tagging base with baseball

Question
It says in the Little League rulebook that a player may tag the base base on a force play with any part of his body as long as the ball is held firmly in the hand. But what about the ball itself? Is the ball considered a part of the body for this purpose? It seems wierd but did happen in a recent game that a thrid basement who had fallen down and could only touch the base with the ball after extending his arm--he made no contact with the base with his glove or hand.

Answer
Andrew,

in Rule 2.00-TAG it says a tag is "the action of a fielder in touching a base with the body while holding the ball securely and firmly in the hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball or with the hand or glove holding the ball, while holding the ball securely and firmly in the hand or glove."

So, based upon my interpretation of this section, he did not "tag" third base, as it doesn't meet any of the requirements based upon the rule.  The ball itself if not part of the body, however a fielder's foot or hand is.

This is a rule that does receive much debate at clinics and classes I instruct at, and it's always fun to listen to the different play situations.

I hope I've helped.  Should you have any other questions, please let me know.

-Martin Hoover