Based on this video.
Player running from first base, touches second, and continues on towards third. Player then retreats between first and second. Player changes his mind again, and wants to run to third. Does he have to touch second base again en route?
It seems to me that Rivera had acquired the right to second (per 7.01), and had not given that up by either reaching third or going back to first–and the ball was not caught, so no tag-up–so the whole dance around second is meaningless. He never had to go back at all, and having gone back, it didn’t matter how many times he touched the bag and which direction he was going.
i think that there is a base line thing that goes on. i mean just because you park one doesn’t mean that you can wander off into lala land and plant one on the center fielder. but that would be a hoot. imagine a run down where the dude trapped is the fatest fucker on the field. just fucking make a run for the dugout and the showers.
Per 7.08, the “baseline” for runners comes into play when a tag play is being attempted (as in the run-down), or if the runner is “obviously abandoning his effort to reach the next base,” which refers to heading for the dugout or a fielding position. Rivera was confused, but he was still attempting to advance on the bases and then score. The tag play part of the rule wouldn’t apply until an infielder had the ball.
I think 7.02 is fairly clear-cut: you must touch the bags in order and, if returning to a previous base, you must retouch them in reverse order. Once Rivera returned to second and continued onto the right side of the infield, he had to again touch second on his way to third to stay in sequence, just as surely as he would have had to touch second again if he had gone all the way back to first base. He forfeited his right to second once he crossed past it onto the first base side.
Incidentally, it looked to me like he was still confused as he was heading from second to third and like he wasn’t going full-out – as I recall, Ruben had pretty good wheels when he turned it on and he probably could have survived that brain fart at two bag pretty comfortably had he actually hustled his ass to third instead of loping along like an injured dog. The even-more inexcusable mistake was heading for home. His third base coach appeared to be pointing at third (and probably saying “Stay there!,” so he did that on his own, which is unusually dumb after getting away with a bad, bad mistake. I’m sincerely hoping Kangaroo Court hit him with a fine in the $500+ range for blowing it that completely with the game on the line in the bottom of the 9th.
But he didn’t return to a previous base. No other bases were involved.
7.02 refers to the order of the bases. You can’t be safe at third without touching second on the way. You can’t retreat and be safe again at first without touching second on the way back.
Look again at 7.01. The right to second is not forfeited until he is put out or forced to vacate for another runner (or, of course, until he himself touches another base, because one runner cannot occupy two bases).
You know what? After re-re-re-reading Part 7, I’m going to have to agree with you. 7.01 entitles the runner to the base until he’s put out or forced to vacate it and neither of those situations applied. 7.02 really only applies if he is forced to return, which he wasn’t. The next possible section to apply, I’d say, is 7.10 b) which says “Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when… b) With the ball in play, while advancing or returning to a base, he fails to touch each base in order before he, or a missed base, is tagged.” This might apply because he has begun the process of touching the bases in reverse order, but again, I think 7.01 might override this as he already has title to that bag and hasn’t made it all the way back to first. Hmmmmmm…
Then again, the umpires also could have invoked 7.08 i) and ruled Rivera out anyway: “After he has acquired legal possession of a base, he runs the bases in reverse order for the purpose of confusing the defense or making a travesty of the game. The umpire shall immediately call “Time” and declare the runner out.” Sure looked like a travesty to me…
Ah, Ruben Rivera. Couldn’t take an extra base, but he could help himself to the stuff in your locker.