The thing to remember in any BOO situation is that you nly have to consider the last two batters wwho have received at least 1 pitch. If the last batter to receive a pitch is the batter listed after the next-to-last batter to receive a pitch then there is no BOO.
Consider the following scenario:
- B1 bats and walks,
- B3 bats and strikes out. -- If the defense appeals here, B3 is BOO and B2 is called out. In ASA, you have 2 outs and B4 is the proper batter; in FED, you have 1 out and B3 is the proper batter,
- B2 comes to bat and walks -- if the defense appeals here, B2 is BOO since the 1st pitch to B2 legalized B3's turn, making B4 the proper batter. In both ASA and FED, B4 is declared out and B5 is the proper batter,
- B4 comes to bat and hits a double, scoring B1 and B2, but is thrown out trying for 3rd -- if the defense appeals here, B4 is BOO since the pitch to B4 legalized B2's at-bat making B3 the proper batter. In ASA, you have B4 out on the play, B3 out for the BOO, 3 outs and no runs score; in FED you have B3 out on the BOO appeal, B1 and B2 return to their TOP bases, and B4 bats again with 2 outs,
- B5 comes to bat and walks -- since the 1st pitch to B4 legalized B4's turn, B5 is the proper batter and all the nonsence that went on before is water under the bridge, no appeal for BOO will be recognized.
Believe it or not, getting two batters switched is a fairly common BOO infraction. I had one game where it a coach told the #2 and #3 batter to switch, but didn't change the line-up card. They batted that way throughout the entire game until the 6th inning when the series of events described above occured. The defensive coaches finally figured it out. Unfortunately they didn't appeal until after the 1st pitch to B5. They ended up losing 2-0.
SamC