Appeal play?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by johnnyg08

...all but the accidental appeal where the umpire simply calls the runner/BR out.

Although neither one is currently on the books, it's worth distinguishing between the automatic appeal and the accidental appeal, as they are different.

The automatic appeal (which isn't really an appeal at all) is the play where the umpire calls a runner out for a baserunning infraction (such as a missed base) when he sees it. No action is required by the defense to initiate such an appeal. This rule, defunct for years, actually brought umpiring a little closer to officiating in other sports, where a violation is flagged, whistled, etc. immediately, without requiring the defense to notice it and do something to initiate the penalty.

The accidental appeal is the play where a fielder happens to have the ball and step on a base that a runner has just missed, not intending thereby to appeal an infraction. This would happen most commonly at 1B, on a play where the ball is late, the runner is well past the base, but has missed the base. There's still a case in the case book (8.2.3) that seems to legitimize the accidental appeal, though it conflicts with the rule change (8-2-6).

As usual, terminology matters.