force play at first

Joe asked: If a first baseman fields a ground ball and has the ball in his right but dives to tag the bag with his left, is the runner out?

Rick answered: The runner is out. The force is still intact, all that is required of the fielder is to have control of the baseball. With control, he can touch the base with any part of his body.

If the force is erased, then the tag must be made with the ball, either in his bare hand, or in his glove.

It is all about whether the force is still intact.

There is some additional information on another similar post in this section, as well as some added information in the comments section of that same post.

Yours in baseball,

Rick