4.19 PROTESTING GAMES. Each league shall adopt rules governing procedure for protesting a game, when a manager claims that an umpire's decision is in violation of these rules. No protest shall ever be permitted on judgement decisions by the umpire. In all protested games, the decision of the League President shall be final.As specified by rule, a protest is a valid one if a manager is claiming that an umpire has incorrectly applied a rule; a protest will not be entertained if the manager is only claiming an umpire has incorrectly judged a play. To further illustrate the valid protest, we turn to a situation sent in by UEFL follower Jon Terry.
In the Class-A Midwest League, the Hot Rods and Whitecaps were locked in a close contest. With the score 4-3 in favor of the Whitecaps, B1 stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning with three on and one out. B1 hit a line drive to F8, who caught the ball on a fly for the second out of the inning. R1 (from first base), R2 (from second base), and R3 (from third base) each attempted to tag up and advance; all three runners crossed home plate while F8 had trouble getting the ball back in. R1 was ruled out on appeal for failure to properly tag up, and after consultation, the umpires decided to disallow R1, R2, and R3's runs: the score remained 4-3, Whitecaps leading. The offensive team's manager protested, the game continued and concluded with a 6-3 score, and the League later ruled to uphold the protest: the game would be replayed from the top of the 6th inning with the score 5-4, the Hot Rods leading. This time around, the Hot Rods would win the contest, 5-4.
It is vital that umpires and officials at all levels maintain expert knowledge of the rules book. Even though we might reference a Major League book and the play in question occurred at the Minor League level, the fundamentals of these rules are the same and constant. Appeal plays might occur during the "slower" part of live ball action, but officials must remain alert at all times, lest they find their game being played under (upheld) protest.
7.10 Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when - (a) After a fly ball is caught, he fails to retouch his original base before he or his original base is tagged.
R1 was definitely out, but R2 and R3's runs should have scored as specified by Rule 7.12. Though no runners following R1 may score (there were no runners following R1), the runners preceding R1 (R2 and R3 preceded R1) should have been allowed to score. Because failure to retouch one's base under Rule 7.10 is not a force play, the last sentence of Rule 7.12 is inapplicable and provides further counterpoint to see that preceding runners shall be permitted to score on an appeal play which results in the third out. In this situation, R2 and R3's runs should have been scored. Had R3 been called out on appeal instead, R1 and R2 would properly not have been permitted to score.7.12 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.
It is vital that umpires and officials at all levels maintain expert knowledge of the rules book. Even though we might reference a Major League book and the play in question occurred at the Minor League level, the fundamentals of these rules are the same and constant. Appeal plays might occur during the "slower" part of live ball action, but officials must remain alert at all times, lest they find their game being played under (upheld) protest.
