[WhatWuzThatBlue]

"Please tell us, enlightened one, what you feel we should talk about.

This isn't all that as impossible as you suggest. R1 is off on the pitch. His head is down and he's haulin' @$$ toward second. He hears the contact of the bat and the ball and looks up and see's it high in the air over the mound. He stops in his tracks, turns around and attempts to go back to first. F3 is now looking up at the ball and steps into his path back to first obstructing him causing him to fall. By the time he gets back to his feet BR is now on first base. F1 throws the ball to F6 and F6 miss-plays the ball letting it go into the outfield. F8 subsequently throws out R1 at second as he's just coming into the bag."

[/B]I think most of us agree that there is very little possibility of this play actually happening. Even Rich agrees that it would take 13-14 year olds to be involved and I have yet to see one beat the baserunner to first on that type of play.

While most youth leagues use OBR based rules, most don't allow leadoffs on 60' bases. The hit and run is moot and the idea that the kid is fooled is absurd to anyone older than a freshman in high school.

The most pressing point that has been missed is that R1 is not entitled to protection going back to first. He mistakenly thought it was a fly ball and ran into the fielder who was standing away from the base. The onus is not on the fielder to get out of his way on something like this play. He should never expect the runner to return to the base! The collision is the fault of the runner. At that level, I don't call Obstruction on the fielder for the bonehead base running of R1. If the coach barks, I say, "Your runner ran into him coach. Where should F3 stand on that play? He is getting ready for the throw to first, not a returning runner! Go away before my head explodes."[/B]

[Edited by WhatWuzThatBlue on Jan 5th, 2006 at 11:18 PM]