Also, another example of the strangeness of the rules of
baseball. If a baserunner is on
third base with less than two outs and does, in fact,
tag up after an fly ball out is recorded he can run to
home base and be credited with a run. If he leaves too early, and does
not wait to tag up until
after the ball is caught he
may be called out and the run is disallowed.
May is the important word here because umpires do not have to make this call, even if they see it occur . The opposing team (the team in the field) must ask the umpire (or umpires) to make this ruling after the play, but before the next pitch. In addition they must ask for this ruling after throwing the ball back to the base in question-as if to say-"Back there, he left too soon!"
If the player left too soon the umpire will then make the OUT call and the run is deleted. If the opposing team forgets to ask for the appeal, the run counts. Period.