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These links are all great baseball sites. But remember your way back to learningbaseball.com PopUp Quiz with Quips 'n' Quotes from this site. Below is a link for my convenience, but you're welcome to visit, of course:
_______________ | As a team we should expect
that every rundown ends with an out. At least when we are on defense.
Often the offense will sacrifice a trailing runner to a rundown in order to
score the lead runner, so we will also concentrate on preventing the run.
If our opponent scores because we are suckered into chasing one of them around,
then we lose that battle~ if not the game. In those situations we
would rather let the trailing runner advance than give up a run. Between 1st and 2nd.
Notice the whole team on the field moves. 1st moving out behind the runner should take away her ability to slide, so 1st's backups should be ready at the bag. Backups at 1st would likely take this order: Pitcher, Catcher, RF. Notice how Catcher and RF are lined up more behind the bag for an overthrow, but, using a rotating method for rundowns, each might be called to a turn at the bag. Either 2nd or SS would cover the second bag depending on what happened to lead up to the rundown and the previous communication between the them. Another reason why it's always important for the middle infielders to communicate before each play. 3rd and CF line up behind the middle infielders for the errant throw. The LF only gets involved if mistakes are made. If that happens and the team stays cool, we could still get an out. Between 2nd and 3rd.
Get the ball to 3rd. If the SS is not otherwise taken out of the play, he would take second and move toward the runner to take away her slide option, or tag her if possible. 3rd would throw to SS or his backup, 2nd. Remember we always want her going back to the previous base if we don't get her out. Catcher doesn't actually move up the line as far as the illustration shows, but remains alert for a bad throw, or a ricocheted ball, confident that his 1st is there to take his plate duties if necessary. The average misfire to 3rd would be handled by Pitcher or LF since they would have better body positions for a throw to the plate, and Catcher would be better padded for protecting same. Between 3rd and home.
Get the ball to our Catcher. The runner will probably dart for the plate if the ball goes by 3rd. Our LF or SS could easily fire a strike home for the out if he is ready for the overthrow. On this one if she advances, it's a run. Always be alert for trailing runners in any rundown situation. Sometimes it's right to give up your target to get another one out.
Again, some key points to remember:
As for the rundown between home and 1st, let the discretion of the moment dictate your actions. Your training, your practicing and being familiar with all the basic truths about rundowns, will teach you what needs to be done in these rare occurrences. There are different methods of defending rundowns. Illustrated below is our preferred method of following your throw. Some schools of thought say that only 2 defenders should be involved in a rundown. Many say a defender should peel-off and return to his base after he throws. Our method here basically uses 4 players to execute the rundown, and everyone else is there to backup. Running forward instead of circling around is preferred because it is more efficient. Practice Rundown Drill
After 1st throws to 2nd, he runs to backup SS. If 2nd throws to Pitcher, he runs to back him up. Make sure to run out of the way of the play. The Pitcher then takes the assignment of 1st and moves up to take away the slide. A practice routine for this method would start with 1st down the line, Pitcher at first, 2nd at second with SS ready to relieve him. 2nd starts with the ball because we always throw ahead of the runner. 2nd throws to 1st and runs to be ready behind the pitcher. 1st throws to SS and runs to back him up. SS throws to Pitcher, Pitcher to 1st, 1st to 2nd, and so on. Certainly in real life we would have tagged her out by this time, but it's a good idea to practice this drill so that everyone learns the right movements, paying special attention to the key points above. This drill should be practiced between each base and with the players involved as suggested by the illustrations above. Start each drill with players in their regular positions so everyone can see how the rundown defense develops. It should be practiced more without runners until team timing is developed. Then is should be practiced with one- and two-runner situations. *If there are other runners on at the time of a rundown, many assignments would be different. Remember, these are the basics. Good coaching and your learning will prepare you to make proper judgments. |
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