Has anyone looked up the rules on base running regarding last night..

[RougeDawg]

And recognized that the ruling at the end of the game was bogus? At best, Craig was out of base line because he made a move toward 2nd before going back to touch 3rd and then to home. Because he didnt touch 3rd before scoring he was out according to rules.

You mean to tell me a player that beats out an infield hit, and makes a juke toward 2nd is any different? Do you people even know the rules of baseball? If the 1st baseman tags him, he's out.... It's apparent the announcers are not clear on the rules as well.

[Tbonewannabe]

Sounds like a Red Sox fan is still pissed. If Craig didn't get tripped up he is safe at home. He was almost safe anyway. The umpire didn't give him home automatically. The way you are talking is Craig tried to get tripped on purpose. It was more likely the 3rd baseman didn't get his legs down on purpose.

I am a Braves fan so I don't care who wins.
As I was watching it I thought the Cardinals were going to get screwed if the umps didn't call something.

That is my unbiased opinion.

[smootness]

Made a move toward 2nd?

Please...yeah, players always think about heading back to 2nd after being safe at 3rd. He was trying to get up after sliding. He stumbled a bit, and took a step backward; he wasn't 'juking' toward 2nd.

It was the right call. He was inside the baseline, and he was tripped. Regardless of the intent of Middlebrooks, he was obstructing the basepath and caused Allen to fall. If Allen doesn't fall, he is easily safe at home. You have to make that call there because it is the right call.

The rule at 1st doesn't apply here at all. A runner going to 1st is given the ability to run past the base; it is the only base they are given this. However, they are only given the ability to do this without being able to be tagged out if they are clearly making no attempt to advance. Once they make an attempt to advance, they can be tagged. That rule doesn't apply anywhere else because nowhere else on the field is the runner allowed to advance past the base and not be tagged out.

Craig wasn't attempting to advance to 2nd because that is insane. You're trying to also equate this to 'tagging up' on a fly ball, in which, if a runner has advanced more than one base extra and has to return to his original base, he must re-touch any base he has already advanced past.

That didn't happen here. It wasn't a fly ball, it wasn't a catch, he wasn't tagging, and he certainly wasn't trying to go back to 2nd.

That is a severe reach. He was safe because Middlebrooks obstructed him while in the basepath.

[TheRef]

To end this conversation once and for all, the Red Sox Manager was quoted after the game saying that it was the correct call. He didn't like it, but that it was correct. Joe Torre and MLB have announced that they will look at the rule during the offseason and decide whether a clause will be entered to involve intent. Until then, roll with the punches. And this is a Braves fan talking.

[chainedup_Dawg]

He made no move back to second. Just because he got up on the right side of the bag does not mean he made a move back to second. You, yourself said earlier that "he runner sets his own baseline". If the runner sets his own baseline then he cannot be "out of the baseline". He began his run toward the plate in a straight line, even though that line was at a slight angle it is still perfectly fine. The only way you are going to get a call of out of the baseline is if the runner starts his way toward the plate, "sets his baseline", and THEN alters said baseline in order to avoid a tag/ play. That did not happen

[CJDAWG85]

It looked to me like hesitation both ends with Middlebrooks trying to get up and Craig coming home as both were unsure of what the other was doing... Hate seeing a good game like that have that kind of ending...

[smootness]

It looked to me like hesitation both ends with Middlebrooks trying to get up and Craig coming home as both were unsure of what the other was doing... Hate seeing a good game like that have that kind of ending...

Craig wasn't really unsure, though. He just tripped. I agree that it stinks to have a game end that way, but it would have been worse had he been called out after that. Had everything gone normally, he would have been safe without problem.

I'm not a fan of them changing the rule to include intent, either. It gives the ump one more judgement to make, and it really shouldn't matter. Either the defensive player obstructed the runner or not; why should intent come into play?

You don't tell the batter he can't take first after being hit because the pitcher's intent wasn't to hit. You don't call a runner safe because he didn't mean to get hit by a batted ball. You don't call a batter out or refuse to give him 1st because the catcher didn't mean to interfere.

[CJDAWG85]

Oh I wasn't saying intent should be reason to not call it... Salty shouldn't have thrown it...