a caught "dropped" third strike

[insatty]

David:

Of course you make a valid point. But I believe that the teams are more deserving of a correct answer than an immediate answer. If the strike-three pitch is close to the ground, the catcher should be prepared to throw out BR to ensure an out.

Consider this actual situation that occurred in one HS playoff game this year: Low strike-three pitch strikes ground and F2 attempts to sell a catch to PU. F2 asks PU, "Did I catch it?" PU thinking he saw catch says, "Yes." Meanwhile BR has sprinted to 1B and BU is pointing to ground signalling no catch. PU and BU confer and decide that F2 should have known better, and allow BR to remain on 1B. But F2's manager is furious that PU mislead F2.

The moral of this story seems to be that allowing the play to continue and then making certain that the ruling is correct is less complicated than making the wrong call in the interest of immediacy.