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As comprehensive as Major League Baseball's rule book may be, it's illogical if the rule book allows a baserunner on third to score on an inning ending double play when the baserunner at first is FORCED to return to first base before the outfielder can catch a ball on the fly and throw it to first.
If the runner at first base had tagged up and was then thrown out, that would be an entirely different scenario, but the runner at first, by not staying on the bag until the ball was caught by centerfielder Grady Sizemore, is FORCED to return to first base before they can rightfully do anything else. Since no tag is required, that out should supercede anything the runner at third base does.
Back at the end of 1995 in the final series of the year against Chicago when the Indians had runners on first and second and one out in the ninth inning Ben Broussard was the runner on first. On the potential double play grounder to the second baseman, Ben stopped in his tracks to avoid the tag from the second baseman, so the second baseman threw to first base, as soon as the out at first was completed, Ben was now free to go to either first or second and either way he had to be tagged out, if the runner at second had been waived around third and scored before Ben was tagged out, the run would have counted even though the inning ending on a double play.
The key difference that is being overlooked is as soon as the batter was out, it freed up Ben to go to either first or second, whereas in Saturday's game, once the hitter was out (when Grady caught the ball), the baserunner was still forced to return to first before he could then attempt to advance AND since it was a force play the runner didn't even have to be tagged, the perfect definition of a double play, which means the runner at third cannot score on an inning ending double play.
Major League baseball has a flaw in it's rulebook and it should be corrected or perhaps everyone is looking in the wrong part of the rule book.
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See, logic does prevail...
here is what I found from Major League Baseball rule book...
Rule 7.08(e) Comment: PLAY. Runner on first and three balls on batter: Runner steals on the next pitch, which is fourth ball, but after having touched second he overslides or overruns that base. Catcher?s throw catches him before he can return. Ruling is that runner is out. (Force out is removed.)
Oversliding and overrunning situations arise at bases other than first base. For instance, before two are out, and runners on first and second, or first, second and third, the ball is hit to an infielder who tries for the double play. The runner on first beats the throw to second base but overslides the base. The relay is made to first base and the batter-runner is out. The first baseman, seeing the runner at second base off the bag, makes the return throw to second and the runner is tagged off the base. Meanwhile runners have crossed the plate. The question is: Is this a force play? Was the force removed when the batter-runner was out at first base? Do the runs that crossed the plate during this play and before the third out was made when the runner was tagged at second, count? Answer: The runs score. It is not a force play. It is a tag play.
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AHAAAAAA! That is exactly my point, the runner who was caught off of first play was FORCED to get back to first base and NO TAG WAS REQUIRED to get him out, THEREFORE THE RUN DID NOT COUNT!
