Baseball Timeouts: Who Can Call Them & When?

Question
Does a coach have the ability to call time out when the ball is still in play. @ if a runner is stealing and the ball is still in the defensive players hands.If not , when may a coach call time out .

Answer
Doug,
The only person who has the ability to "call" a timeout on the field is the umpire.  Time may be "requested" by either a player or coach at anytime, but the umpire must determine whether the action on the field has completed and there is a valid reason for giving a timeout (he doesn't have to grant it).  Once time is called, the umpire must put the action back into play at his discretion.

If the ball was in play and a coach called a timeout as a runner was breaking for the next base, the umpire should definitely have not granted a timeout.  If there's more to it, let me know.

Hope this helps, Doug.  If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask.

Donovan