Ask UEFL - Out of Base Path Considerations in Seattle

2B Umpire Tripp Gibson called Mariners baserunner R1 Eugenio Suarez out for running more than three feet away from his base path to avoid Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon's tag, giving us a chance to review baseball's out-of-the-base-path rules in our latest Ask the UEFL.

With runners on first and second base and one out during Saturday's Houston-Seattle game, Mariners batter Adam Frazier hit a soft grounder to F4 Dubon, who fielded it and immediately turned to try and tag R1 Suarez, who veered to his right to avoid the fielder.

In ruling Suarez out for runner more than three feet laterally to avoid Dubon's tag, we visit umpire Gibson's base path calculus.

The tag attempt here begins no earlier than when Dubon fields the baseball—as soon as the ball is no longer a batted ball, remember, the right-of-way rules switch to favor the runner, so if you were thinking the runner legally tried to avoid a fielder making a play on a batted ball, that would be slightly tardy.

Instead, when F4 Dubon first turns to try and tag R1 Suarez, we freeze our picture and draw a line from the runner to the base being progressed to (second base)—that's Suarez's base path. As long as that same fielder who has attempted a tag still has a potential tag play (remember, the fielder must retain the ball to have a potential tag play on the runner), the runner is restricted from trying to avoid the fielder by running more than three feet to the left or right of the established base path.

Note: We do not punish the defense for adapting and suddenly trying to play on another runner, if their failure to tag the primary runner was caused by the runner's illegal avoidance maneuver. If the fielder's sudden pivot toward another runner is caused by the first runner's three-foot or greater lateral movement, the proper call is out-of-the-base-path.

If the runner runs more than three feet to avoid the fielder—as U1 Gibson rules that R1 Suarez did here—the proper call is to declare the runner out pursuant to Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)(1), which calls for an out when the runner "runs more than three feet away from his base path to avoid being tagged unless his action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball. A runner’s base path is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base he is attempting to reach safely."

Recall that a baseline is a direct line between two bases (coinciding with the left and right field foul lines between home plate and third/first base, respectively) and has no bearing on this play.

A base path, on the other hand, is a direct line from the runner to the base being tried for, and is established at the moment of a tag attempt.

The base path "resets" or must be recalculated from the runner's new position every time the fielder throws the ball to someone else or makes another play. For instance, the base path resets every time a fielder throws the ball to a teammate during a rundown.

Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Tripp's out of the base path call in Seattle as runner avoids fielder (CCS)