interesting run down situation
 

I wouldn't have gotten this call right...

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Unless the big diamonds have a rule I don't know, you would have been right there with the third base umpire then.

Yankees DP
 

Traded texts with a friend of mine that is a MiLB umpire. He said that R1, Lawrie, was called out because R3, Reyes, had re-acquired third base. If you listen to the annoucers, they got one right. The end of the world must be near.

They got the rule right, but they missed the play--just like Iassogna.

In that situation, R2 is out when tagged only if R3 and R2 occupy the bag simultaneously. Reyes was clearly off the bag and Lawrie on it when Lawrie was tagged. Lawrie should not have been called out.

Lawrie was R1, not R2.

No, Lawrie was out because he could not acquire 3B until Reyes was tagged out before him or aquired HP.

7.03 (a) Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged and the preceding runner is entitled to the base, unless Rule 7.03(b) applies.

As stated Reyes was out because he clearly off the bag. Had he tagged Reyes first then Lawrie, Lawrie would have been safe.

Whether you using the NFHS runner designation or the rest of the worlds runner designation, Lawrie was R2.

The first part of what you said is not correct. It would mean that any runner could be tagged out while standing on a base if the runner ahead of him hasn't touched the next base or been tagged out?

That's absolutely wrong.

If both runners are on the bag, the following runner is out, no matter what order they're tagged (unless it's a force-play situation, when the preceding runner is out.)

In a non-force situation, if only one runner is on the bag and he's tagged, he's not out. Reyes was <I>entitled</I> to occupy 3rd until he advanced or was put out, but he has to actually <I>be</I> occupying it in order for the following runner who is <I>also</I> occupying it to be put out.

Actually, when the play began he was R1. I used R2 for simplicity.

It's understandable how Iassogna missed it. Reyes had indeed reached third base on the way back; it's just that he wasn't on it when Lawrie got tagged. It appears he was blocked out of that part as he rotated off the line around 3rd base. I've had similar instances where I got the call perfect in accordance with the rule based on what I saw, only to find out in the post-game that I didn't see everything.

I have a different theory as to why the ump may have gotten this call absolutely right.

First of all, it's hard for me to believe that the ump didn't see that Reyes was not on the base when the trailing runner was tagged. The play was right there.

What the ump did see is Reyes overslide the bag while coming back from home. So where does that leave Reyes? Is Reyes still between third and home? Is it possible to still be between third and home when you overslide third while running back from home?

I say, no way! Once Reyes has overslid the bag, he is now BEFORE third base. The means that the trailing runner must have passed Reyes because the trailing running is on third base and Reyes is before third base. Therefore, the trailing runner is out for passing Reyes. And then Reyes is simply tagged while being off base.

For Lawrie to have passed Reyes while Lawrie is on 3B, Reyes's feet would have to be between 2B and 3B. Reyes's feet were between 3B and HP, and Reyes's entire body was past 3B from the direction of 2B, so Lawrie did not pass Reyes.

That's an interesting theory. Wrong, but interesting.

Pretty sure the ump just missed what happened.

I can find nothing in the rules (and I've looked) that defines a runner's position on the basepaths by the position of his feet.

Meanwhile, Reyes' only body part touching the ground is clearly behind third base here. Yes, his butt is only slightly behind third base, but if he had rolled 10 feet past third, would you still consider him between third base and home?

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/m...at122351AM.png

I agree Lawrie started from first so technically he is R1.

This was not a force play so Reyes was legally entitled to 3B (7.01 A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out. He is then entitled to it until he is put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base.) not Lawrie.

7.03 (a) Two runners may not occupy a base, but if, while the ball is alive, two runners are touching a base, the following runner shall be out when tagged and the preceding runner is entitled to the base, unless Rule 7.03(b) applies.

Now Lawrie and Reyes were not on the bag at the same time and Lawrie was not legally entitled to be there because Reyes was not yet "put out, or forced to vacate it for another runner legally entitled to that base". Had the fielder tagged Reyes first then Lawrie, Lawrie would have been safe.

Now either I did a bad job of explaining myself or I am totally reading something different than what the rules say and I am certainly open for correction.