[mcrowder]

Originally posted by WestMichBlue
mcrowder: You can't call her out for INT for not sliding, as may have been intimated above.

I didn't say that, and you apparently are not paying attention.

I was trying to be careful there, as I was not sure if that was what you were trying to imply (hence my words "may have" and "intimated"). I was paying attention, but was not sure if your comments were meant to lean that way.

... if the runner doesn't slide and causes illegal contact (or simply alters the action of the defender) while the defender is in the immediate act of making a play on the runner, the runner is called out. (Dead ball, other runners return; B-R placed at 1B.) Yes, that is called interference!

I agree. When I made my first post, though, I didn't read this as the situation.

Using this, and the new 8.6.14, Dakota asked us to draw a line between malicious contact (ejection), crash interference (out), and obstruction (award home). You have arbitrarily decided there is only A or B - all contact is either ejection or obstruction.

I didn't mean to limit the choices to A or B for EVERY play... just for this one. Perhaps it was a faulty assumption on my part, but I did not see an "immediate play" being made so that interference could be an option. As I read this, I inferred that the ball was not about to be there, and that F2 was simply far enough up the line that sliding was not an option, but not making an immediate play. To my mind, either the contact was intentional/maliciouson the runner's part, or the contact was obstruction.

Add an immediately incoming ball to the situation and I agree that interference is a possibility.

Lets modify Dakota's play. Assume that at the last second that R1 realizes that F2 is not going to get out of the way so she attempts to go around, but her knee hits F2's knee, taking F2 down with the ball being uncaught.

Malicious contact, ejection?
Obstruction, award home?
Illegal contact, interference over-rides obstruction, call R1 out?

I think this is a tough call, but I also think that a runner must have some responsibility to avoid contact with a defender in the act of making a play. I believe the runner must deviate and avoid contact if possible and assume that the umpire will call obstruction.

I agree 100% - both that this changed situation COULD BE interference, and that it's a tough call either way. Additionally, I think you have to take the mannerisms of the runner into play - where was the runner looking? Directly at the catcher? Probably INT or USC. Over the shoulder trying to see if there's a play? Now it's probably OBS.