Explaining Base Stealing in Baseball

Video Transcript

"In this clip we're going to talk about exactly what is base running and how do you steal a base. When you get on base what do you do? And the most important thing is remember not to get out. I mean it may sound simple but many times people run into outs, they, they're not thinking and the most important thing is, as a fan, to be sitting back and looking at how, you know, is that guy on first base going to try to steal second base which is the first thing I'll cover. Stealing second base is, as soon as a pitcher releases the ball, the man at first base who may have about a five foot lead off the first base, which you're allowed to do, will take off for second base and will run as fast as they can and usually slide into second base. The objective for the catcher is then to throw it to second base and try to get it there in time where either the shirt stop or the second baseman can apply a tag to the runner. The tag must be applied, it is not something where they can simply touch the base to record an out. They must be tagged before the runner touches the bag. And so that is stealing second base. And the same goes for stealing third base. And there are some people who are nuts enough to try to steal home. And many times that has to be very intricate, and there has to be talking ahead of time so the batter doesn't swing the bat and the whole deal. But, if you see that, believe me, you'll just look at the excitement and see that. I don't have to explain stealing home to you, it's pretty exciting. But the base running simply is not running into outs. And also, let's say a guy's on first and the next batter hits one out into the outfield. Many times, that runner on first will try to reach third base but remember, you have to touch second base on your way to third. And so many times they'll take, and they'll try to loop around so they can be running at a straight line into third. Now that may seem a little intricate but it's important to watch as a fan because if they take a bad angle on running that base, most likely they're going to be out at third because the outfielders usually have very good arms. They can throw the ball a very far way and very hard. So it's very important to watch how your runners are running around the bases to see if they're doing it properly so that they're going to be safe at their base."