part of an effort to avoid or delay a tag.

To be considered as "avoiding or delaying a tag" the first thing you need is a fielder with possession of the ball who is actually attempting to touch the runner. Absent that, stepping back toward the plate is NOT a rule violation!

 

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Thank you. I was hoping you would answer this.