I rewatched again, and he clearly was on the bag. But the throw and play were for the runner going from second to third, not for appealing the runner leaving early (else no need for the throw to home for a force). The play must explicitly be trying to get the runner leaving the bag early, not an incidental call. Therefore I’ll retract my earlier statement and say that the umpires got it right. (IOW, we agree).
This is something I have wondered about for a long time. Has there ever been a successful 4th out appeal in major league baseball? Here is the situation I have wondered about. Runners on first and third, one out. Long fly and runner on first gets past second and then the ball is caught. Runner at third comes home crossing the plate before the other runner is out at first for being off base. Third out. Then the third baseman asks for the ball, touches third and appeals that the runner from third left too soon and is the 4th out and the run doesn’t count. How would you score it? Three outs and one LOB?
Watch this play. Rajai Davis' running catch seals Indians' win . The catch by Davis alone is great. But I was watching this game live an was yelling at the screen. “Appeal at second, too.” It was the perfect time for a “fourth out.” But they didn’t so Kinsler’s run counted. I don’t think it was until the next morning that they corrected the final score of the game to 7-5.
I’ve never heard of one, and Wikipedia agrees that there are “no known examples”. Wikipedia does, however, cite two instances in addition to the one shown above by OldGuy in which a team could have taken a run off the board with a fourth out appeal but failed to do so.
The situation is too rare to have its own scoring rule, but I’m sure you would have to ignore the original third out. (No matter how cool it would be to actually have four putouts in an inning.)
Actually they do have a rule, Rule 5.09(c): (in part)
Appeal plays may require an umpire to recognize an apparent “fourth out.” If the third out is made during a play in which an appeal play is sustained on another runner, the appeal play decision takes precedence in determining the out. If there is more than one appeal during a play that ends a half-inning, the defense may elect to take the out that gives it the advantage.
Here’s a follow-up question: let’s say there are runners at first and third, one out. The batter hits a long fly ball that is caught by an outfielder. The ball was hit deep enough for both runners to try to tag up and advance. The runner at third tags up and scores, while the runner at first did not actually retag first before running to second. The pitching team does not notice this immediately. Shortly thereafter, their manager or some fans in the stands inform them of the fact that the runner failed to retag first. So, the pitching team goes through the appeal process and throws to first after the next scheduled batter enters the batter’s box. The umpire rules the runner out. Does the run count?
Yes, the run counts because the runner was not a force out. This exact question is asked and answered here with more detail.