Geoff Larsen

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”

Believe it or not, in most Baseball including MLB the requirement to pull the bat back is also a Myth. Google “top 40 baseball myths”. Also see this from the official MLB site:

The batter squares to bunt as the pitch is made. He leaves his bat over the plate, but does not make an effort to lay down a bunt. If the pitch is not in the strike zone is it considered to be a strike, if the batter does not attempt to pull his bat back from over the plate?
— Jerry Knowles

There is no restriction about the batter holding his bat over the plate. In order for the umpire to rule a strike, the batter must attempt to “strike” at the ball (see Rule 5.03 and the definition of “Strike”). We often say the batter has “offered” at the pitch if he attempts to hit it.

From: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/umpires/feature.jsp?feature=qa3

I believe that the rule started at Little League so there was less confusion on whether the batter “offered” at the ball or not. Keep in mind that some leagues DO have this rule in place, but it is not a typical national level rule.

I believe your question is eluding to this scenario.

Since the difference for a mercy after the 4th inning vs after the 5th inning changes from 15 to 7, then if a tournament has a run max and even with that run max the team cannot tie the run difference at the end of the 5th inning, then you are truly compelled to open up the 5th inning regardless of the time. Without opening that inning, the losing team has technically already lost.

For example:
5 run max – open inning
Home Team leads 13 to 1 after 4 innings [12 run difference]
The most the visitors can score is 5 – At most reducing the difference to 7 runs which is the 7 run difference for a mercy after 5 innings
Thus the umpire will need to call opening inning for the 5th inning if the lead is 12, 13 or 14 in the 4th inning. If it is 15 or more, it should have already been called.

4 run max – no open inning
Home Team leads 16 to 5 after 4 innings [11 run difference]
Technically the mercy rule is 15 runs, but since the mercy rule changes to 7 next inning and with a maximum reduction of the difference of 11 runs to 7 runs, the game is unable to be won with the remaining “time or innings left”. As such, the game should be declared over after the 4 innings and 11, 12, 13 or 14 run difference due to the losing team unable to mathematically be able to win the game because of the mercy rule.

This should help “clarify” what I believe you were getting at.

Getting lost in the math? Confused? Ask your partner or UIC whether the game is over because of a mercy. The run limit with no open inning does complicate this math.

Great question Mark. The timing of this post is perfect. It is on my to-do list to write up a good summary on this. This is a question that will come up and at times a team will feel it is unfair. One goal of the mercy rule is to prevent a team that is significantly down from getting hurt by emotionally giving up on the game but still playing. You can sometimes tell when an open inning should be called when you see a team is not having fun and wants the game to be over.

Our goal as umpire is to ensure the game is played fair. When calling an open inning there are many factors to take into consideration, one of which is if the game is already “won” without the open inning being called. You are essentially giving the losing team one last chance to catch up. We also don’t want to run out of light or put the diamond behind during a tournament because we didn’t call the opening inning early enough.

In ALL games we umpire, once the game is won, the game is won. If it is mathematically impossible for a team to catch up due to not having an open inning, or the home team is already winning/reached mercy the game should be called. We could be exposed on our insurance coverage if we let a game continue which has already been won by a team.

I will send something out in more detail after SBR tournament. In the mean time, feel free to discuss the topic..