MLB: Beckham tag play on DeJesus

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

The runner did not yet have possession of his base, he had merely touched it. Similar to a runner at first not having his balance on pick-off attempt to the point the tag knocks him off.

The fielder did not exert exceptional force to knock him off second. They were both doing their job and experienced incidental contact. While losing contact with second, the runner was tagged.

This is roughly the way such a play is explained at proschool, or at least was a little over ten years ago.

BTW, why the sad face? I don't remember ever having issues with you before.

The sad face was not attitude directed at you or your post. When the issue concerned how the runner came to be off his base, I didn't want to hear simply that he was tagged off base.

If you rule the contact incidental, then I'd agree that the out would stand. But in my judgment, the runner was moving TOWARD the base, and the force of the collision drove him AWAY from the base. That's not loss of balance.

To me, that's different from a runner being off balance and the normal force of a tag making him lose contact with the base. No problem getting the out on that play.

What's odd here is the lack of rules support. Even for the play where a fielder walks up and INTENTIONALLY shoves a runner off his base — a runner just standing there — there's no rules support for nullifying the out. You could call it unsportsmanlike, but then somebody has to be ejected (and in the meantime there's STILL no rule permitting you to nullify the out).