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COMPREHENSIVE BASERUNNING: FUNDAMENTALS AND SITUATIONS Coaches generally spend a great majority of their time emphasizing hitting,
pitching, and defense. Solid fundamental baserunning is an aspect of the game
that is often overlooked, and as such, it is becoming somewhat of a lost art.
Of the voluminous aids (books, videotapes, DVD’s) that are available
to coaches it seems that a disproportionate few treat the subject of fundamental
and situational baserunning in an in-depth manner. While not all players are
blessed with outstanding speed, every player can learn to become a good baserunner
through practice, awareness, preparation, and hustle. This article presents
a comprehensive system for developing aggressive and intelligent baserunners.
The ideas contained herein are certainly not revolutionary; this system contains
information gathered from a number of sources over the years (I have attempted
to document the sources where possible) and from my own ideas, comprising
a baserunning philosophy based on common sense, hustle, anticipation, and
knowledge. PART I: BASERUNNING FUNDAMENTALS Scoring without the benefit of a hit. The “judiciously
aggressive” approach is based on the concept of being able to score
a baserunner without the benefit of a hit. With no outs, it is advantageous
for a baserunner to be on second base, from where he can score using a combination
of two groundouts or flyouts. Certainly a baserunner should take third base
regardless of the number of outs if there is no risk involved, but he should
not take a chance advancing from second to third with no outs. With one out,
it is advantageous to have a baserunner at third base, from where he can score
on a ground ball or fly ball. Therefore, a player is justified in taking a
chance in attempting to advance to third base with one out. With two outs,
a base hit is usually necessary to score any baserunner. Having a player in
scoring position is the goal in this situation, so taking a chance advancing
from second to third is not warranted with two outs. (Obviously, there are
certain plays [errors, passed balls/wild pitches] on which a player could
score from third and not from second with two outs; the point is that it’s
not worth taking a chance advancing to third in this situation unless you
are almost entirely certain to be safe.) It would be a prudent risk for a
player to take a chance advancing from first to second on a passed ball/wild
pitch with two outs, depending on the score and game situation, as this would
allow him to be in scoring position with two outs, where he can score on a
single. As will be discussed subsequently, understanding these concepts is
useful for a coach in determining when to send a runner on a potential sacrifice
fly, when to employ the contact play on a ground ball with a runner on third,
and in other instances. Baserunners must be aware of these situations (the
score, the count, the number of outs) at all times during a game as they are
often responsible for determining whether or not they should advance. Hustle. The underlying factor in all of the techniques described
herein is that baserunners must hustle at all times. This is one aspect of
the game at which all players, even those not blessed with elite speed, can
excel, and it is the first step toward becoming a solid baserunner. A player
should never run at anything less than full speed on the bases. Even if a
runner is certain to score on a play, he must run at full speed through home
plate as a trailing runner might be put out before a lackadaisical runner
reaches the plate. If this occurs with two outs, the run will be negated.
All players should get into the habit of running hard at all times, but they
must be judicious in trying to advance an extra base, keeping the game situation
in mind. For instance, on a single/possible double, the batter-runner should
not take a chance stretching a single into a double with two outs if a runner
is attempting to score from second on the play (unless the batter-runner is
trying to get into a rundown to allow the runner to score). If the batter-runner
makes an out before the run scores, the run will not count. Home to first (and second). Upon hitting a ground ball,
the batter-runner should immediately run hard out of the batters’ box
directly toward first base. On his second or third step, he should peek to
see if the ball has been fielded by an infielder. If the ball remains on the
infield, he should focus on the front part of the bag for the rest of his
trip to first – additional movement of the head (looking at the ball)
will only slow him down. The runner should take as straight of a path as possible
and touch the front part of the base (part closest to home plate) while leaning
slightly forward like a sprinter breaking the tape at the finish line (which
might influence an umpire’s decision on a close call). After touching
the base, the object is for the runner to stop his forward momentum as quickly
as possible; this is accomplished by lowering the hips and stutter-stepping.
The batter-runner must make sure NOT to begin slowing down until after he
has touched first base. While slowing his momentum, the runner should look
to his right for a potential overthrow. If an overthrow occurs and the runner
attempts to advance to second, he should take the straightest path possible
to the base and slide as late as is safely possible – this will give
the defensive player a more difficult target for his throw to second. The
same type of slide should be employed if a runner is picked off of first and
is trying to beat a throw to second. A batter-runner should never slide into
first base after hitting a ground ball unless trying to avoid a tag by the
first baseman; a runner slows himself down and has a greater risk of injury
when sliding into first base, particularly when sliding headfirst. Pre-pitch sequence. Prior to each pitch, baserunners must
do four things. First, they should receive the signs from the third-base coach
while standing on their respective bases. Second, they should make sure they
are aware of the game situation (the score, the count, the number of outs,
wind direction and velocity; check scoreboard or with coach or umpire if necessary).
Third, baserunners should check the defensive alignment, particularly the
positioning of the outfielders (this should be done before each pitch). Together
with the knowledge of the strength of the outfielders’ arms (this information
can be acquired by observing pre-game infield/outfield practice), knowing
the positioning of the outfielders allows the baserunner to visualize and
anticipate what fly balls will fall safely and which ones will be caught and
to get a better jump on potential base hits. I disagree with the ability for
a baserunner to get a good jump on a base hit, to go from first to third or
to score from second on a single, being referred to as “instinct”.
These skills can be taught and practiced (a discussion of practice points
of emphasis appears later in the article). 1 Players (with the help of their
base coaches) need to use their acquired information to visualize potential
situations before the pitch is made so they can react accordingly. Finally,
with this information in hand, baserunners should take their primary lead
from their bases. Baserunner’s line of vision. It is important that
a player never turn his head to look at the baseball when running the bases
as this action inevitably slows him down. For instance, on a double/possible
triple, or when advancing from first base on a base hit into the outfield,
if the ball is hit in the area from right-center to the left-field line, the
runner should be able to see the ball without turning his head and can therefore
make his own decision regarding continuing to third base. (Knowing where the
outfielders were playing on the pitch, the direction in which they are pursuing
the ball, and whether they throw right- or left-handed are helpful here as
well.) If the ball is hit in the area from right-center to the right-field
corner, the ball is not in the runner’s line of vision as he approaches
second base. In this situation, the baserunner should employ the “coach-bag-coach”
sequence: first pick up the third-base coach prior to reaching second to see
if he should continue to third, then focus on second base while touching it,
and finally pick up the third-base coach again to see if he is still being
waved to come to third. It is important for the runner to pick up the coach
before and after hitting the second-base bag as the coach may initially wave
the runner around second but subsequently hold him up. When advancing from
second to third to home, since the baseball is out of his line of vision,
the runner should rely fully on the third-base coach regarding advancement.
Secondary leads. Getting a good secondary lead is one of
the most important aspects of good baserunning. The important techniques to
consider regarding the secondary lead are that the runner needs to gain ground
on the secondary lead, which usually involves two sideways shuffle or “hop”
steps, and he needs to be balanced with both feet on the ground when the pitch
reaches the hitting zone. This balance allows the player to be fully prepared
to return to his base or advance to the next base as warranted.
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