As I was waiting for my dd's next game, I watch a play where there were runners on 2nd and 3rd and ball was hit to 2nd. 2nd throws home and catcher makes the tag for an out. The runner on 2nd tries to get to 3rd. The catcher throws to 3rd but makes a bad throw in the dirt and it gets by the 3rd baseman as the runner slides into 3rd. The runner gets up to go home and is tag out at home. The ump calls obstruction at 3rd and gave the runner home. That tied the score and sent the game into extra innings. I would think that if the obstruction happen at 3rd, the runner should be award 3rd not home, but she made the decision to go home, on the bad throw, and was tag out. So the runner should be out? Any thoughts.
Thoughts on a call
- Thread starter luvsb
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While this does not happen all the time it is fairly common.
The runner slides into the base and the fielder whether they have the ball or not reach down to tag or at the very least is literally right on top of the runner, of course if the runner sees ball roll away and tries to get up but the fielders is on her or standing right in the way basically obstructing the runners ability to get up and run, after a second or two the runner stumbles up and runs to the next base but is tagged out.
This is strictly a judgement call as to where the umpire feels the runner would have advanced to had the obstruction not occurred.
The runner slides into the base and the fielder whether they have the ball or not reach down to tag or at the very least is literally right on top of the runner, of course if the runner sees ball roll away and tries to get up but the fielders is on her or standing right in the way basically obstructing the runners ability to get up and run, after a second or two the runner stumbles up and runs to the next base but is tagged out.
This is strictly a judgement call as to where the umpire feels the runner would have advanced to had the obstruction not occurred.
- Jun 22, 2008
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You don't say exactly what the OBS was, so I will assume it is F5 not having possession of the ball when R2 came into 3rd. The OBS protects the runner between the bases where OBS with a few exception (not applicable here). Often if the OBS occurred literally, or damn near, on top of the base, that protection can be extended to the next base.
You really didn't provide a time line and as Dave noted, sometimes it is a matter of a couple seconds before players become untangled, so it isn't necessarily impossible for home to be the proper award.
If the umpire believed the runner would have scored had there been no OBS, the award should be home.
If the umpire determined the runner was protected between 3rd & home, and she was going to be out regardless of the OBS, the runner should be awarded 3B.
If the umpire only protected the runner to 3B due to the OBS, then the runner should be ruled out on the play at the plate.
OTOH, this umpire may be one who shares the belief of others that an OBS call should carry a punitive award. In ASA, and others, that is not the case and when it does become the case, umpires will call OBS even less than some believe they do now.
Just an observation:
NFHS used to have an automatic award on OBS which led to many an umpire ignoring certain acts, especially on pick-off plays, that was OBS, but would award the runner the next base. Problem was, these acts often placed the welfare of the player in jeopardy and as long as the umpire didn't call it, it was going to get worse. When NFHS adjusted the rule to be relatively the same as ASA (award the base the runner would have reached safely sans the OBS), the number of OBS calls (at least in my area) increased dramatically. Many of the HS coaches (baseball guys) couldn't understand it right away, but when it became obvious they were never going to get the call by F3 dropping a knee and blocking the base without the ball, the practice as almost disappeared which makes the game safer for the players, especially now that they are wearing metal spikes.
Some umpires still live by this philosophy and consider it a "I'll teach you not to do that again" lesson and awards undeserved bases. That is not the rule.
