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I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I believe that a check swing can be appealed up until the next pitch. Now, I'm not saying that the SMART thing for my partner to do would be to uphold that appeal, but that would be a discussion on another thread.
The rules are a guideline. You trotting out 9-oh-whatever to justify the plate umpire having the decision on balls and strikes is, well, I don't know what it is, but I bet that this was already in the books long before the base umpire was brought into play to help on half-swings when asked. The book is a piece of crap and using it to argue this point while saying other parts should be ignored in other threads is being very selective.
By giving the base umpire such power to call a strike when asked by the plate umpire, SOMEBODY determined that the base umpire sometimes has a better view than the plate umpire. Now, why would you think the rulesmakers REQUIRE the plate umpire to check? I think it is because some umpires would refuse to check and because SOMEBODY feels the base umpire has the superior view. The plate umpire is TOO CLOSE.
Rich
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