TOUCHING THE RUNNER RULE
Several people have related plays in which the batter or a runner was called out for "high-fiving" or otherwise touching a teammate while rounding the bases after a homerun that was hit over the fence.
As long as all runners legally touch the bases while advancing to home, they can touch anybody they wish. The batter could be carried around the bases on the shoulders of his teammates as long as he comes down and touches each base as he reaches it and provided he is not physically assisted in returning to touch a missed base.
Rules 5.02 and 7.05(a) apply:
5.02 After the umpire calls "Play" the ball is alive and in play and remains alive and in play until for legal cause, or at the umpire's call of "Time" suspending play, the ball becomes dead. While the ball is dead no player may be put out, no bases may be run and no runs may be scored, except that runners may advance one or more bases as the result of acts which occurred while the ball was alive (such as, but not limited to a balk, an overthrow, interference, or a home run or other fair ball hit out of the playing field).
7.05 Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance
(a) To home base, scoring a run, if a fair ball goes out of the playing field in flight and he touched all bases legally; or if a fair ball which, in the umpire's judgment, would have gone out of the playing field in flight, is deflected by the act of a fielder in throwing his glove, cap, or any article of his apparel;
Touching all bases legally, means touching them in order and not missing any bases, and not passing a preceding runner or being passed by a following runner.
Rule 7.09(I) assistance by a coach only applies if the coach physically assists the runner by stopping him from touching the next base so he can correct the missing of a previous base. Interference is the act of interfering with a play. No play can occur when the ball is dead. The ball is dead when a homerun is hit over the fence.
Submitted by: Jim Booth
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