It's not garbage, it's the rule.
When the runner slows down due to the position of the defensive player without the ball, that is the textbook definition of obstruction.
Catcher obstruction ruling
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It's not garbage, it's the rule.
When the runner slows down due to the position of the defensive player without the ball, that is the textbook definition of obstruction.
- Jun 22, 2008
- 3,438
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Wow, just where did you read that? Certainly nowhere in this thread.
No that is exactly what you are saying. You are forcing a player to sprint full force into a catcher they know won't move. You are forcing them to throttle back or they risk trucking a catcher or taking her out with a slide. Our girls won't do it. Every time a play like this happens they get asked why they didn't sprint through the base, the answer is that they were blocked and they didn't want to collide so they slow down. The catcher has no business blocking the plate until they have the ball. The coaches don't want that collision, the runners don't, but the umps sure want it.
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No, I said nothing of the sort. I said the catcher can be anywhere they like until it impedes the runner in some way. No, I am not saying the runner has to truck the catcher and as was pointed out if the runner has to slow because of the catchers position without the ball, that is the definition of obstruction.
What is stupid is the new NCAA rule which makes it automatically obstruction just for being there when it has done nothing to impede or hinder a runner.
No, I did not say it right there.
- Jun 22, 2008
- 3,438
- 48
Try reading what is there. You have been given the parameters of an OBS call. Accept it because it is true and factual.
At what point are they blocking the plate then? If you say the catcher has no business blocking the plate without the ball, that begins when? When the runner is rounding second, rounding third, halfway home, 3/4...? The rule can't state never because it would wind up being used in a stupid fashion because of how its written. The current rule in essence says the obstruction begins when a runner is actually obstructed, not at some predetermined spot on the field.
A girl can show she is being obstructed by a method other then running the catcher over, like having to go around her...
Does this rule get called right every time? Nope but it wasn't called properly every time before either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OxybJcfoa4
Here is another one from a different game. Ironically it was the same runner.
I have one where the catcher was called for obs but I have not pulled it from the video yet.
Here is another one from a different game. Ironically it was the same runner.
I have one where the catcher was called for obs but I have not pulled it from the video yet.
Is there a recommendation to give my runner on how to react in the situation? Other than truck her! LOL. I know she could have left sooner but this is our youngest player and she has a lot of heart and wants to know what to do.
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