Editing Stolen base (section)

=="Stealing first"==
{{Main|Uncaught third strike}}
While not recorded as a stolen base, the same dynamic between batter/runner and defense is on display in the case of an [[uncaught third strike]]. The batter/runner can avoid an [[out (baseball)|out]] and become a baserunner by reaching first base ahead of the throw. This case is a [[strikeout]] that is not an out; the batter/runner's acquisition of first base is scored as a [[passed ball]], a [[wild pitch]], or an [[error (baseball)|error]].<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/runner_7.jsp Official Rules: 7.00 The Runner]: 7.08(i), MLB.com.</ref>

In baseball's earlier decades, a runner on second base could "steal" first base, perhaps with the intention of drawing a throw that might allow a runner on third to score (a tactic famously employed by [[Germany Schaefer]]).  However, such a tactic was not recorded as a stolen base.  MLB rules now forbid running clockwise on the basepaths to "confuse the defense or make a travesty of the game".<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/runner_7.jsp Official Rules: 7.09 The Runner]: 7.0, MLB.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-11.</ref>  Further, after the pitcher assumes the pitching position, runners cannot return to any previous base.<ref name=stark>{{cite web|last=Stark|first=Jayson|title=Jean Segura should've been called out|url=http://www.espn.com/blog/jayson-stark/post/_/id/42/the-final-ruling-jean-segura-baserunning-misadventures|work=Jayson Stark Blog|publisher=ESPN|access-date=14 September 2018|date=2013-04-25}} (citing MLB Rule 7.01)</ref>

In a game on August 16, 1987, [[Toronto Blue Jays]] [[center fielder]] [[Lloyd Moseby]] successfully stole second base on a throwing error by [[Chicago White Sox]] [[catcher]] [[Carlton Fisk]] that went well into center field. However, [[shortstop]] [[Ozzie Guillen]] faked as if the batter had hit a [[Batted ball#Fly ball|popfly]], which would have required Moseby to [[Tag up|return to first base]] to avoid getting doubled off. Moseby made it back to first base, but another throwing error sent the ball to the infield wall, giving Moseby another chance to steal second, which he did.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} This chaos led the announcer to say, "He doesn't know where the throw is; he's going back to first base! Is he going to steal first? He steals first! Now he's going to steal second again! I've never seen it before!"<ref>{{cite AV media|title=Lloyd Moseby 'steals' second twice... on same play|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSLJu2tgOPc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/YSLJu2tgOPc| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live | via=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref> This bizarre play was officially scored as a baserunner advancing on a throwing error by the center fielder, ironically resulting in neither a stolen base awarded nor an error charged to the catcher.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chicago White Sox at Toronto Blue Jays Box Score, August 16, 1987|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR198708160.shtml|website=Baseball Reference}}</ref>

In a game on April 19, 2013,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=330419108 |title=Chicago Cubs vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Play By Play – April 19, 2013|work=espn.com |date=2013-04-19 |access-date=2017-07-14}}</ref> [[Milwaukee Brewers]] [[shortstop]] [[Jean Segura]] stole second base in the bottom of the eighth inning. After the batter up, [[Ryan Braun]], walked, Segura broke early for third base and the pitcher, [[Shawn Camp (baseball)|Shawn Camp]] of the [[Chicago Cubs]], threw ahead of him. As Segura was chased back to second base, Braun advanced to second as well and was tagged out. Segura, thinking ''he'' was out, began to return to the home dugout behind first base, but first base coach [[Garth Iorg]] directed him to stand at first. Segura had not intentionally run the bases backwards as a deception or mockery, but no fielder tried to tag him out.  Later in the inning, he attempted to steal second for the second time, but was thrown out by catcher [[Welington Castillo]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Stuart|title=Sorting Out a Reverse Trip on the Bases|url=https://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/sorting-out-a-reverse-trip-on-the-bases/|access-date=April 9, 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 25, 2013}}</ref>

The expression "You can't steal [[first base]]" is sometimes used in reference to a player who is fast but not very good at getting [[on-base percentage|on base]] in the first place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6604|title=Prospectus Q & A: Tim Raines|date=19 August 2007|access-date=2008-06-30|publisher=[[Baseball Prospectus]]}}</ref>

Former [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] and [[Seattle Mariners]] manager [[Lloyd McClendon]] is jokingly referred to as having "stolen first" in a June 26, 2001, game as the manager of the Pirates: after being [[ejection (sports)|ejected]] for disputing a call at first base, he yanked the base out of the ground and left the field with it, delaying the game.<ref>{{cite news|title=McClendon's 'Steal' Inspires Pirates|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-jun-27-sp-15187-story.html|access-date=April 9, 2018|work=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|date=June 27, 2001}}</ref> Of the incident, McClendon said "I told him he wasn't using it, so I thought I'd take it."<ref>{{cite web|title=17 Years Ago Today, Lloyd McClendon Stole First Base|date=26 June 2018|work=Deadspin|url=https://deadspin.com/17-years-ago-today-lloyd-mcclendon-stole-first-base-1827140549}}</ref> When a groundskeeper came out to replace the bag, the crowd booed him.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=McClendon ejected, takes first base|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhnoCkp2QUo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211110/rhnoCkp2QUo| archive-date=2021-11-10 | url-status=live | via=[[YouTube]] }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The [[Independent baseball league|independent]] [[Atlantic League of Professional Baseball|Atlantic League]] instituted a new rule for the second half of the 2019 season, allowing batters to become runners on any pitch not "caught in flight" by the catcher, as they can throughout baseball after most [[uncaught third strike]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=MLB, ALPB Announce Additional Rule Changes for Second Half|url=http://atlanticleague.com/mobile/about/press-releases/index.html?article_id=1237|access-date=July 14, 2019|work=Yahoo Sports|agency=Johnny Flores Jr|date=July 11, 2019}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On July 13, 2019, outfielder Tony Thomas of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs became the first player to reach first base under this rule. The press described this as "stealing first base",<ref>{{cite news|title=Atlantic League Batter Steals First Base for First Time in Pro Baseball History|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/atlantic-league-batter-steals-first-base-for-first-time-in-pro-baseball-history-031326652.html|access-date=July 14, 2019|work=Yahoo Sports|agency=Johnny Flores Jr|date=July 14, 2019}}</ref> though it is scored as described above.