Ball control on force?

[BretMan]

Before we go too much further off the rails...

Forget about "force plays" for a minute. Think of it this way: There are two kinds of tags. Tags of bases and tags of runners.

Each have different definitions and different criteria (which have already been covered).

 

[MT 73]

Uhhhh....no.

On a force play, all that is required is that the defender has control of the ball and touches the base with any part of their body.

We are talking about tagging a runner on a force play.
Even if forced the runner must be tagged with the hand holding the ball.
On a base the fielder could tag the base with her glove while the ball is in her bare hand--or vice verse.
I have seen quite a few umpires blow this call