Thoughts on this SNAFU....

[teebob21]

Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

You are thinking about an umpire giving the wrong count, wrong number of outs, or even declaring an infield fly when one cannot exist by rule. It remains the teams' responsibility to know what is what.

But we simply cannot generate an out that doesn't exist during a declared dead ball. That's the biggest problem with this situation and suggested solutions.

I worked with Andy this weekend and we briefly discussed this play. My initial thought was, dead ball (improperly called) after strike three...that's an out. Inning over. After reading this thread, I may yet change my opinion, and present a generic example.

If the ball is live (batted or otherwise) and the BR has the right to advance but has not yet reached 1B: what should we do if an umpire errs and declares the ball dead....due to injury....due to lightning.....due to not knowing the rule? In this ugly circumstance, and absent an interpretation from TPTB, I would award the BR first base. I would also rule that runners could be advanced based on what was likely *at the moment play was killed*. In this case, the R3 was maybe not likely to score *at the moment play was killed*.

It's too bad this call was made. It's also a good thing umpires are human...it gives us something to talk about.