Umpires don't call the runner out for leaving the baseline, a breakdown

look at the overlay from Baz here.

That's the same pitch and then all of a

sudden not. So, Clement can't hold up on

the swing. He puts the next one in play

and Henderson botches it. Easy routine

ball. Can't come up with it. That puts

Ernie Clement on first. He's going to

What are they doing there? Fishing? Tiny

little fishing? Is that what they're

doing? Shane Baz not excited about that

cuz it should have just been an out. It

hits the side of his glove, thumb side,

and just pops up in the air. So, people

are frustrated already. They were up

big. They're up four nothing. Now, it's

four one. The inning continues. The next

batter slow chopper. Henderson again.

That happens. Then he throws it to the

first and then they're all mad because

the runner wasn't called out and they're

saying he's out. OH, [ __ ] NO. HEY, COME

ON, DAN. He's out of the [ __ ]

baseline. Now, everyone is at home that

reads the rulebook for funsies. They're

saying it's the base path, not the

baseline, Pete. And we'll get to that.

And then the umpire explains it to the

manager and he's just like, "Oh my god,

say it without giving me a headache,

please. What happened?" All right, so

let's break it down. Here's the play.

Ernie Clement is on first. He's running

to second and he sees that the shortstop

Henderson is coming in to field this

ball and if he continues to run

straight, they're going to collide. It

would LOOK LIKE THIS.

AND THEY'D CRASH. I actually found

footage of what would happen if he just

continued running straight from previous

plays that are very similar. Here's the

little collision and then they throw to

the first and he's safe there. Here's

another time where you just run straight

and you run into the out. So, that's not

the best thing to do. Easy double play.

What a lot of guys do when they're in

Clement's position here is they stop,

put on the brakes, wait and see.

Sometimes the fielders just go get you

out at second, but no double play. Other

times the runner puts on the brakes and

then gets tagged and they turn it.

Sometimes though, the stopping works

because you put on the brakes and

they tag you, but it took so long that

they have killed the double play. That's

kind of what is common. You stop, you

make it hard to be tagged, and then they

don't get both outs, they just get one.

Sometimes the fielders are smart and

they're like, "Ah, we'll worry about you

later." Throw it to first and then get

the guy out later on. That happens a

decent amount, too. Not a decent amount.

I watched 400 plays it happened twice or

three times right here. So, I'm showing

you every time it happens, so it's not

that much, but it happens. This is what

I remember runners doing and it kind of

becoming a fad where they just stop and

drop and make the tag hard or make a

miss the tag, but then you got to get up

and get a second fast, so it didn't work

there. But I remember runners just

stopping and going fetal position and

saying, "You got to come tag me." It

takes longer and you break up the double

play by doing that. Sometimes you do it

really well and they miss the tag, like

right there, and then you broke up the

double play. This is the best example,

10 years ago. We got Crawford running or

Teoscar batting and he ducks the tag.

They don't tag him and he's safe at

second. Clement did none of this. He did

not stop. He did not try to run straight

and beat the play. What he did was

something completely different and I did

find one other example of a runner doing

this. I'm going to show you that at the

end to see how the umpires handled that

one. What he does, as soon as he sees

it's happening, he changes his base

path. Now, a runner can change his base

path whenever. If he decides he wants to

round second, obviously he's going to

take a giant turn. It's paramount that

he does this before the tag attempt. Per

the rules, the runner can go wherever he

wants

before a tag attempt is being made, and

he's just creating a new base path. So,

had he waited to make his big sweeping

turn at this point, when the tag attempt

is being applied, he would be out of the

base path. But, he did it so much

earlier that he established a new base

path. Once the tag attempt is made, the

runner has to make a straight line back

to the bag. So, this is where it's a

little up for debate, but as soon as

that tag attempt is made right here, he

does plant his next step, plants on his

right foot, so he can cut back to the

base.

You know, the human body can't cut that

fast, but that's what he did. So, I

wanted to find all the other examples

where out of the base path was either

called or the managers wanted it called,

and I found a handful. We've got this

one where they want it called, but the

umpire say no, he didn't go out of the

baseline. And what you have here is he

didn't stop, he didn't turn, he didn't

duck. He's just saying, "I'm going to

beat the play." And yeah, you get 3 ft.

I think that is properly called. He did

not go out of the baseline or base path,

I should say. Now, this one, that tag

was never made, but they did call him

out for going out of the base path. And

this one, obviously,

he doesn't

create a new path until the tag is being

applied, and he gets 3 ft

of wiggle room, I think, cuz he landed

in the grass there.

You know, take where his right foot is

here and where his uh right foot is

there. I think that's more than 3 ft, so

the umpire say no, out of the base path

on that one. Here's another one where

they call out of the base path and again

you have the runner going straight

and it's when the tag is being applied

that he decides now I'm going to create

a new base path and they say, "Well,

that's illegal and you're out. You're

cheater and you've been caught." After

watching about 400 of these plays, this

is the only other one I've seen where

the runner changes his base path before

the tag attempt and there is not even

really a tag attempt. It's similar to

the Anderson tag, but even less and you

can see that he changes his route before

the tag attempt, if this is a tag

attempt by Miggy Roark in the glove and

he kind of looks at him and throws the

hand out just a little bit before coming

into his glove fan. I don't even know if

you count that as a tag attempt. It's

much less than the Henderson tag

attempt, but you can see from the

overhead that on his way to second

right there, you can see him change

stride, right there and he does a micro

loop, just enough to get out of

you know, a a tag from Miggy Roark.

Obviously, it's not as much as the

Clemente example that we have been

watching where he really goes around and

then comes back.

I think per the rules, they called this

correctly. It's just do the rules feel

right? Because what's going to happen is

if this play continues to happen,

runners are going to just create a crazy

base path before the tag is even able to

be applied or attempted. They're just

going to dart up towards the outfield

and then be like, "Come and get me." and

then there's no double play being

turned. So, I think it's, yeah, per the

way the rules are written now, which is

like a four-part rulebook, I think they

kind of got it correct, but I don't know

if this is what they want running and

avoiding tags to be. If you you a tag is

coming, you just create a crazy base

path before they fielder can even tag

you. And as I said, this inning started

4-0, it becomes 4-2, and now you've got

Ernie Clement on second base, and Shane

Baz is flustered and frustrated. He

gives up a single, Clement scores, they

try to get the runner at first, Pete

dives for him, can't get him.

Uh uh. Damn. Damn.

Come on.

MAKE A [ __ ] PITCH. LET'S GO. Buckle

down.

Nothing like a little pep talk, and then

the 3-2 pitch wants it to be the last

pitch of the inning. Instead, it's hit

to the wall, and we've got another

runner rounding all the bases, sliding

in, and a tie game. So, the two plays

really looming large, and then all the

other pitches he didn't make. So, he's

just he's he's out of the game. He's

frustrated.

He's staring at the umpire. Umpire's not

even paying attention. He says, "YOU

[ __ ] THAT UP."

HE'S STARING AT HIM. I'M LIKE, "You Did

you say something? What? Watch the video

later. I think I got it right."

Now he's in the dugout, and he's just

got to watch as, you know, he's still

got a runner to his name on second. That

ball's off the pitcher's foot,

ricochets, they can't get him. And now

the Blue Jays have taken the lead.

Went from inning-ending double play, no

call, and now it's all bad and sour and

not fun. What do you guys think? Did

they get it right per the rule?

Part two, do you agree with the rule?

Part three,

should I dye my facial hair bleach

blonde in support

and join Baz?

Answer to three is no. This breakdown is

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