Editing Stolen base (section)

==Base-stealing technique==
Baseball's Rule 8 (The Pitcher) specifies the pitching procedure in detail.  For example, in the Set Position, the pitcher must "com[e] to a complete stop"; thereafter, "any natural motion associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without alteration or interruption."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2007/08_the_pitcher.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130226203349/http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2007/08_the_pitcher.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-26 |url-status=live|title=Rule 8.01(b)|work=mlb.com|access-date=July 14, 2017}}</ref>  A runner intending to "steal on the pitcher" breaks for the next base the moment the pitcher commits to pitch to home plate.  The pitcher cannot abort the pitch and try to put the runner out; this is a [[Balk (baseball)|balk]] under Rule 8.

If the runner breaks too soon (before the pitcher is obliged to complete a pitch), the pitcher may throw to a base rather than pitch, and the runner may be tagged out between the bases.  Past this moment, any delay in the runner's break makes it more likely that the [[Catcher (baseball)|catcher]], after receiving the pitch, will be able to throw the runner out at the destination base.

Before the pitch, the runner takes a ''lead'', walking several steps away from the base as a [[Head start (positioning)|head start]] toward the next base.  Even a runner who does not intend to steal takes a ''secondary lead'' of a few more steps, once the pitcher has legally committed to complete the pitch.

The pitcher may throw to the runner's base. The runner must return to that base or risk being tagged out. As well as putting the runner out, an underlying goal is to dissuade the runner from too big a lead; that is, to ''hold the runner on'' the original base. (Historically, this gambit could be used without limit. An MLB rules change in 2023 limited the pitcher to two throws; the pitcher must then pitch to the batter.)

The more adept base stealers are proficient at ''reading the pickoff'', meaning that they can detect certain ''tells'' (tell-tale signs) in a pitcher's pre-pitch movements or mannerisms that indicate the pickoff attempt is or is not imminent. For example, one experienced base stealer noted that careless pitchers dig the toes of their back foot into the ground when they are about to pitch in order to get a better push off, but when they intend to turn and throw a pickoff, they do not.<ref name="mahony1">Baseball Explained, by Phillip Mahony. McFarland Books, 2014. See [http://www.baseballexplained.com/ www.baseballexplained.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813034018/http://www.baseballexplained.com/ |date=2014-08-13 }}</ref>

If a batted ball is caught on the fly, the runner must return to his original base.  In this case, a runner trying to steal is more likely to be caught off his original base, resulting in a [[double play]].  This is a minor risk of a steal attempt.  It is offset by the fact that a ground ball double play is less likely.