Missed base question
 

The missed base on a homerun thread got me thinking about situation that has never actually come up, but wondering others thoughts about it.

Situation: FED ball, a runner is on, one out or less. Batter hits deep fly ball which is caught. Ball is deep enough runner reaches the next base, but does not touch that base in returning to tag up. He actually cuts the corner by several feet, a "gross miss". He does manage to get back to the original base safely. Coach comes out to complain "He can't cut across the diamond like that!"

FED allows dead ball appeals. Would you consider this as such?

Side note: As long as dead ball appeals have been in the rule book, I have yet to have a coach try one.

Probably.

JM

No. This is just a coach complaining. Depending on the snarkiness of the coach, my answer would be somewhere between, "Good point, sir" and "Thanks for the rules clinic, coach."

An appeal would sound more like, "Blue, I'm appealing the miss at 3rd base."

I'm having a little trouble understanding what you're asking. Is this the play?

R1 stealing, ball to the gap in left. After R1 touches 2B, F7 catches the batted ball. R1 turns and goes back to 1B without touching 2B. Defense appeals with the announcement that "He can't cut across the diamond like that!"

If that's the play, it doesn't matter whether he misses 2B by 6 inches or 6 feet, he'll be out on appeal. And yes, I'll treat the coach's announcement as an appeal. After all, why is he right? Because the runner missed 2B when returning to 1B, which is what the coach is appealing.

Ask the coach what's on the outside of a banana. If he answers correctly, you have an out. :):):)

I thought that in terms of simply missing a base and being liable to be called out on appeal, there was no difference between a gross miss and a regular miss. Runner between 2B and 3B trying to return to 1B misses 2B by two inches or cuts across the diamond, it's still an appeal of a miss, and he's out either way.

Where the distinction arises is that a gross miss cannot be corrected "last time by," while a regular miss can be so corrected.

For example, R1 stealing on the pitch, batter hits a long drive to right-center. R1 is around 2B when F9 makes a diving catch. R1 runs straight across the diamond to 1B, and the throw to 1B goes into DBT, so R1 is awarded 3B. R1 retouches 1B and proceeds to 2B and 3B. He is still liable to be called out on appeal for his gross miss of 2B on his return, even though he touched 2B last time by.

How this would be handled by me:

Coach: He can't cut across the diamond like that!
Me: You're right, Coach.
Coach: Isn't he out, then?
Me: Are you appealing his miss of the (grossly missed) base?
Coach: Yes, I am.
Me: Okay. *pounds the out*