Coach Carl

I can think of any number of reasons: 1. Things happened so fast that before he could even think, "is that the manager?" he was already knee deep into the conversation and it never entered his mind, or 2. The coach is a familiar face (since he coaches several teams) so he never had a reason to wonder, or 3. Everyone knows he coaches several teams so bouncing around from game to game is a regular occurrence that no one perceives to be a problem (is it?). 4. He checked in with the umpire when you weren't noticing, told him his dilemma about bouncing between games, introduced him to his AC and said, "See you 'bout the third inning, gotta go!"

Was he not willing to listen to his partner or was he trying to ignore the peanut gallery? I suggest avoiding being critical of an umpire who is resistant to information from the crowd, the coaches, the players and anyone else there other than an umpire who is working the game with him. If an umpire kicks a call but then changes his mind because of what anyone says (again, other than his partner) then he is opening a BIG can of worms that will make the rest of the game a ****show. Every close call, every possible miss or bad angle will be subject to everyone else's opinion. It'll be a mess. It is better for the game if you give him grace and move on to the next play.

I will, but I didn't base my statement off of my own judgment:

Watching it live, I saw it immediately and thought he definitely did. Alomar looks like he did, as well since he pointed back to first (which you don't see here as it cuts off just before).

I'm travelling so I can't get the specific rule and language, but, in FED, the batter stepping out of the box is a penalty strike. Batter steps out (penalty strike), ball stays live, pitch is a strike. You have two strikes added to the count.

https://mktg.mlbstatic.com/mlb/official-information/2025-official-baseball-rules.pdf The answer is in Rule 5.11 1. No, the player cannot come back in to pitch (see first bolded part below) 2. I think the rule I quote below assumes a situation in which the player goes from the mound directly to defense so I am not sure if he can come an play defense later in the game. Since 5.11(a) allows, in general, for a switch from DH to defense [see 5.11 (a)(12)], I think he can (but this will terminate the team's use of a DH for the rest of the game). See the second bolded part below, which is also what 5.11 (a)(12) says. 5.11 (b) Starting Pitcher as Designated Hitter. It is not mandatory that a Club designate a hitter for the pitcher. However, in the event the starting pitcher will bat for himself, the player will be considered two separate people for purposes of Rule 5.11(a). In such cases, the manager should list 10 players on his team’s lineup card, and this player should be named twice – once as the starting pitcher and once as the Designated Hitter. Thus, if the starting pitcher is replaced, he can continue as the Designated Hitter (but can no longer pitch in the game), and if the Designated Hitter is replaced, he can continue as the pitcher (but can no longer hit for himself). If the player is simultaneously replaced both as a starting pitcher and Designated Hitter, he cannot be replaced by another two-way player filling both roles as separate people (this can be done only once on the initial lineup card by identifying that the starting pitcher will bat for himself). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Rule 5.11(a) above, if that pitcher bats or runs as Designated Hitter, such move will not terminate the Designated Hitter role for that Club; neither will the role be terminated in the event that Designated Hitter assumes the role of pitcher on defense. However, if that player is switched from the mound or Designated Hitter role to a position on defense other than pitcher, such move will terminate the Designated Hitter role for that Club for the remainder of the game.

A runner is assumed to have acheived a base when he passes it, even if he does not tag it. The defense must appeal the miss in order to get a ruling from the umpire (if missed, the umpire calls out, if tagged, he calls safe). An umpire should be careful not to tip off either team of the miss, if he sees it. It is the defense's responsibility to see it and appeal. It is the runner's/offense's responsibility to notice and try to correct the error before the appeal is made. I'll let my umpire friends correct me if I am wrong, but with no play at the plate you shouldn't get a safe signal. Since the defense did not try to tag the runner, there is no call to make.

I pictured it like the attached, with one exception, the glove is not touching the ground. In this photo the fielder is on his way over the fence and lands in the Boston bullpen but in our OP we have him stopping his momentum and getting back onto the field of play without ever touching the ground in DBT. It is a third world play, which is probably why we won't find definitive answers.

The defense in your play is appealing that the runner left early. A valid appeal would be tagging either the runner or the base from which he left early, but they must do it before the runner corrects his infraction. Typically, the defense chooses to tag the base and this creates the race to the bag that looks similar to a force play.

I assumed the legal catch was not under contention but that the issue is, at what point has the fielder taken the ball out of play? I've applied the logic of the rule that you and I both quoted to determine when, in general, a fielder is out of play. @johnnyg08 has described that the fielder's body is completely over the out-of-play area (even though it hasn't touched the ground in the out-of-play area). This means both of his feet are over the out-of-play area, which I think is the relavent fact. When at least one of his feet is no longer over the playing surface isn't he now in an out-of-play area? Does he need to touch the ground before he is considered out-of-play?

Use the same logic as the rule for when he can no longer make a legal catch. Once he no longer has at least one foot over the field then it's time to kill it and award bases. From OBR: "one or both feet on or over the playing surface and neither foot on the ground inside the dugout or other out-of-play area". Based on your description, he met the second requirement but not the first.

He was shopping for a call. When you put up the "Sorry, We're Closed" sign, he gave up. I call that a win!

"A" all the way.

My work rules prohibit viewing the better video in the Twitter link, so I am only going off of the embedded video in the OP. However, quoting @Velho's post: "Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said umpires told him that Ernie Clement "established a baseline outside of his running path" and that Gunnar Henderson's tag attempt wasn't good enough on this play in the 6th inning." I wonder if the explanation was actually, "wasn't soon enough." In other words, in the umpire's judgment, the runner started running to his right before the tag attempt was made.

Under Objectives of the Game (OBR Rule 1): 1.02 The offensive team’s objective is to have its batter become a runner, and its runners advance. 1.03 The defensive team’s objective is to prevent offensive players from becoming runners, and to prevent their advance around the bases. Getting the umpires to help you fulfill one of the objects of the game is a no-no and umpires should not succumb to it. Stop them yourself. Younger ages have rules in place to account for differences from the adult game. One of them is no leading off on 60 foot basepaths (or stealing would be pretty much a non-competitive play). There is no reason for an umpire to call time for the defense to stop runners when the rules proscribe a specific way to do it. This problem takes care of itself as the kids get older. Play on larger diamonds makes it a much riskier play for the offense to test the defense in close quarters.