Letters to the Editor
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I respectfully submit..
..that the Lofton call @ second was correct. What the FOX replay kept focusing on was the initial tag, which was late.
If you stay with the replay a little while longer, however, you'll see that Lofton's forward momentum caused his hand to come off the bag while no other portion of his body was touching it while Pedroia maintained his tag contact.
Did anyone else see this as well? FOX kept focusing on the initial tag but, as the rules state, its the runners responsibility to remain in contact with the base until the play is over. Lofton didn't do that.
I could be wrong, mostly because FOX didn't show enough of the replay enough times to be sure (and I'm out of town without my precious TiVo) but I'm pretty sure that's what the ump saw. He was standing about 2 feet away...