[greymule]

I would say that if the ball slips from her throwing hand, it's a throw.

I think that "loss of possession" was intended for plays like the one I had a few years ago: R1 on 2B, B2 hits a ground ball to F6, who tries to slap a tag on R1 as he runs by. The glove hits R1's knee, the ball flies out and bounds across the 3B foul line and out of play. One base from the time the ball entered DBT.

Or, R1 gets trapped in a rundown between 1B and 2B. As R1 returns to 1B, the throw goes to F3, who drops the ball. As R1 slides back into 1B, he knocks the ball into the dugout. R1 gets 2B only.

I just can't see a ball going from the hand to DBT, without some other impetus, as anything other than a throw.