Editing Force play (section)

==Explanation==
A forced runner's "force base" is the next base beyond his time-of-pitch base. Any play in which there is a successful attempt made by fielders to put a forced runner [[out (baseball)|out]] is a force play.

The forced runners can be compared to [[bumper cars]]. If, with a runner on first, the batter hits a ground ball, the batter may run to first, and since two runners are not allowed to stay on one base at one time, the runner who was on first to begin with is now bumped by the advancing batter over to second. If there already was a runner on second as well, that runner is now bumped over to third, and if the bases are loaded (i.e., there are runners on all three bases) then the runner on third must attempt to reach home plate. If a runner is bumped over to the next base by the advancing batter or by another runner who was bumped by the advancing batter, then that runner is considered to have been forced to advance to the next base. If however, with a runner on third, for example, the batter hits a ground ball, the batter may run to first, but the runner on third, not having been bumped by the batter, is not forced to advance and can stay where they are if they elect to do so.<ref name=BE>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=August 13, 2014 }}</ref>

Force plays, or force outs, are one of the two ways to get a runner out on a ground ball. For a fielder to get a forced runner out, he must, while possessing a batted fair ball, either (1) touch the base to which the forced runner must advance before the forced runner does so, or (2) [[Tag out|tag]] that runner before the runner touches that base. For example, with a runner on first, the batter hits a [[Batted ball#Ground ball|ground ball]] to the second baseman. The runner on first is forced to second. The second baseman can record an out by touching second base while possessing the ball or by tagging the runner before the runner touches second base.

===Removing the force===
A force on a runner is "removed" when the batter or a following runner (in other words, any runner behind him on the base-paths) is put out. This most often happens on [[fly out]]s—on such, the batter-runner is out, and the other runner(s) must return to their time-of-pitch base, known as [[tag up|tagging up]]. It also occasionally happens when a sharply hit ground ball is fielded by the first baseman, who then quickly steps on first base to put out the batter-runner. This removes the requirement that the runner already on first must advance to second base; he cannot be forced out by a defensive player holding the ball while touching second base, and the runner can try to escape from a [[rundown]] by returning to first base.

Force outs may also result from [[neighborhood play]]s.