Left early on a caught fly

[Skahtboi]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

UIC, who was there, tells me we blew the call three times - once on the touch of first (His words: "it's not an appeal, it's a force")

Uh, no. It is an appeal. A live ball appeal. The most common of all live ball appeals. This statement shows me that the UIC in question has little understanding of the rule, maybe about the level of an average player.

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

2nd - the award should have been 2nd base, since "the runner legally had to return... and his two bases were 1st and 2nd;

If, as initially stated by the UIC, this was a force out, how could this even enter in to play? A force out is a force out. However, assuming the absence of a live ball appeal, again, no. It is the responsibility of both the D to know what they must do in this case (make the appeal), and the runner to know what they must do (return to first as a result of leaving the base early). It seems neither knew what to do, so your award is in keeping with the rule. Now, the defense has the opportunity to make a dead ball appeal. If they failed to do so, then the play stands.

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

3rd for not calling the out on the appeal during the argument (DC never says, "runner left early" or any words I could stretch into a dead ball appeal - just "my fielder touched the bag", etc.)

"My runner touched the bag" may be an acceptable appeal. It demonstrates, possibly, that the coach had an idea what needed to be done and for what reason. However, to make it legit, it would be better if they had stated a little more information, such as "The runner left early and my defender touched the bag." Better yet would be, "I would like to appeal the runner leaving first base early on that caught fly ball." With all of that said, however, I still feel like honoring the appeal on just what you report the coach saying would be giving legitimacy to the concept of an "accidental appeal."