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Oh, crap; I thought that part of the thread title was merely surplusage.
THE PLAY ON BR @ 1st IS NOT A FORCE PLAY. See: 2.00 "Force Play".
My questions related to what I thought your issue was, namely, when BR passes, but does not touch 1st base, is he called out immediately, or is it an appeal play?
My 1st question was, does timing matter? 'Cause I can see a case being made for banging BR out immediately in A [BR & ball arrive at the same (or virtually)instant]; whereas in B [BR clearly past base when ball arrives] things are gonna look peculiar if you call him out when the ball arrives after he is 2 steps past the bag: makes good sense to require some indication by F3 that they are appealing a missed touch.
My second question applies to both A & B, presuming you DO NOT bang him out in A. A similar discussion arose this spring about proper mechanics at Home plate when the runner fails to touch home: either with or without an attempted play at the plate, do you signal SAFE, or nothing?
[Edited by cbfoulds on Aug 6th, 2004 at 04:26 PM] [/B][/QUOTE]
I have witnessed that exact play at the plate regarding the runner missing the base on TV. The MLB umpire waits until the play is over to make a call. The catcher and runner usually both clue in and attempt "finish the play". The catcher's appeal must be made by tagging the runner and not by touching the plate. If the runner leaves the basepath and enters his dugout he clearly "abandons his efforts to score" and never touched the plate he cannot return to touch the plate and the catchers may at that time appeal the missed plate by touching the plate with the ball in his posesion before the next play.
If there is no appeal and a new play begins the run counts even though the scoring runner never touched the plate. I believe that his can be interpretated that the run scores (i.e home plate was touched)unless the play is apealed."innocent (safe) until proven guilty (out)" In the fist case at first base the late throw to the base can be seen in equivalence to a late tag at the plate. In both similar situations the umpires should react the same way and because the MLB umpires on TV always wait until the play is finished at the plate before making a call I think that the way Peter (AKA His High Holiness) deals with the play is the best way.
Jordan
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