Force or tag play?

Anonymous asked: Man on first. Line drive caught by first baseman in foul territory.

Is man on first out with a touch of the base, or does he need to be tagged?

Rick answered: Thank you for your question!

The rule which covers this situation is 8-2, Sec 2: Touching, occupancy and returning to a base.
Art 4...If a fair or foul batted ball is caught, other than a foul tip, each base runner shall touch his base after the batted ball has touched a fielder.

Rule 8-4-2i: The runner is out and the ball remains live if the runner does not retouch his base before a fielder tags him out or holds the ball while touching such base after any situation.

Runner will be out, whichever way the fielder makes the play. He can step on the bag for the double play, or he can tag the runner also.

The wording for this is hard to understand in the book; but my understanding, since the batted ball is foul, it is not the same as a fair ground ball, where once the first baseman steps on the bag to get the batter/runner, the force on the first base runner is removed and he must be tagged for the out.

The runner in this instance is required to retouch his base, so it is a continuous action play.

Yours in baseball,

Rick