Yes--as per your key words.
It can be done without taking your eyes off the action.
Little league includes this in their umpire training DVD.
Odd call was it right?
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It can be done without taking your eyes off the action.
Little league includes this in their umpire training DVD.
I never touch a discarded bat on the ground because 1) it's not recommended, suggested, or endorsed by any of the organizations I umpire for ASA, NFHS, etc and 2) the liability of deviating from reason 1) is enormous. If coaches want bats out of the way, they can either teach their catchers or on deck batters to remove them, convince governing softball associations to specifically instruct umpires to perform that task and therefore assume responsibility, OR remove the bats themselves. 
Was this a HS or college game? NCAA rules are different than NFHS, ASA, etc.
The NCAA rule on assisting a runner is the same as the others and apparently they are only in effect while the ball is live, which is not the case on a HR.
NCAA has an additional rule about touching runners on dead-ball awards (e.g. HR), but that wouldn't apply in this case since it was presumably a base coach. It's only a warning on the first offense.
NCAA has an additional rule about touching runners on dead-ball awards (e.g. HR), but that wouldn't apply in this case since it was presumably a base coach. It's only a warning on the first offense.
I don't think that a high five fom the base coach is a violation under NCAA rules. Here is the rule:
9.6.3.1 Offensive team personnel, other than base coaches and base runner(s)
shall not touch a runner(s) until the player(s) contacts home plate.
I believe that the rule is intended to prevent the runner from being mobbed by teammates around home plate, such that the umpire can't see if the plate is touched.
9.6.3.1 Offensive team personnel, other than base coaches and base runner(s)
shall not touch a runner(s) until the player(s) contacts home plate.
I believe that the rule is intended to prevent the runner from being mobbed by teammates around home plate, such that the umpire can't see if the plate is touched.
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Yep, which is why I said it wouldn't apply in this case. I had forgotten about the base coach exemption when I first asked whether it was a HS or college game.
The new NCAA rule added this year restricts offensive team personnel to foul territory so they don't interfere "with the umpire's ability to see all bases are properly touched." The "no touch" rule has been on the books for a number of years.
The rule regarding physically assisting a runner says it's only while the ball is in play (i.e. live). Seems like that is the proper grounds for arguing and protesting that call by an umpire on a HR where the ball is dead. True?
Yep, you did! But the next post that followed yours still seemed to indicate some confusion about a base coach touching the runner. Why would he "give the umpire credit" for telling the coach after the game that he should have warned him about this?
In any event...I think that we have the rule hashed out now.
I'm not sure why they added the newer rule, but the intent of the original rule was for the exact same reason- so the umpire could see the plate. I don't know. Sometimes NCAA seems to go overboard with their rules. I guess somewhere, sometime, some umpires were maybe still having a hard time seeing the plate.
Agree. Except for a limited case that I'm aware of, any "assisting the runner" violation can only happen during a live ball.
The lone exception is if the runner has already crossed the plate, but missed touching it, and is then physically assisted back toward it (grabbed, pushed or even physically prevented from entering the dugout, for example).
- Jun 22, 2008
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Speaking about a stretch, you must have been the umpire to rule the runner out.
If that was the intent of the original rule, they did a really poor job of writing it because there was nothing to indicate that. It's not hard to imagine players encircling the runner prior to her contacting home plate while complying with the letter of the rule.
Are you talking about the exception on ASA 8-7-E? That appears to be for the EFFECT, not the rule.
What I was thinking of was an ASA interpretation published under the "Plays and Clarifications" section of their website. It took some digging to find, but if you go to their website it is in the Umpire section, under the May 2010 interpretations.
Following an over the fence home run, the ball is, of course, dead. The ruling on the website clarifies that you can have runner assistance in this case, if the assistance prevents a possible base running appeal by the defense. Thus, this is an exception to the rule where you can call a runner out for assistance when the ball is dead.
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