My son' league and some tourneys have a "catcher speed up rule" requiring a courtesy runner for the catcher if he is on base with 2 outs so he can get gear on.
According to the rule, the player who runs is "the last batted out."
Some tourneys follow international baseball Fed tie breaking rules, and have the two "last batted outs" take a base to start the second extra inning, the idea being to get some runs in quickly and end the game.
What does that term "last batted out" mean exactly? Is it the most recent guy not to reach safely without his turn at bat producing an out? If so, he may already be on base after a force play. It may not be anybody, if runners were thrown out stealing or trying to stretch a hit or if there was interference or something. If the team has batted around, it may turn out to be the guy who is up at the moment.
I overheard somebody say that when the situation occurs, this is negotiated by the managers and the umpires on the spot because of the vague wording and dizzying possibilities. You can see the potential for an argument if someone tries too hard to manipulate the setup.
Anybody have anything definitive?
In all candor, this was not one of baseball's best ideas.
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