[mcrowder]

I'm flummoxed trying to understand why anyone would assume from the OP that PU awarded anything. I suppose if that was actually the case, we can't BOO him, and probably we've gone past the point where he can be removed from the base (protest too late and all that).

But this was (to my reading) NOT a case where an umpire erred. Inattentive? Yes. Failed to preventatively umpire? Yes. Buy's the round that night? YES. But what error did he make other than not noticing the wrong batter at the plate.

This can truly be simplified down to - get the runner off the base and either A) let the two pitches count, with all that implies, or B) wipe out the pitches.

Your logic that the runner can't be removed because the defense didn't protest would also mean that a team whose basecoach stepped his way onto first base (or THIRD base!) would be a brand spanking new legitimate runner if he managed to stand there without defense noticing for just 1 pitch. That's obscene.

And think about the interest of fairness here. If anyone erred here, it was the batter for getting on base when he didn't belong. Leaving him there doesn't ring as "fair". Nullifying the pitches doesn't seem fair to the defense ... after all, they didn't do anything wrong. Use 9.01c to at least get that batter off the base. I can live with either solution on the 2 pitches.

And thank the baseball gods that the improper batter didn't hit one of those pitches or get walked (with bases improperly loaded) before this was noticed.