Tag (baseball)

In baseball, a tag out, sometimes just called a tag, is a play in which a baserunner is out because he is touched by the fielder who is holding a live ball either in hand or glove while the runner is advancing.

In baseball, a runner must sometimes advance to the next base because a batter, advancing to first, forces that runner to advance ahead of him to the next base. Two runners are not allowed on one base at one time, so a batter can, in effect, bumper-car a runner forward. Such a runner is spoken of as having been forced to the next base. A defensive play against that runner is called a force play and, if successful, a force out. In force plays, there are two ways a fielder can get a runner out: 1) with the ball in hand, simply touching or stepping on the targeted base before the runner does; 2) with the ball in hand, tagging the runner while they are running in between bases (more on the latter conditon below; both of which are considered a forced out).

A batter can also advance to the next base because he chooses to. For example, suppose, with a runner on first, the batter hits a groundball single into the outfield. As the batter runs to first, the runner on first is forced to advance ahead of him to second. However, that runner can then choose to run past second and on to third. In this situation, a defensive play against such an unforced runner will be called a tag play and, if successful, a tag out. To get the runner out on a tag play, the fielder must tag him with the ball before the runner gets to the targeted base. Tag plays are much more difficult to execute than force plays.

Tag plays can also be utilized in other cases when the runner is in jeopardy. A baserunner is in jeopardy when:

A tag is therefore the most common way to retire baserunners who are not in danger of being forced out, but as noted above, a tag can put runners out on a forced play as well (in lieu of stepping on a force base in a forced play). Additionally, a tag out can be used on an appeal play.

Runners attempting to advance are sometimes thrown out, which means that a fielder throws the ball to someone covering the base, who then tags the runner before the runner touches the base. A runner who leads off a base too far might be picked off; that is, the pitcher throws to a fielder covering the base, who then tags the runner out.

When a runner is tagged out, a farther advanced runner who had been forced to advance no longer has to do so. For example, when a sharply hit ball is caught on one hop by the first baseman, he might immediately tag out the runner at first who is forced to advance to second; but when this is done a runner already at second is no longer forced to advance to third base. The result of such a tag is called "removing the force".

...
Wikipedia