Expert: Dennis Girardi - 5/17/2008

Question
when a runner is a base, and the pitcher delivers the ball to a batter that is in the age group of 9-10 (minors) the runner takes a lead.  the catcher posses the ball and runs the runner back to the base.  the pitcher is on the rubber when the catcher throws the ball back to him and the catcher is on his way back to the plate.  The runner takes off and succeeds in getting to the base.  Is this considered to be stealing the base?  I argued with the coach about this and he says that the catcher has to be ready to receive the ball. I said this is stealing because the runner was on the base at the time the pitcher got possession of the ball with his foot on the rubber. what is the correct answer. thank you

Answer
Hey Edward,

I had this exact problem in my 9 year old league.  I had to make a rule that once the pitch is made, runners could not advance unless they ran immediately.. We had a team that would run home from third base, everytime the catcher would throw the ball back to the pitcher. So the catchers around the league would begin to run the runner on third, back to the base after EVERY pitch.. The game would take forever, cause the catcher would do this the whole time when a runner reached 3rd base. So I changed the rule..
Yes, legally the run scores, but you can't expect a 9 year old to be that heads up..
The commissioner needs to know that there is a problem..
Good Luck..
Dennis