the hijacked portion of overrunning 1B and missing the base...

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

BR is running to 1B and the throw from an infielder is low and wide to the HP side of 1B. BR sees the bad throw and attempts to avoid being hit, or is actually hit by the ball, causing her to miss 1B. As she runs past, she loses her balance and falls onto the grass down the line. There is no obstruction by F3 and no interference by BR.

The BU dutifully declares the runner "safe!" as we are supposed to, incurring the (w)rath of many uninformed fans, and hot moms.

Everyone on the field knows the base was missed. BR scrambles to her feet and darts back to the base. F3 retrieves the ball that went to the fence while F4 covers 1B. F4, standing on the colored portion of the base takes the throw from F3 a split second before BR slides back to the white portion of the base.

As BU, do you make a call right then? Or do you have to wait for someone to "appeal" the missed base? If the out would have been recorded based on the play, can someone appeal after the fact and before next pitch? Since everyone knows what's happening, does the fielder with the ball need to declare an appeal for a missed base while actively trying to deal with covering the base, catching a throw, and a sliding runner?

On a "left too early" call on a fly ball when a runner is trying to get back to a base and doesn't get there in time, umpire will just make the call without a verbal declaration from the defense. Similar or different for overrunning/missing 1B?

A couple of points for you to consider, Ted. We make a safe call when an apparent play has been made; we call "Safe" on the play I described at home to indicate there was no tag, when others might think there was. We aren't saying a base has been touched, or even passed. So, extending the philosophy of "no ball = no call", I'm not making, nor expecting you to make, a safe call when the ball is rolling around on the field on the play you describe. I might (although we know IrishMafia dislikes this NCAA suggested mechanic), make a short safe signal to reflect the "no interference, and no obstruction" status.

On a "left too early" on a fly ball, we are acknowledging that the obvious action of all is in recognition of the live ball appeal. If we recognize it is their intent to appeal, we don't require a special set of words; or even any verbal at all. We do NOT, however, recognize an "accidental appeal", where the fielder inadvertantly touches a missed base without appearing to be appealing something. If there is any doubt what they are doing, it must be verbalized.

So, in your play, if it is clear to you that the defense is making an appeal, rule on it. If the ball beat the runner, the verbalization can be skipped if obvious, and/or follow the timing of the base (or runner) being tagged prior to the runner returning, if you aren't clear what is the intent of the play. The timing part of the play is tagging the base or runner while off the base, not that both the tag and verbalization be complete before the runner returns.