Derailing this thread to discuss the purpose or goals of the obstruction rule. Please pardon my musings as I am not an umpire, but a father of a player.
As the father of a player, I am most concerned about my daughter’s safety, as well as the safety of all the girls on the field. My understanding was that the revisions to the obstruction rule were also to promote safety to prevent collisions or “trucking” any players. I could be wrong. My problem with the current rule is that it does not discourage collisions and requires umpires to be mind readers.
Taking the OP’s picture as an example, the current rule has the picture as a HTBT situation where further information would be needed to determine if the runner deviated in her path to Homeplate. BUT, what if the runner had been coached to always hook slide in such a situation? BUT what if the runner had been determined to hook slide even as she left third and headed for home? BUT what if as a result of the catcher being set up blocking the plate, the runner takes the most logical action, and simply runs in a straight line directly towards home plate? In such a scenario, the catcher’s position (without possession of the ball) caused the runner to change paths, but there would be no observable alteration to an umpire. We then get a collision at the plate, ankles broken or knees twisted, and the goal of safety (if that is the goal) is defeated.
So my frustration with the current rule is that it requires umpires to be mind readers. From the OP’s picture, we KNOW that the catcher is blocking the plate without possession of the ball at a point where the runner is sliding or should reasonably be sliding. In the event the runner ran a straight line to home plate coming from third, we are GUESSING, mind reading, that the runner never changed her path, when that may in fact be false. I'd advocate for a rule stating no blocking the plate (without possession of the ball) at the point where a runner is sliding or should reasonably be sliding. Once enforced a couple times, catchers might migrate to setting up without blocking the plate, and we'd save some ankles and knees.
As the father of a player, I am most concerned about my daughter’s safety, as well as the safety of all the girls on the field. My understanding was that the revisions to the obstruction rule were also to promote safety to prevent collisions or “trucking” any players. I could be wrong. My problem with the current rule is that it does not discourage collisions and requires umpires to be mind readers.
Taking the OP’s picture as an example, the current rule has the picture as a HTBT situation where further information would be needed to determine if the runner deviated in her path to Homeplate. BUT, what if the runner had been coached to always hook slide in such a situation? BUT what if the runner had been determined to hook slide even as she left third and headed for home? BUT what if as a result of the catcher being set up blocking the plate, the runner takes the most logical action, and simply runs in a straight line directly towards home plate? In such a scenario, the catcher’s position (without possession of the ball) caused the runner to change paths, but there would be no observable alteration to an umpire. We then get a collision at the plate, ankles broken or knees twisted, and the goal of safety (if that is the goal) is defeated.
So my frustration with the current rule is that it requires umpires to be mind readers. From the OP’s picture, we KNOW that the catcher is blocking the plate without possession of the ball at a point where the runner is sliding or should reasonably be sliding. In the event the runner ran a straight line to home plate coming from third, we are GUESSING, mind reading, that the runner never changed her path, when that may in fact be false. I'd advocate for a rule stating no blocking the plate (without possession of the ball) at the point where a runner is sliding or should reasonably be sliding. Once enforced a couple times, catchers might migrate to setting up without blocking the plate, and we'd save some ankles and knees.