Minor League Rules
9-10 Year Old Players
Stealing Home Rule Clarifications:
*Note* This is a Brighton Cal Ripken Rule only. May be handled differently in other leagues/competitions.
The 60 ft base running rules in the Cal Ripken rule book reads as follows:
Rule: When a pitcher is in contact with the pitcher’s plate and in possession of the ball and the catcher is in the catcher’s box ready to receive delivery of the ball, base runners shall not leave their bases until the ball has been delivered and has reached home plate. Once the catcher has secured the ball and the runner has stopped his forward progress, the runner must immediately return to the base.
NOTE: The ball remains live and should the catcher make an errant throw (emphasis mine) to the pitcher or make a play on the runner, the runner can then attempt to advance.
How this applies to our "Ground Rule" of No stealing of Home.
1. A runner cannot advance home on a passed ball/wild pitch.
2. A runner CAN take a lead as the pitch crosses the plate (but cannot proceed home). If the Catcher misses the ball, once he retrieves and secures it, the player must retreat immediately to their base. They cannot "hang out" off the base and wait to see what happens with the throw or force a play by the catcher per rule.
3. If the catcher makes an "Errant Throw" to the pitcher, the runner may attempt to advance home at his own risk.
3.1. An "Errant Throw" will be defined as a throw that goes past the pitcher. If the pitcher drops the throw or knocks it down in front of him, the runner may not advance.
3.1.1. The errant throw must go well beyond the pitcher and will be at the discretion of the umpire. They will be instructed to error on the side of it NOT being an Errant throw.
3.1.2. Once the ball is secured by an infielder (pitcher or otherwise) and the runner has not begun the advance, the opportunity is passed and they must retreat to the bag unless there is another errant throw.
3.2 In order to be "legal" to steal, the runner will have needed to retreat back to the bag and be on the base at the time that the "Errant Throw" crosses the pitcher. This is similar to a baserunner waiting for it to reach the catcher on a steal of 2nd or 3rd base.
3.3 If the runner attempts to steal home, Players are not required to slide, but they MUST avoid contact (they cannot leap). If they make contact with a catcher making a play, it must be with a slide. It’s best to instruct them to slide every time.
Penalty for Infractions above. The baserunner is returned to their previous base. No out is recorded, except for 3.3 where the infractions will lead to the runner being called out for contact at the plate.
Coach Expectations for this rule:
In Majors, full stealing and base running rules are implemented, including stealing home. While we want kids to worry more about pitching than wild pitches, they need to learn what to do on a wild pitch.
Teach the pitcher on a ball past the catcher they need to “cover” home plate. Middle infielders need to move up and cover by the pitcher’s mound. If they do this correctly, even if there is an errant throw, the chance of the runner scoring would be limited. This is a proper skill that will translate to higher levels.
If you have a catcher that is All-Star worthy, have him work on stopping the pitches every time. Stealing home IS legal in All-Stars and the following year in Majors. Just because we have rules to allow all skill levels to participate, don’t use them as a crutch to not teach proper skills to the players!