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I am NOT a physics major...nor have I tested this. But I was taught by a umpire who subsequently became an MLBer that:
If the umpire perceives a "tie" at first (that is he sees B/R's foot hit the base at the same instant he hears the ball pop into the glove of F3 (or whomever)) it actually isn't a tie.
Why?
Because light travels faster than sound. Since the sound of the ball hitting the glove took longer to reach your ear than the time needed for the light to travel to see the play at first, if you perceived them to occur at the same time, the sound of the ball hitting the glove actually occurred first. Thus, call the runner out.
Now, I have sat in outfield bleachers and watched a game and have clearly noticed (as I'm sure we all have) that the "Ping" sound of the ball hitting the bat reaches us significantly after the actual contact was visually seen.
However, I'm not sure if I'm buying that the difference in velocity is great enough to make a difference (considering where BU is standing) for a play at first. But maybe it does...as I said I'm no physics major.
But in any event: I love the theory: Call the B/R OUT!
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