Quote:
Originally posted by DG
On the second subject:
In Fed, a catcher can not block the plate without the ball. If he does, obstruction, award the runner home. If the catcher has to go up the 3rd base line to receive the throw the runner should avoid him or he might be ruled to interfere with the catcher's ability to catch the incoming ball. If they should contact then the umpire makes big bucks to decide - obsruction, or interference, or incidental contact. Best thing for coaches is to tell the runners to avoid the catchers who are "up the line" and let the umpires rule obstruction. It is also the safest thing to coach, you don't want runners running into catchers. If the ball touches the catcher's mitt a millisecond before the runner makes contact, and the catcher does not hold the ball, I have nothing, unless the contact was malicious.
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Your first sentence is not true in FED (although true in NCAA and LL). If the catcher is in the imminent act of making a play on the ball he will not be called for obstruction. What is imminent? Umpire judgment.
Also, if a catcher is pulled up the line and there is a collision, I would never have interference unless the runner's actions were intentional. Collisions happen and the catcher has no more right to receive a bad throw than the runner has to keep on heading to the plate.
For some reason, the "catcher up the line" always causes problems. The catcher up the line in the act of fielding a ball is awarded the same collision protection as anyone else. If the runner can avoid contact, he must. If the fielder has the ball, he must slide or try to avoid contact. Coaches will always say, "What can he do? He can't slide from there" as if this gives the runner license to hit the catcher. However, if the catcher has the ball up the line, then the runner can try to avoid a tag or give himself up.