Base running

[Schultzy]

Man on first, nobody out, batter hits a line drive. Do you freeze and see the ball through or run on contact?

Man on second base, nobody out, ground ball directly to the pitcher. Are you running or going back to the bag?

Base running must be taught very differently than it was thirty years ago. I've seen college base runners make easy outs every year lately and in this CWS final as well.

What ever happened to seeing the ball through the infield or at least past the pitcher when on 2nd base?

[Todd4State]

The first one, I assume you need to see the ball through. The only exception I can think of would be a hit and run. That's a tough one sometimes because I've seen guys get doubled off anyway depending on how hard the ball was hit.

The second scenario to me the biggest thing is making sure the runner at least makes the pitcher look the runner back for a split second before going to first. But in general, you want to be at least near the bag where you can get back if the pitcher decides to take a chance on getting the lead run out. The only exceptions I can think of would be if there was a hit and run on- which is probably pretty rare with a runner on second and no one out.

In general, baseball fundamentals have eroded.