| OCR Text |
Show ONE-BASE HITS t By JACK SIMPSON. X X f-H"--H--i'--H-'J-H-r'-i-H-- Two Runners on Same Ease. There seems to be a question of who has the right to a base occupied by two runners at the same time, making a difficult situation to a simple play. No rule in baseball permits a base runner to be deprived of a base he is legally entitled to. Suppose runners are on first and second bases and a double steal is put on. The play is made on the man going into third base. The runner realizes lie will be caught if he continues on to third base and makes an attempt to return to second base. He is caught in the trap but eludes the baseman and slides into second base, only to find it is now occupied by the runner who originally was on first base. The latter is forced to return to first base at the peril of being tagged out. If he regains first base without being tagged lie has a. legal right to hold it, although he hud held a preceding base. This is one instance where a base runner ran the bases in reverse order without automatically retiring himself. Wlieu two runnel's are standing on any base at the same time the man originally holding the base is the one entitled to it and the other can be retired by being tagged with the ball. The above cases apply to any of the bases only when base runners are not forced to proceed. When runners are forced to proceed by the batter becoming becom-ing a bie runner and two runners occupy the same base, the runner forced off the base can be retired by being tagged with the ball or tagging the base h was supposed to occupy. |
