Legal posseion of the ball for an out?

[BretMan]

I understand the distinction you guys are making about the ball being on the ground and either in the hand or glove. Valid point.

Then again, we're talking about the personal judgment of an individual umpire and how he might apply it to the actual playing rule, not the rule itself. While the rule is constant on this play, individual judgment is a huge variable.

Nevertheless, this sounds like a solid rule of thumb that an umpire could use to help form his judgment.