Okay. I finally had a chance to see the replay- fully awake this time!- and run it frame-by-frame on the DVR.
I think that what I was seeing as a "second tag attempt" was just Varitek's momentum carrying him forward and his arm whipping to the ground as his elbow hit the dirt.
Here's what I did see:
- Varitek lunges and tags the runner- right in the tooshkie- with the ball firmly held in glove, approximately six to eight feet before the bag.
- Umpire pointing to signal the tag and out right at that point.
- Ball still firmly held in the glove as Varitek's momentum carries him forward.
- Varitek's elbow hits the ground about even with the bag and that jars the ball loose. His mitt is actually about two feet past the bag when the ball pops out.
Sounds like a textbook "out" under the Evans interpretation.
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