Missed Base Appeals

I don’t believe we want to be in the habit of waiting for the home run hitter to enter the dugout before returning the ball to play, as this would unduly delay the game. Especially with on field celebrations of home runs we see at higher level ball.

A runner cannot return to touch a missed base unless s/he was in the act of returning (running in the direction) when the ball was ruled dead [In this case when the ball went over the fence].

The key here is the home run is an “award of bases” and the ball is dead.

Not touching a base on an award of bases is a big oversight. This is handled under a different section that has no provision for re-touching a missed base (“Awarded bases must be touched in legal order”). The ruling on proper appeal is an out per 8.4.h (EFFECT – Sec. 4e-i). As soon as third has been touched, the error has been made and cannot be rectified. The appeal can only be heard after the ball is put back into play and all runners are finished their base-running obligations.

General concepts for Dead Ball Appeal

Keep in mind a dead ball appeal isn’t a hurry up and appeal before the problem is fixed. The defence has all the time they need prior to the next pitch to make the dead ball appeal properly. The timing of when the appeal while the ball is dead is irrelevant. If the player was returning to the base at the point of dead ball, even if the appeal was initiated prior to the player actually returning to the base, the player is still safe. If they weren’t in the act of returning to the base at the time of the dead ball, then an appeal can be allowed. The player doesn’t have the option to “fix it”