<Appeals on a half-swing may only be made on the call of ball and when asked to appeal the home base umpire must refer to a base umpire for his judgment on the swing. Should the base umpire call the pitch a strike, the strike call shall prevail.

Baserunners must be alert to the possibility that the base umpire on appeal may reverse the call of a ball to the call of a strike, in which event the runner is in jeopardy of being out by a catcher's throw. Also a catcher must be alert on a base stealing situation if a ball call is reversed to a strike by the base umpire upon appeal from the plate umpire.

The ball is in play on appeal on a half swing.>

Since the ball remains live, I would assume that the call can be appealed after the catcher throws to second. By the way, note that supposedly only the manager and catcher have this privilege, not the pitcher.

So if say the count is 3 and 2 and the runner takes off while the batter checks his swing, I would have to assume that the catcher has the right to throw before appealing. To say he must wait would be unfair to the defense. If the ball call stands, then the throw is wasted, but it's hard to think that it wouldn't be made for strategical reasons.

But...3-2 pitch, ump calls a strike on a check swing, catcher throws the ball into centerfield and runner goes to third. Then the base umpire says no swing. Well, there's a runner on third instead of second.

But let me understand. On a three-ball count, the home plate umpire calls a ball, the catcher fires to second as the runner slows down seeing the ball four call, he's tagged by the shortstop. Doesn't seem to matter, he's got second on the walk.

Then the catcher appeals? Ump calls strike and we've got a double play.

If the home plate ump calls a strike, that's the end of the matter. The only appeal is for a pitch called a ball.

<But let me understand. On a three-ball count, the home plate umpire calls a ball, the catcher fires to second as the runner slows down seeing the ball four call, he's tagged by the shortstop. Doesn't seem to matter, he's got second on the walk.

Then the catcher appeals? Ump calls strike and we've got a double play.>

Honestly, I didn't know that. Now that I think about it, since it's only the catcher who appeals, it's obvious. The batter never appeals a strike call. King of dumb on my part.

My question is, after the exact same play, but if after the "winning" run scored, the team on the field had made the appeal to first, would the run have counted?

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2...

I think this is an appeal situation as covered by Rule 7.10:

<Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when--

(a) After a fly ball is caught, he fails to touch his original base before he or his original base is tagged....

Any appeal under this rule must be made before the next pitch, or any play or attempted play. If the violation occurs during a play which ends a half-inning, the appeal must be made before the defensive team leaves the field.>

Like a force play, a later appeal can cancel runs that have scored. The rule gives the situation. Say there are two outs when a couple of runners score, but the first one misses the plate. If the first runner is later declared out on appeal, that cancels the run "scored" by the second runner.

Then there is the famous "fourth out" possibility. Let's go back to <OCF>'s scenario, but say it's the eighth inning with one out and the bases loaded. Line drive to the pitcher is out two. Runner is off first, but pitcher throws wild into right field. Runner on third scores, but runner on second is thrown out at home for the third out.

If the runner on first never retouched the bag, the defending can remain on the field, appeal at first, and get a "fourth out". This takes precedence on the play, and the run does not count.

That's because the first runner didn't legally touch home plate. Once that is established, no subsequent runs can score.

<Then there is the famous "fourth out" possibility. Let's go back to <OCF>'s scenario, but say it's the eighth inning with one out and the bases loaded. Line drive to the pitcher is out two. Runner is off first, but pitcher throws wild into right field. Runner on third scores, but runner on second is thrown out at home for the third out.

If the runner on first never retouched the bag, the defending can remain on the field, appeal at first, and get a "fourth out". This takes precedence on the play, and the run does not count.>

<Unless two are out, the status of a following runner is not affected by a preceding runner’s failure to touch or retouch a base. If, upon appeal, the preceding runner is the third out, no runners following him shall score. If such third out is the result of a force play, neither preceding nor following runners shall score.>

Why the run in the softball game would count:

Speaking of box scores, this is from Jim Capel's CSI Column. I came no where close, because I never heard of any of these pitchers.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/...

The key was realizing that Washington's pitchers threw only 8 2/3 innings. The home team can never do that unless the game is stopped due to weather or some other reason.

From the pitchers, I knew it was a late 60s-early 70s game, and then it hit me. The expansion Washington Senators forfeited their last home game in 1971 when the fans stormed the field.

<CSI: Box Score Answer

http://espn.go.com/espn/elias