ASA Post July Rules Clarifications

[okla21fan]

Originally Posted by Snocatzdad

Rule 8 Section 5F
Runners are entitled to advance with liability to be put out:
Play: With no outs, R1 on 1B and B2 hits a long fly ball to F8. R1 rounds 2B, sees the ball caught by F8 and begins to return to 1B. The ball is released while R1 is between 2B and 3B. The ball goes out of play while the R1 is between 1B and 2B. What is he correct award for the umpire to apply?
Ruling: Once the ball enters dead ball territory the umpire should first allow the runner to complete their base running responsibilities. The umpire should hesitate to see if the runner is going to retouch 1B. Then the umpire should call dead ball and award two bases from the time of the release of the ball, not the time the ball goes out of play. This means that even though the runner was going back to tag up, the release of the ball happened when the runner was between 2B and 3B. Therefore, the runner would be awarded two (2) bases from the time of the throw. Rule 8 Section 5G

question(s) in bold:
On the 'hesitation', how long are we talking about?

The runner still has an obligation to run the bases 'correctly', but after declaring a dead ball, what is the timing or how soon can the defense appeal had the runner not returned to first.

How long does the runner have to 'properly' run the bases (in this case return to first for the tag up)

This has always been a bit confusing to me when it comes to a dead ball and appeals after the fact.

TIA