|
What Wade said!
A little preventive umpiring may have helped. I am aware of the team argument that the runner was just following the umpire's direction.
As an umpire, I never immediately award a base during a dead-ball period when the runner is where s/he doesn't belong. Since the runner is supposed to be given the opportunity to complete their tasks during dead-ball periods, I will hesitate to see what the runner will do.
In this case, if the runner started back toward 1B, I would wait until the runner reached that base and then announce the award.
If the runner just stands there looking at me, I will again hesitate a second or two longer (bet on the coaches, players and fans to be screaming for an award). If it becomes obvious to me that the player just isn't going to move, I will announce the award as "one base". This way I am not "directing" the runner to 2B.
Sometimes just the slightest little thing will help the umpire.
__________________
The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
|