[UmpJordan]

Originally posted by Rich Ives

The rules consistently treeat a missed base as requiring an appeal. If no appeal is made, the base is considered to have been touched.


7.10 Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when_
b) With the ball in play, while advancing or returning to a base, he fails to touch each base in order before he, or a missed base, is tagged.

See the approved rulings in 4.09

Approved Ruling: No run shall score during a play in which the third out is made by the batter runner before he touches first base. Example: One out, Jones on second, Smith on first. The batter, Brown, hits safely. Jones scores. Smith is out on the throw to the plate. Two outs. But Brown missed first base. The ball is thrown to first, an appeal is made, and Brown is out. Three outs. Since Jones crossed the plate during a play in which the third out was made by the batter runner before he touched first base, Jones' run does not count.


Approved Ruling: Two out, bases full, batter hits home run over fence. Batter, on appeal, is declared out for missing first base. Three outs. No run counts.

See PLAYS A & B under 7.10(b)

PLAY. (a) Batter hits ball out of park or ground rule double and misses first base (ball is dead)_he may return to first base to correct his mistake before he touches second but if he touches second he may not return to first and if defensive team appeals he is declared out at first.
PLAY.(b) Batter hits ball to shortstop who throws wild into stand (ball is dead)_batter runner misses first base but is awarded second base on the overthrow. Even though the umpire has awarded the runner second base on the overthrow, the runner must touch first base before he proceeds to second base. These are appeal plays.

There is clearly a difference between a missed base and a missed base with a force play being made. In a missed base situation in which the runner is not forced to that base if there was a play on the runner it would be an easy call based on a tag. However in this situation the original question was if a runner must touch the base to be called safe during a force play and a throw to the base. Should the umpire say what gets to the base first the runner or the ball or should he ask what crosses the base first? (does it matter in a force play if the base is missed?)