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Old Wed Aug 11, 2004, 08:18am
Atl Blue Atl Blue is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 159
Emmel did not call Type A obstruction, because at the time of the OBS, there was not a play on the runner. The play came AFTER the OBS. Type B can NEVER "become" type A.

Had Emmel called Type A, he would have immediately called time, killed the play, and awarded home. He did not. He pointed to the play, shouted, "That's obstruction" (we assume, as there is no umpire audio on the replay), and AFTER the ball was thrown back into the infield, and the play was over, he THEN awarded HP to R3.

Watch the tape. Emmel's mechanics clearly show he did not kill the play at the time. Either he had VERY bad mechanics (calling type A without killing the play), or he "judged" that Crawford would have scored without the OBS (EXTREMELY questionable judgment), or he mistakenly made the award of home on the premise that the defense obstructed and need to be penalized (also not supported by the rules).

Somewhere along the way, Emmel made a mistake, not in his call, but in the result. The umpiring crew and some posters on this and other boards have twisted their shorts trying to find a way to justify the call.

Sorry, but there was a mistake made SOMEWHERE in this play, either mechanics, rules interpretation or judgment. But there is no way to twist it to say Emmel was 100% correct.
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