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Originally posted by SouthPaw
Thanks for the info mcrowder,
I was shocked as could be that I wasn't ejected, but in my defense he threw the first punch. The poor umpire was so confused by the whole thing that he said if he threw one guy out he would have to throw every guy out since everyone was fighting. The ironic thing was that the other team was full of police officers & firefighters.
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Do not care who they are, anyone who left their position or the bench area to participate would have been ejected. The policeman and firefighters may have even been punished by their commanders/supervisors at their regular job if the team was tied into their positions. Don't scoff, I've seen it happen. Especially in today's world, any government agency gets a black eye when things like this happen and sometimes do not hesitate to reprimand those involved.
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What are the rules on incidental contact? I was involved in another situation where I hit a ball down the right field line & was rounding second & headed to 3rd. as I made the turn I looked back to see where the ball was. When I looked back towards 3rd the SS was about a foot in front of me just standing in the baseline. There was nothing I could do but put my arms up to soften the blow.
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If it seemed that your action was to avoid the collision, it would probably only be an obstruction call. If you didn't attempt to check-up and it seemed to the umpire that your action was more toward bracing yourself for a collision (crossing your arms, lowering a shoulder, etc.), you may get dumped.
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Needless to say at 6'2" 225, I knocked the guy about 6 feet back & he landed flat on his back. The other team got a little heated but the umpire quickly de-fused the situation & said that the SS was standing in the base path therefore I did nothing wrong. After the inning I went up & asked the SS if he was alright. He said that it was his fault & it was the first time he had ever played in the infield. Would most of you handle the situation the same? I am a passive, clean player & in 11 years of playing, these are the only 2 incidents I have been in.
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And if the umpire knows you and the manner in which you play, it may help, but it doesn't necessarily justify it.
Even with the assumption that you did nothing wrong as indicated here, you have to consider what the umpire is seeing and the fact that folks have to get up and go to school, work or whatever the next morning and that this is supposed to be recreational ball. The rules are there to protect the players and sometimes even completely innocent acts call for a ruling which may not be popular. Even when the other guy/gal may have been in the wrong place does not justify what might happen on a ball field.
Many of these rules are in place more as a deterent than to be an imposition upon the players. Unfortunately, there are some out there who play like the world will come to an end if they do not win a simple game.