tag play

[youngump]

Originally Posted by johnsonrod

why would one assume that. if the fielder catches a thrown ball in their glove and has it in their glove for 5 seconds before the tag, much longer than what would be needed to call a batter out on a batted ball, but the ball comes out immediately after the tag, why would one rule the ball was not previously securely held.

would you say, 100% of the time, that when a fielder has the ball securely posses, the runner is out the instant the tag is applied, regardless if the ball comes loose a millisecond after the tag?

It's not that you're not getting this because you're trying hard and having trouble; rather, you are trying to argue instead of listen.

On paper, if the ball is securely held for even an instant while the ball makes contact with the runner the runner is out.
On a ballfield, the umpire has to determine if the ball is securely held while the ball makes contact with the runner and doing so requires a lot of judgment. Generally, if the fielder already had possession of the ball long before the tag, having it come loose as a result of contact is going to make it much more likely that a tag was made first but it'll still be a judgment call. If the fielder just gained the ball (as in the OP), then it coming out immediately after is going to weigh a lot more heavily. But it'll still be a judgment call and umpires will disagree about how much control was had when in various situations.
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