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[This is part of a series exploring the Baseball Tarot. If you would like to prompt for a part of the game or a card from the deck, there's still plenty of space. Leave a comment with a prompt. All other comments are still welcome, of course.]
Every now and then, something weird happens in a baseball game. Maybe someone took an aggressive turn off of a single, and the artillery gunner in the outfield takes a shot at getting him before he gets back to the bag. Or there's what looks like an error in progress, only for a fielder to recover faster than expected and fire the ball to the next base well ahead of the runner. Or the pitcher is right about a runner trying to steal on their first motion, so that when they move to throw back instead, the runner is caught between two bases. Or a ball defined for home plate gets cut off and then sent to the base ahead of the runner thought they could get an extra base while the action was elsewhere.
What happens next is a rundown. To an outside eye, it looks a bit comical, as fielders take turns throwing the ball back and forth between each other, advancing closer to the runner with each exchange, forcing the runner to reverse their direction on each toss, switching players on each exchange until one fielder can tag the runner for an out. It's a game of monkey-in-the-middle that breaks out in a baseball game.
More often than not, rundowns are the result of a mental mistake by a runner - taking their turn too far toward second on a single, being fooled by a pickoff, trying to take a base they really shouldn't, or not realizing that what looks like an opportunity is going to be a trap if they try to take advantage of it. And rundowns usually start when the runner realises, too late, that they can't actually get where they want to go in time. The rundown then starts when they find out that can't get back, either. On some occasions, though, the attempt to create a rundown is intentional, a ploy to keep the defense distracted with their guaranteed out that they don't notice another runner attempting to take an extra base or score. In that case, if the rundown can be prolonged enough to get the run to score before the out is recorded, it will count toward their total of runs. This does not always work, especially if the other fielders are paying attention, but it does sometimes get tried.
So, in all of this comedy, why is the the runner making the defense go through with the whole thing? Well, because there's plenty of failure points all along the way. It only takes one botched throw to give the runner an opportunity to get out of the situation unharmed. Which is one of the reasons for the multiple fielders running the exchanges - they can help collect any loose or errant theirs and either continue the rundown, or throw to a fielder covering the badge to apply a tag. The multiple fielders also help contain the runner and keep them from beating a fielder in a foot race to a base - the ball can be thrown a lot faster than it can be run.
So why doesn't the runner try to run around the fielders? The rules say that runners have to stay within a particular corridor that is the direct lines from one base to another (with some wiggle room) and that leaving such a corridor makes the runner out, so that the fielders do not have to chase him all about the infield if they wish to tag her.
If this card shows up in a reading, you have to figure out whether you're the person in the middle or one of the defensive players. If you're in the middle, well, your job is to prolong things as much as possible, and look for any escape that you can get, but the odds are against you and you're probably going to be tagged out. Figure out what went wrong this time and learn from it so that you don't do it again. If you're in a decoy rundown, then your job is to sell it hard while someone else does the work.
If you're a fielder in the cavalcade, your plan worked and you have what you want in your sight. Sick to the plan and reel it in, using the help of others to make sure that it doesn't get away. Don't get excited and throw the ball away, and what you want will come to you. That said, be on the lookout for something else going on that is more important that you're not paying attention to right now, and you may have to shift gears quickly to get what would be best for you, or abandon the rundown entirely.
Every now and then, something weird happens in a baseball game. Maybe someone took an aggressive turn off of a single, and the artillery gunner in the outfield takes a shot at getting him before he gets back to the bag. Or there's what looks like an error in progress, only for a fielder to recover faster than expected and fire the ball to the next base well ahead of the runner. Or the pitcher is right about a runner trying to steal on their first motion, so that when they move to throw back instead, the runner is caught between two bases. Or a ball defined for home plate gets cut off and then sent to the base ahead of the runner thought they could get an extra base while the action was elsewhere.
What happens next is a rundown. To an outside eye, it looks a bit comical, as fielders take turns throwing the ball back and forth between each other, advancing closer to the runner with each exchange, forcing the runner to reverse their direction on each toss, switching players on each exchange until one fielder can tag the runner for an out. It's a game of monkey-in-the-middle that breaks out in a baseball game.
More often than not, rundowns are the result of a mental mistake by a runner - taking their turn too far toward second on a single, being fooled by a pickoff, trying to take a base they really shouldn't, or not realizing that what looks like an opportunity is going to be a trap if they try to take advantage of it. And rundowns usually start when the runner realises, too late, that they can't actually get where they want to go in time. The rundown then starts when they find out that can't get back, either. On some occasions, though, the attempt to create a rundown is intentional, a ploy to keep the defense distracted with their guaranteed out that they don't notice another runner attempting to take an extra base or score. In that case, if the rundown can be prolonged enough to get the run to score before the out is recorded, it will count toward their total of runs. This does not always work, especially if the other fielders are paying attention, but it does sometimes get tried.
So, in all of this comedy, why is the the runner making the defense go through with the whole thing? Well, because there's plenty of failure points all along the way. It only takes one botched throw to give the runner an opportunity to get out of the situation unharmed. Which is one of the reasons for the multiple fielders running the exchanges - they can help collect any loose or errant theirs and either continue the rundown, or throw to a fielder covering the badge to apply a tag. The multiple fielders also help contain the runner and keep them from beating a fielder in a foot race to a base - the ball can be thrown a lot faster than it can be run.
So why doesn't the runner try to run around the fielders? The rules say that runners have to stay within a particular corridor that is the direct lines from one base to another (with some wiggle room) and that leaving such a corridor makes the runner out, so that the fielders do not have to chase him all about the infield if they wish to tag her.
If this card shows up in a reading, you have to figure out whether you're the person in the middle or one of the defensive players. If you're in the middle, well, your job is to prolong things as much as possible, and look for any escape that you can get, but the odds are against you and you're probably going to be tagged out. Figure out what went wrong this time and learn from it so that you don't do it again. If you're in a decoy rundown, then your job is to sell it hard while someone else does the work.
If you're a fielder in the cavalcade, your plan worked and you have what you want in your sight. Sick to the plan and reel it in, using the help of others to make sure that it doesn't get away. Don't get excited and throw the ball away, and what you want will come to you. That said, be on the lookout for something else going on that is more important that you're not paying attention to right now, and you may have to shift gears quickly to get what would be best for you, or abandon the rundown entirely.
