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Declared
I am no English major, but according to Webster declare means "to say or state (something) in an official or public way". stating or saying something generally means verbally announcing it (it could be also declared in writing but that would not be applicable here). So declaring something means saying it out loud. To infer that could be meant to be said after the fact would defeat the whole purpose of the rule. It is meant to be stated at the time of happening to advise both offense and defense of the call being made so they can react accordingly. Declared does not mean what is in the umpires head but goes unsaid 8-2-I clearly states the batter is out when an IFF is "declared".
I am not saying you are wrong, I am saying it is ambiguous. Subject to different interpretations, and it is not cut and dry either way. I still find no evidence in the rulebook that supports the notion that ASA says IFF is in effect when it takes place, not when it is declared. But I could be wrong if pointed to where it says that.
And 10-3-C allows an umpire to try and rectify a situation after the fact, but there is no way to rectify a situation that is so dependent on the declared nature of the call at the time of happening. Unless you have a time machine, you cant go back and recreate how the runners would have reacted by the dropped ball if IFF were declared versus what they did do when it was not declared.
Thanks for your input, but like I said, it is not cut and dry.
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