best way to handle a check swing

[EricH]

Originally Posted by parrothead

* where with bases loaded, what appeared to be ball 4 - catcher then tagged runner jogging home and then asked for appeal at 1B - umpire at 1B called the strike and they awarded the out. With rationale that they never said "ball 4 take your base" but it was ball 4 because home plate ump called it a ball.

If the umpire called a ball, return the runner to third after the appeal if called a strike.

* The other was on like a 1-2 count, ball in dirt, she kind of check swings ball hits off catcher and goes away umpire at home did not call ball, catcher goes and gets the ball, then tags runner then asks for appeal. Home ump didnt grant appeal saying needed to do it right away.

This umpire is confusing a baseball rule AND misapplying it. The baseball rules state that certain appeals need to be made before a play is made. If the catcher tags the batter before the strike is called, there is no play; the catcher is simply touching a batter with a 2-2 count. The "play" only matters once the strike has been called. As for softball rules, the appeal must be made before the next pitch, before the defense leaves fair ball territory or before the umpires leave the field.

In this situation, has the umpire put the batter-runner in jeopardy by calling a ball, causing the batter-runner not to run to first and to be tagged out?

Coincidentally, if a runner attempts a steal, is tagged out, and then the batter is called out on an appealed strike 3, the batter becomes the third out instead of the runner.