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Originally posted by greymule
I have been away from the board for a while, busy with some sad things.
The OBS rule has been the last straw for me. I've seen too many plays that technically qualify as OBS but that I simply can't bring myself to call. Runner coming home is 10 feet from the plate when the catcher moves in front of the plate to catch the throw. Out. Coaches scream OBS and cite the new rule. Because for my entire life that play has been an out, I haven't called OBS, but they're right. Similar plays at 3B when F5 is standing in front of 3B as he catches the throw and the runner is approaching. Never was OBS, but the runner did slow down, though he would have been out anyway.
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No, this just isn't true. This is the type of thinking that causes the confusion. Obstruction doesn't happen until it happens.
Hey, little Susie rounds 3B and sees the catcher waiting for the ball this side of the plate and slows down. Well, that is NOT obstruction, but a DMR! Now the base coach wants OBS because s/he TOLD the runner to stop because of where the catcher was located. Now you have a DMC!
It is the runner's responsibility to make every effort to reach the base to which they are progressing. If they choose to slow down prior where a defender affects the actual play, they do so on their own. A runner should always be prepared to go around a defender and allow the umpire to do their job.
Granted, as we have seen in many of discussions on this and other boards, not every umpire is going to do their job and make the proper call, but then again, not every umpire has the same strike zone or understanding of interference or a dozen other judgment calls.
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They've eliminated the tag play at home in senior softball. Maybe it's time at the other levels.
I stopped doing Fed a few years ago when I realized that I should not umpire under a code if I cannot enforce all the rules. (And Fed had a bunch I couldn't swallow: idiotic rules on OBS, illegal pitches, sliding, "tobacco-like substances," and many more.) I'm leaning toward stopping ASA, too, on the same principle.
Besides, I'm not really enjoying it any more.
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That would be a shame, but it's your life to live whichever way you choose. It is not unusual for many umpires to not want to work a particular game on any given night, but we do it anyway because we know that for all the lousy games, there is going to be some great ones just around the corner.