[officialtony]

" Rule 5-1-1h addresses a real world happening to correct the situation should an umpire make the mistake. The rule is specific and requires a VERBAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

If the umpire did not verbally state "foul ball' then no mistake has been made and nothing to correct. The hand signal, while in error, means nothing per this rule. Let the play stand. "




I would agree with you that 5-1-1h is VERY specific and does require verbal announcement. However, this same PU earlier in the game had signaled Foul with only his hands upraised on several very obvious foul balls ( haven't we all ? ). 5-1-1h makes no reference to only when it is not obvious do you verbalize. Since the PU did not verbalize the earlier obvious Foul Ball, is it still live? Of course not. But my point is, when observers saw his hands go up ( and again, I was behind the dugout and did not hear if he verbalized the foul or not ) they presumed he was making a foul ball call. That was the point of my question - if the PU blew it should he return the batter? I think you answered that in the end of your post ( as did others ).
And again my thanks to all for responding to my post. I got some very good insights.