Appeal question
 

(sorry about the subject line, unthinking, I used "" in title)

After reading the book and also reading Jim Booth's interp on appeals (eteamz) also, I ask the following:

Minor LL tournament rules. R1 two outs. Popup near the plate and close to foul line. R1, fearing that F1/F2 will not make catch, takes 4 steps off toward second. F1 makes catch, runner goes to second (has not tagged). Pitcher throws to B1 in an obvious attempt to make a play on R1. BU makes no call. R1 thows back to mound and pitcher (in reponse to dugouts yelling) throws again to F3 who looks at BU, again no call. I can't tell if there is any conversation between F3 and BU (now in position B).

Time called by defense. Discussion at the plate. Ball is put back into play. Pitcher throws to F3, BU..."out!"

Now the question. Should the appeal stand? Seams that there was a "play" on R1 at B1 prior to the appeal. Would this negate the appeal? Is there any interpretation on when continusous play stops and a new "play" begins?

Before you flame on this, I could care less about the play since is happened three weeks ago. As third base coach I shook my head and ribbed R1 for running error (my son)as we jogged to the dugout. Just a thought about the appeal and what constitutes a "play" prior or multiple appeals.

Thanks
SG

[Edited by spillguy on Jul 1st, 2002 at 03:59 PM]

If there were 2 outs as you indicated in your initial post, then R1 and what he does and the actions of the fileders are irrelevant. 3 outs. Tell R1 to grab his glove and cap and go play some D.

An obvious attempt during continuous action to retire a runner who has left a base too early is not considered an appeal for the sake of multiple appeals. Only one appeal per runner per base is allowed after continuous action has stopped (PBUC manual).

Let's assume there were less than 2 outs in your situation.
After continuous play stopped and F1 threw to F3 for what they felt was an appeal, they apparently returned the ball to F1 before any ruling by BU. They then threw to F3 again to appeal R1 leaving early and the appeal was upheld.

It would seem that if the umpires determined the first attempt as an appeal, then they would have had to rule on it. Since it was not ruled on, then it could not have been considered an attempt to appeal. Therefore, the subsequent action by the defense which was ruled upon would be proper to be considered as the first appeal.

While it seems as if there may be some misunderstanding in how this situation is presented in this thread, or misunderstanding by the umpires on the field regarding the actions of the defense after the pop fly was caught, I would think there to be no error in the application of the rules.


Just my opinion,

Freix