In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or forced) to vacate his time-of-pitch base--and thus try to advance to the next base--because the batter became a runner. A runner at first base is always forced to attempt to advance to second base when the batter becomes a runner. Runners at second or third base are forced only when all bases preceding their time-of-pitch base are occupied by other baserunners and the batter becomes a runner. Baseball is a team sport, in which a fist-sized ball is thrown by a defensive player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a round, smooth stick called a bat. ... In baseball, baserunning is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat. ... In baseball, the time of pitch is that instant when the pitcher has begun his pitching motion and, by the rules, has committed himself to throwing the pitch. ... In baseball, baserunning is the act of running around the bases performed by members of the team at bat. ... The position of the first baseman First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that players team. ... The position of the second baseman A second baseman often ranges onto the outfield grass to field a ground ball A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base. ... The position of the third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in the sport of baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base, the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in a counterclockwise succession in order to score a run. ...

A forced runner's force base is the base after his time-of-pitch base. Any attempt by fielders to put a forced runner out is called a force play. A forced runner is out (called a force out) when a fielder with the ball touches the runner's force base before the runner reaches that base. A forced runner also may be tagged out in the usual fashion as well; such a tag is still considered a force play if the tag is made before the runner reaches his force base. Any play on the batter-runner before he reaches first base is the same as a force play, though the rules technically do not include this in the definition of a force play. In baseball, an out occurs when the defensive team effects any of a number of different events, and the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. ... In baseball a tag out, sometimes just called a tag, is a play in which a baserunner is out because he is touched by the fielders hand holding a live ball while the runner is in jeopardy. ... In baseball and softball, batter-runner is a term for the batter during the play in which he/she becomes a baserunner. ...

Scoring on force outs

No run can be scored during the same continuous playing action as a force out for the third out, even if a runner reaches home plate before the third out is recorded. As a result, on a batted ball with two outs, fielders will nearly always ignore a runner trying to score, attempting instead to force out the batter or another runner. In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances safely around all three bases and returns safely to home plate. ... Home plate is the final base in baseball and related games that a player must touch to score. ...

An appeal play may also be a force play; for example, with runners on first and third bases and two out, suppose the batter gets a hit but the runner from first misses second base on the way to third. After a proper appeal, this runner will be called out. This is a force out because the runner was out for failing to touch a base to which he was forced; this force out is the third out and thus the run does not score. However, most appeals are not force plays, because appeals usually do not involve a forced runner. In baseball, an appeal play occurs when a member of the defensive team calls the attention of an umpire to an infraction which he would otherwise ignore. ...