4th out play in MLB game

A run cannot score if the third out is made by a force out. Even if he is tagged it is still a force out if the runner was forced to advance due to the B/R putting the ball in play

Navyump please read the play or see the highlight. This is a little more complex than a force out. The main reason this play is difficult is because it is an appeal play.

I appologize for the URL looking bad, I'm still new.

In this case, R3, R2 one out. Batter hits line drive to pitcher. Pitcher catches ball. For whatever reason, R3 breaks on contact and runs home (like a bat out of you know where). R2 is caught off second. He lingers as the throw goes behind him. F4, who catches the throw, wanders over (at pedistrian pace) and tags him out. Although not shown on the video, R3 scores while all this is going on.

Defensive team runs off field proudly. Between innings, umpires decide R3 scored before R2 was tagged out, thus allowing the run.

Even though R3 left early, his run counts because of no appeal.

The rest of my observations / questions take over from there. I don't think if they'd tagged the bag or the runner, if they didn't get it done before the runner scored and then failed to appeal, it wouldn't matter.

OK,
There was no force out anywhere--there has to be a runner at first to have a force. Instead, R2 and R3 were both required to retouch, and R2 was called out because he (or the base) was tagged before he retouched second base. Since the third out wasn't a force out, the run scored because R3 crossed the plate before the tag. [The belief that a retouch requirement is a "force play" is common, but wrong. See the last approved ruling in 4.09 Comment]

The ball is not automatically dead on the third out, and the score by R3 could have been nullified by simply touching third with the ball. If for some reason, time had been called, the defense could stay on the field, the pitcher taken his position on the rubber, and the PU would put the ball into play. The the appeal could proceed.

Note that in FED rules, it would have been sufficient to simply verbally appeal if the ball were dead.

Thanks 3, that's what I would've guessed but the only question I had was about the defensive team running off the field, but being held up by a coach to go back on and appeal and how they could put the ball 'back in play' after the appearance of the end of an inning and time being called out. I had this image of the umpires gathering to figure out what happened while the defense appealed the play at third and how that would get handled.

Unfortunately, my young D-backs failed to recognize what was happening in time.

In the context of the play via the link, it was clearly called exactly correct. What else would you expect from MLB umpires?

For OBR, the appeal must be made before the pitcher and all infielders have crossed the foul lines, per the MLBUM.

quote:

Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:
For OBR, the appeal must be made before the pitcher and all infielders have crossed the foul lines, per the MLBUM.

True, but the PU is supposed to rule on the time play immediately after the 3rd out is recorded. From the mlb.com article, it sounds like the ruling on the time play was not made until well after Arizona had lost its right to appeal the advantageous 4th out.

there are two schools of thought on showing the run scores. One says to show it immediately and let everyone figure out what to do. The other is wait until the defense claears and then show it. I haven't looked at the clip to see if you can tell what the PU did.

Diamondback's fourth out

Here's a link to the story from the diamondback site.