Safety base

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Had a rules question come up in a fall league game yesterday. Thought I understood rule but an umpire who I thought should know insisted he was correct and I was wrong. Throw from infielder pulled first baseman off the white bag and on to the orange bag (runner's safety base). Umpire called runner out ... I said fielder must be on white bag and runner was safe. We had this same thing happen during the summer and the call went the opposite direction. Safe or out? Is this in the rule book somewhere because I couldn't find it?

 

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Girl should be safe as far as I know that rule. The orange saftey bag is for the runner only and is not to be used by the fielder at all. I do not know where the rule is in the books, but that is how I know the rule and that's how it has always been used whenever I have watched a softball game.

 

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Normally, the orange is for the runner and white - the fielder. However, when the throw takes the fielder to the orange side, the true purpose of the double base comes into play. The positions switch, and the fielder takes the orange and runner the white.

 

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Had a similar instance this summer and the runner was called
safe. It wasn't till after the tournament that we found it in the rule book stating the first baseman can utilize the safety
base. I can't remember the wording exactly but I believe it
stated this is legal if the throw was coming from the first base
side. ie: a dropped third strike that goes to the catchers right
requiring a throw from foul territory.

 

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As long as the throw pulls the fielder to the orange bag the runner is still out. ?The fielder can't cover both bags interfering with the runner on a normal play. On a dropped third strike the fielder can take the orange bag and the runner has to go to the white bag.

 

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"ASA Rulebook, Rule 8,

Section 2: Batter-Runner is out,

paragraph M. When using the double base at first, the following rules should be enforced,

subparagraph 3. On any force out attempt from the foul side of first base, or an errant throw pulling the defense off of the base into foul ground, the defense and the batter-runner can use either the white or colored portion."

nuf said.

 

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Huh, I never knew that. Thanks for the info, I'll remember that come this summer.

 

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I can't find it right now, but I thought I read somewhere that the high school rules differed here and that for HS the fielder must always use the white base. I'll keep looking...

 

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We had a similar situation on Saturday at the Spano Dome. The NSA umpire said the fielder had to use the white bag.

Its my understanding that in ASA play the fielder can use either bag.

What is the rule for NSA?

 

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For NSA, it is a note.

The National Softball Association
GENERAL PLAYING RULES

RULE 8 ? BASERUNNING
NOTE: 1st base double base ? At facilities that use the official Orange safety bag at first base, the following rules will be implemented. If the first play is at first base, either from
the infield or outfield, a runner will be called out for touching the inside base. If the play is elsewhere, the inside base may be tagged in a continuation toward second (2nd) base.
The runner running toward first (1st) base may cross over to the inside bag to avoid a collision if a wild throw occurs. The fielder may tag the outside of the bag to record the out in this situation. This is only permissible on the initial play at first base. The inside bag will be used by the batter/runner/runner if attempting to get back to first (1st) base.

 

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I was coaching 1st base this past weekend. Girl puts a sac bunt down. The ball beat her to first base by atleast 5 steps. Her and I both assumed she was out. That wasn't the case. She was half way back to the bench when umpire informed me she was safe cause the fielder had used the orange bag. Of course, pitcher threw to first and tag the runner out before she could get back. OUT! In defense of rule book and umpire...The throw did not pull the 1st basemen to the orange bag. She just miss placed her foot. So according to the book she was safe...Of course until she was tagged out. I learned the hard way I guess. Atleast it was winter ball.

 

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I woudn't go by NSA... Their rules change depending on who you play for.

 

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Just a quick note that for 2006 ASA has rewritten the safety base rule. You can check out the changes on the ASA website. Basically, the double bag will now be treated as one huge base, and many of the restrictions about which side can be touched under which circumstances have been revised.

On the surface, these changes should make use of the safety base much simplier. Anytime you introduce a new rule, or modify an existing one, there is usually some confusion. I'm curious to see how this will play out next year, and would expect a learning curve as teams- and umpires- deal with these new rules.

Now, straying off the subject a bit (but, responding to a point in a previous post)...

I have had some of the strangest and most inconsistent rulings in games covered by NSA rules. Maybe there is a reason for this.

To the best of my knowledge, the training required to become an NSA umpire is non-existent. I thought that ASA was weak in that area, but what I've seen from ASA is light-years ahead of NSA.

Having had my ASA registration for a while, I was curious to see what it takes to get NSA registered. There is a lot of NSA ball in central Ohio, literally thousands of NSA slow pitch games each summer, and the NSA national tournament will be in Columbus next year.

I went to the NSA national website and found a link there for umpire information. If you want to be an NSA umpire, all you have to do is fill out a page of information and send $35 to a regional director. And that's it. Do that and you, too, can become an official NSA ump!

At least the local ASA requires you to attend a set number of rule interpretation classes each year. And, there are ASA national umpire classes that anyone can attend. But, from what I can tell, to become an NSA umpire all you need to do is send the cash!

If there are any NSA umpires out there with more insight into this, post and let us know if there are other requirements or training opportunities available to the NSA umps.

Since I'm on the subject, it has also been my experience that high school umpires have the strictest requirements and most thorough training. To get an NFHS license, you must past written rules tests and meet OHSAA requirements. Fail the test and you cannot become an umpire for high school ball.

 

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Brettman - how about a favor. Can you give me a link to the rule change you mentioned about making the safety base one big base? I read the code changes in 2006 on the ASA site and could not find it there. I read the 2006 changes listed on another site and it refers to Rule 8 - section M3. In that description it says the fielder must use white and the runner must use the colored bag. Our ASA reps down here are not very responsive when asked questions or I would cal them!!

Thanks in advance

 

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http://www.softball.org/umpires/pdf/06rulechangesandcomments.pdf

Scroll down to the rule changes under section #8. Note the comment at the end which says:

"Once you have passed first base the base now becomes one base made of a colored portion and a white portion, 30 by 15 vs. 15 by 15."

I was generalizing a bit when I said that the safety base will be treated as "one big base". There are still plays where the fielder is restricted to the white portion, with the colored portion going to the runner.

But, for many other plays, the double bag will be treated as essentially "one big base". Beginning in 2006, the runner will be able to use either base when:

- when rounding the base on a hit to the outfield.

- when returning to tag-up on a fly ball.

- when going back to a base to avoid a pick-off.

- when leading off.

- when returning to first after overrunning the bag.

These are all changes from the 2005 rules which always required the runner to use the white bag in each scenario.

I'm sure there will be some confusion at the beginning of the season. The 2006 rule books will be out soon and we can all brush-up before the season starts. By then, the players, coaches and umpires should all be on the same page! ;D