Just about every inning played under any baseball rules at any level, has ended with the third out. In the rarest of circumstances, fourth or more outs may be necessary.

The purpose of getting a fourth out would be to negate a run that had been scored as a result of a base running infraction. Those violations only result in an out when an appeal is made. In order to understand the fourth out, a brief review of the appeal procedure is necessary. Unless noted, the material applies equally to NFHS, NCAA and pro rules.

An appeal is the act of a fielder or coach claiming a violation of the rules by the opposing team. Appeals must be made while the ball is live in NCAA or pro, but may also be made while the ball is dead in NFHS. Please note the third out does not cause the ball to become dead and that might be a consideration in making an appeal.

The base running infractions that must be appealed are: failing to properly retouch a base (leaving too soon), missing a base, including failing to touch home immediately after over running/over sliding. In NCAA and pro, a runner who takes a running start on a tag up must also be appealed, but in NFHS such a runner is immediately declared out (8-4-2o).

Play 1: With a runner on second, B1 singles. R2 scores, but fails to touch third. The cutoff is misplayed and F5 picks up the ball while touching third. Ruling 1:...

In Part V of this eight part series covering rules that catchers and umpires need to know, I’ll zero in on force situations.

Know When the Force is Removed

Whenever the batter-runner is retired at first base, the force is removed and to put out any following runner/runners, a tag is required. A common play occurs with the bases loaded and less than two outs. The batter hits a ground ball to the first baseman who steps on the base and throws home. This is a tag play because the batter-runner was put out, thereby removing the force of any preceding runner.

The A’s and Marlins played an inter league game in Oakland on June 22, 2008. In the bottom of the third inning, the A’s had the bases loaded and one out when Kurt Suzuki hit a ground ball to Jorge Cantu at first base. Cantu touched first and fired home in an attempt to nail Ryan Sweeney, who was sprinting home from third. Unaware that the force was removed, Marlins’ catcher Mike Rabelo received the throw with his catching hand outstretched like a first baseman. The ball easily beat Sweeney to the plate but because Rabelo failed to tag Sweeney. The run scored giving the A’s a 3-1 lead in a game they won 7-1.

If with the bases loaded, the batter hits a ground ball to the third baseman who tags third before throwing home, the force is also removed since the runner advancing from second to third was retired, making room for the runner on third to return since the batter-runner is bumping up (forcing) only the runner on first. Sometimes the plate umpire as well as the catcher can get confused on such a play.

The Nationals hosted the Dodgers on Aug. 26, 2008. In the top of the fifth inning, the Dodgers had the bases loaded...

Bud Selig and Major League Baseball might want to take note of their kiddie counterparts when it comes to the use of modern technology.

The game had gone to the fourth inning without incident. The batter had a 1-1 count. The defensive coach called time and walked from the home team’s first base dugout to the third base coach’s box where the offensive coach was positioned with his scorebook in hand. After a brief chat, the two coaches approached the plate umpire. The offensive coach spoke, “I’ve got the wrong batter in the box.” “Okay” said the plate umpire without hesitation, “Get the right batter up there and the count is still 1-1.”

Both coaches looked at the plate umpire skeptically, “Are you sure?” “Yes” came the reply, “There is no out for batting out of order unless an appeal is made after the wrong batter completes his at bat and before the next pitch, play or attempted play. This guy is still at bat, so he can be replaced with the correct batter without penalty.” That was good enough for both coaches, but not for the man who initially detected the infraction – the home team’s score keeper.

“What’s going on here?” “That’s the wrong batter, he’s out.” The explanation was given again and the fatal words from the score keeper were “You don’t know what you’re doing.” He then learned how to keep score from the parking lot.

There are no statistics on how often batting out of order occurs, but the detected incidents are few and far between. It might happen because of an inattentive player, confusion over a substitution or because the coach gives the plate umpire a different lineup than what he posts in the dugout.

One of the things done correctly in the preceding...

Catchers make contact with batters, runners and umpires. The rules govern how umpires and catchers should handle such situations. In part IV of this nine part series involving rules that are central to both catchers and umpires, I’ll tackle this topic.

Contact between Runner and Catcher

Playing under NCAA and NFHS rules, if the catcher/ fielder has possession of the ball and blocks the path of the base runner to the base (plate), the runner may make contact, slide into, or collide with a fielder as long as the runner is making a legitimate attempt to reach the base or plate. The runner must make a legal slide into or around the glove. Under NFHS rules, a runner cannot dive, hurdle, jump or go over the top of the catcher unless the catcher is prone. He cannot lower his shoulder and barrel over the catcher. As a result of his illegal action if the runner interferes, you have a dead ball and the runner is out.

Under NCAA rules, “When there is a collision between a runner and a fielder who clearly is in possession of the ball, the umpire shall judge whether the collision by the runner was avoidable (could the runner have reached the base without colliding) or unavoidable (the runner’s path to the base was blocked.)

“If the runner can avoid a collision when the catcher clearly has possession of the ball, the runner is called for interference if he attempts to dislodge the ball without making a bona fide effort to reach the plate" (8-7a; A.R. 1).

Both NCAA and NFHS rules agree that if the flagrant or malicious contact by the runner was before the runner’s touching the plate, the runner shall be declared out and also ejected from the contest. The ball is dead immediately and all other base runners shall return to the bases they occupied at the time of the interference (NCAA8-7a AR2; NFHS 3-3-1n).

Under NCAA and NFHS rules if the runner is safe prior to the collision and the collision is flagrant, the runner is safe, but ejected from the game. Both codes stipulate that the ball becomes dead immediately and all other base runners return to the base they had touched prior to the contact when malicious and flagrant contact occurs. If that occurs at any base other than home, a pinch-runner may substituted in NCAA contests (8-7a  AR3). Playing under NFHS rule 3-3-1n, if a runner initiates malicious contact, the ball is dead, the player is ejected and declared out, unless he has already scored.

Perhaps the classic play that comes to mind concerning runner/catcher collisions is the...