Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a smart base for a baseball system or a softball system comprises a sensor to detect a first time at which a runner has touched the smart base, a radio-frequency (RF) receiver to receive a signal from a smart baseball that indicates a second time at which the smart baseball was caught, timing circuitry to detect if the second time occurs before or after the first time; and indicator circuitry to indicate a force out if the second time occurs before the first time.