Garth,
joining in a little late... can't spend all of my time here.
I like the explanations given by your FED guy... however it doesn't change the 1998 FED interpretation offered by Bob J.
That still bothers me.
I'm with you when you say that there often isn't time for a runner to make much attempt to avoid a throw. And up until a runner is put out he's going to be running full speed DIRECTLY at the base. Additionaly, the runner does not know what F4/F6 will do with the ball once 2nd base is tagged - will he throw from inside the diamond? outside the diamond? Straight down the baseline? Will he throw at all? Where is the runner to go but still at the base until the defense commits themselves to making a throw? How can he avoid the unknown? And the vast majority of the time, he doesn't have adequate time to make such a path adjustment once the ball's path is known.
However, a runner that stands up straight and takes one in the chest without flinching is either mentally retarded or is probably intentionally trying to interfere. So perhaps the ruling/interpretation has some merit.
It is obvious that the defender throwing the ball has final control over the flight path. He chooses from where the throw will be made. If the runner is legally in the basepath, and does anything to avoid
or protect himself, (e.g. duck, turn a shoulder, raise his arms to protect his face) I'm going to be looking at ejecting the thrower rather than calling interference. Safety is important and intentionally throwing at a runner will never be acceptable.
The umpire's sense and intuition that is inherent with seeing a play take place, cannot be adequately described here. I cannot reasonably judge who really caused the runner to get hit. And that is part of why I don't like the interpretation Bob offered - it doesn't leave any room for game sense or situational experience.
Thank God, it hurts when one gets hit with a throw and therefore, we rarely see a runner hit with a thrown ball.
Despite the interpretation, I'm going to have a very difficult time penalizing a runner that I felt didn't do anything wrong.
I've got a game in about three hours; you guys better not have jinxed me!
