Obstruction on F5 when she was in foul territory even with the bag

[parttimecatcher]

Heres the situation from this past weekend. Score is 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th with runners on 1st and 2nd. Girl hits a bloop to right field. R1 runs through 3rd base and into F5 who was standing about 4-5 feet in foul territory even with the bag. R1 runs into F5 and proceeds to home where she is tagged out 4 feet up the line and the ball beet her by 4 steps. R1 is called out and then all H3LL breaks out HP ump call obstruction on F5 and awards home ending the game 4-3 them. Field ump made no signal of obstruction and says he didnt see it. My question is about F5 causing the obstruction where she was standing clearly out of the path a normal runner would/should have taken. Also is the next base automatically awarded even though she was thrown out by such a large amount. Love to get your view on this one.

Thanks

PTC

 

[smddad]

If she was not fielding a batted ball or in possession of the ball, she cannot hinder the runner.

 

[James Smith]

The fielder needs to be paying attention and stay out of the runner’s way, I am not sure what a “normal” runner’s path is. If the runner goes out of their way, which I have seen, to run into a fielder the umpire’s discretion comes into play but the runner is going to have the benefit and it needs to be pretty obvious.

 

[CoogansBluff]

... she was standing clearly out of the path a normal runner would/should have taken.

I'm not an umpire, but my understanding is that the runner can take any path toward any base that she wants. She can run through first, continue to the foul poll, then then turn around and run to second if she wants. And if any fielder without the ball hinders her pursuit of the next base, that is obstruction. There is nothing in the rules about what a normal runner would/should have done.

 

[MTR]

Heres the situation from this past weekend. Score is 3-3 in the bottom of the 7th with runners on 1st and 2nd. Girl hits a bloop to right field. R1 runs through 3rd base and into F5 who was standing about 4-5 feet in foul territory even with the bag. R1 runs into F5 and proceeds to home where she is tagged out 4 feet up the line and the ball beet her by 4 steps. R1 is called out and then all H3LL breaks out HP ump call obstruction on F5 and awards home ending the game 4-3 them. Field ump made no signal of obstruction and says he didnt see it. My question is about F5 causing the obstruction where she was standing clearly out of the path a normal runner would/should have taken. Also is the next base automatically awarded even though she was thrown out by such a large amount. Love to get your view on this one.

Thanks

PTC

Speaking ASA

While it sounds ridiculous that a runner would run where she did (and I would like to see it because I'm having a hard time believing it), the fielder cannot impede or hinder the runners progress unless fielding a batted ball or in possession of the ball.

Because the OBS occurred between 3rd & home (and the PU making the call is NOT an issue), the runner cannot be called out between those two bases save an act of INT by that runner (or a potential missed base appeal), but home is not an automatic award. The umpire should award the base which, in the umpire's judgment, the runner would have reached safely had the OBS not occurred. Don't know if home was the correct award or not, but definitely within the realm of the umpire's authority.

 

[mgardner]

Why was F5 standing where she was?

 

[parttimecatcher]

Thanks for all the input. I really wish I knew why she was standing out there. I would have much rather seen her inside 3rd base. The reason I asked was all about the runner taking the really wide turn. Like I said she ran through 3rd like she was running through first and just couldn't or didn't stop until contact was made. Im not suggesting it was intentional just odd as I know our coaches focus on having them stay to the inside of the bag when rounding the bases. Plus it was the game ending play which sent us home way too early.

Thanks
PTC

 

[Greenmonsters]

Thanks for all the input. I really wish I knew why she was standing out there. I would have much rather seen her inside 3rd base. The reason I asked was all about the runner taking the really wide turn. Like I said she ran through 3rd like she was running through first and just couldn't or didn't stop until contact was made. Im not suggesting it was intentional just odd as I know our coaches focus on having them stay to the inside of the bag when rounding the bases. Plus it was the game ending play which sent us home way too early.

Thanks
PTC

So you're saying that she didn't run into F5 while turning/rounding the bag i.e., she would've run almost straight into the third base fence or dugout and wouldn't have had a chance to score if not for contact w/ F5? Very odd baserunning and very odd 3B postioning, but in that case, I would think OBS and returned to 3B would be appropriate.