Quote Originally Posted by HSVDawg View Post
Yeah, I can't say I agree with it either. But the rules of baseball are older than time and I don't see them ever changing.

It does have at least some basis in practicality though. Say the bases are loaded and a sharp grounder is hit to the 3rd baseman who is playing close to the bag. If he steps on 3rd before throwing home, technically the runner on third can reverse course and head back to the bag to avoid the play at the plate with no harm done (which he could not do if the 3rd baseman did not step on the bag). The same concept applies to middle outs recorded at any other base. It just doesn't happen very often in live ball situations because the runners who are forced along often have to commit to taking the base before realizing if they are truly a force out or not.
I have no problem with a guy touching the bag to unforce a runner. At least the runner in that situation has a choice of what to do. In our situation our runner on third would have had no choice if they said the ball hit our runner on second. In my opinion, if the ball hits a runner it should just stay a live ball and be played out with the ump calling the baserunner out who got hit by the ball. Let the play just continue on and be played out. No rule should take the winning run away from a team on a play like last night.