Quote:
Originally posted by Gee
Garth,
Would you call interference if there was a throw to the plate from the centerfielder and the runner on second stood there waiving his hands as the ball was coming in to the cutoff man behind him?
How about the runner going to first, within the running lane, after an uncaught third strike, waiving his hands in front of F3. Is that Visual interference?
How about the call last year where they did call visual OBSTRUCTION on the F5 and/or F6 who got in the way of the R3 on a tag up. Is visual OBSTRUCTION allowed but not visual interference?
On the original play if it isn't interference I've got unsportsmanlike conduct and an out. G.
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1. Again, in levels above little boy ball, there is no visual interference in OBR.
2. And what do we know of the behind the doors discussions about that call last year? There was a lot of discussion in the dressing rooms and MLB offices after that call that never made the front page. Have we seen that call made again?Have we seen a supporting statement in the MLBUM?
Umpires make mistakes and folks mistakenly accept those mistakes as precidence. That's the problem with those historical "strange rulings in baseball" type coffee table books. They'll relate an indicident that occured in 1954 in which Augie Donatelli or someone else made an off the cuff ruling to something he hadn't seen before. The story usually ends with some comment like: "So that's the rule!"
Some amateur umpires will take that ruling as gospel. The truth is, many times these rulings are/were wrong.
To its credit, usually MLB handles such issues quietly with memos, phone calls and word of mouth rather than throwing the umpire under the bus in the newspaper.
3. What is purpose the "running lane" rule? Orginally, first base was centered on the foul line. The running lane provided F3 protection while receiving a throw and guaranteeing the runner access to half the bag. When first base was moved entirely into fair territory neither the running lane nor the rule was adjusted.
More information is needed to properly answer your question. Was a throw made? Was it a quality throw? Did the runner remain in the running lane until he needed to vacate it to step on the bag?
4. We must work with different rulebooks. There is no out for "unsportsmanlike" in mine.
[Edited by GarthB on Dec 15th, 2004 at 11:05 AM]