Quote:
Originally posted by devilsadvocate
From the PBUC Manual:
"if a throw is in flight at the moment the obstruction occurs (umpire calls "Time") and if the throw turns out to be wild and goes out of play, all runners will be awarded two bases. In such cases as this, the umpires have the responsibility of determining whether a throw is made before or after the obstruction, If the umpire judges that a throw was made after the obstruction, the obstructed runner will be awarded only one base from the base he last touched at the time of obstruction." The underlining was my emphasis. I guess the bold, blue, and green are my emphasis too (grin).
OK, this has me confused. So enlighten me. This section deals with Type A obstruction.
In the blue part, all runners are given two bases. This is the normal award for a thrown ball that goes out of play. So are we basically ignoring the obstruction and awarding the bases based on the overthrow?
In the green part, the obstructed runner only gets one base if the ball goes out of play, and I assume the other runners get two bases on the overthrow. That seems to be penalizing the obstructed runner. Or does it mean that he would get one base on the obstruction, then two bases on the overthrow?
Any help on this would be appreciated.
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It's customary to cite the section of the book, not just the book itself: We say "OBR 8.05" or "JEA, 6:22" or "PBUC 4.22," which is the citation for your quotation.
Study OBR 7.06(a) CMT for the background you need to understand the PBUC manual. Remember, it's not written for amateurs or Devil's Advocates. It's a serious book for professional umpires. The publishers (PBUC) expect their "real" readers to know baseball and to know the situations as outlined in the rule book.
What this means is that the award is measured from the base the runner WOULD HAVE REACHED
before the throw without the obstruction. BTW: This is an example of a ruling that appeared in the BRD (1993: Section 260.1) and THEN made it to the NAPBL manual (1994: 4.22).
Here's the paradigm:
Play 1: B1 hits in the gap and is obstructed as he heads for second. He was obstructed BEFORE the outfielder released the ball. Without the obstruction he would have been on second. [This is fun!]
Ruling: Therefore, he is awarded home.
Play 2: B1 hits in the gap and is obstructed as he heads for second. He was obstructed AFTER the outfielder released the ball. He would not have been on second.
Ruling: Therefore, he goes to third, receiving only ONE base on the overthrow (and one base on the Type a obstruction).
You could say he received two bases from the time of the throw. He still goes to third only. But phrasing it as they do allows an umpire to send an obstructed runner to home following a "two-base award" for an overthrow: "Coach, he had second if your guy hadn't got in his way. He gets two bases from the base occupied whenever an outfielder throws the ball to dead ball territory. Bubba, the batter-runner scores! My advice: Tell your first baseman to get out of the base path."
STEVE FREIX: What follows is opinion (grin): Putting a time frame ("before" and "after") is an attempt by PBUC to ensure consistency on those very rare occasions when this play might occur. A famous San Franscisco gadfly would argue that it's part of the "dumbing-down" of the umpire corps.
D.A.: Hey, I guess if you don't ask....
BTW: I believe -- I haven't fully checked my diaries -- it occurred just once during my career of 41 years, and that was the play at 7.06a CMT. My games proved the curse (?) of the well-prepared ump: For 35 years I knew exactly what to do for casebook plays. Like the third-base umpire in a four-man crew, I never had anything to do.
[Edited by Carl Childress on Dec 2nd, 2001 at 08:33 AM]