A dead-ball appeal may be made before any runners have advanced.

A dead-ball appeal may be made before any runners have advanced.

• A. Is not legal.
• B. Is legal.
• C. Only if the defense has the ball.
• D. Causes an automatic out.

Answer: (A)

A dead-ball appeal must be requested during a dead-ball period after a play has ended and there is a baserunning situation to challenge. If no runner has advanced at all, there isn’t a recent baserunning action to appeal about, so initiating a dead-ball appeal at that moment isn’t allowed. Appeals are tied to correcting a missed base or similar baserunning error from the just-completed play, and they must occur once the ball is dead; before any runners have moved, the situation isn’t suitable for a legal appeal. So the statement that a dead-ball appeal may be made before any runners have advanced is not legal.

A dead-ball appeal must be requested during a dead-ball period after a play has ended and there is a baserunning situation to challenge. If no runner has advanced at all, there isn’t a recent baserunning action to appeal about, so initiating a dead-ball appeal at that moment isn’t allowed. Appeals are tied to correcting a missed base or similar baserunning error from the just-completed play, and they must occur once the ball is dead; before any runners have moved, the situation isn’t suitable for a legal appeal.

So the statement that a dead-ball appeal may be made before any runners have advanced is not legal.