(I know; I gotta be crazy to bring this up right now).
So, rec youth game play and the trolling got me thinking about something. Don't have my ASA book handy, so I checked the NFHS rule on this. Let me know if ASA is different since my rulebooks in my umpiring bag.
Play was this: runner on third with no outs, short fly out to F7 and quick throw to third. Runner gets back after the throw but F5 is not touching the base and tries to tag her and misses. I call the runner safe because the live ball appeal was not properly completed.
But it got me thinking and I'm wondering if this is all correct.
A) An appeal has to be intentional, so if the third baseman catches the ball off the bag fakes a throw toward home causing the runner to break back toward third and then F5 runs through the base trying to run down the runner. This is not an appeal, make no call unless the runner is tagged.
B) If the third baseman catches the ball straddling the bag and decides to tag the runner and in so doing her foot catches the bag unintentionally, she is not intentionally appealing so rulebook wise the runner shouldn't be called out. However, if I make that call I'll be eaten alive, so deem her attempt to tag the runner as evidence of an appeal and call the runner out.
And then I got to thinking about live ball and dead ball appeals. So the rule says that a live ball appeal consists of tagging the base in question or the runner. So if the ball is not dead, I can't accept any verbal appeal? If I get one, can I call it dead and ask for the appeal to be repeated or is that considered tipping one team?
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KID PAXIL