[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by BoomerSooner

The most interesting way that this was explained to me, and it makes a lot of sense, but is that to have an out, the ball has to be caught (or possessed) by the defense completing the out. Essentially, every normal put out results in from a ball being caught (or possessed) by a defender. Of course the obvious exceptions would be the various forms of interference (runner hit by a batted ball, interfering with the catcher or another fielder, etc). With the exception of the interference issues, a dropped/uncaught ball, whether on a third strike, a tag play, or an attempted force out is never an out.

Wow, what a complicated way to look at a simple rule.