[Steve M]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

If it's absolutely clear to me what they are asking and it's absolutely clear to me which runner and base they're talking about, I would honor the appeal.

Years ago, the defense had to go through a recital in order to appeal a runner leaving early or missing a base. Now, thankfully, they no longer have to do that.

I think I can see where you're going with it, mb, and I believe I understand where you're coming from. You want no doubt that the coach or player is making an appeal on a specific runner. Nothing wrong with that.

Personally, I'd accept the question as being sufficient for a valid appeal. There's no difference between a player holding the ball and tagging the base asking, "did he leave early?" on a live ball appeal versus saying, "he left early." To me, it's the same thing, even though one was in the form of a question while the other was a statement of fact.

Dave,
That was - if I read it correctly - a question asked by a coahc during a dead ball. I copied below:

DHC comes out and says, "Isn't the second runner out?" I asked why. She said, "Because she passed the first runner when she missed the plate!" I explained that passing a runner only occurs when a runner physically passes a runner and since that did not occur in this situation, there is no out for passing a runner.

Then, the DHC says, "Well, she did miss the plate, didn't she?"
That's a question, not a live ball appeal and not a dead ball appeal - yet. I'm likely to ask this coach if an appeal is being made before I answer.