[wadeintothem]

Well I chewed on this one all the way to work.. and I cant post much here..

Im a little slower than most so I'm also having trouble grasping why the DDB signal was given in this instance...


The OBS was not significant enough to protect the runner to 2nd due to the rounding (not running through 1b, rounding it) .. and the DDB signal confused the OFF so the Ump bit the bullet and gave put the runner back to 1B despite the fact the runner had passed the base protected to (1B).. so..

Why call it? It was an error.

1) If the point was to protect the runner to 1B .. the point was likely moot by the time the arm was raised.. by the time the runner made a wide round due to the OBS there was probably less the 1 second before the runner was on the bag.. and OBS can be called even if DDB is not signalled. There was no play being made on the runner anyway and no reason for DDB or OBS because the runner was safe by miles.

2) If the point was to protect the runner back to 1B after rounding, the DDB call should have been delayed until a play was being made at 1B.. this would have prevented the resulting confusion.

Essentially, I dont see how there was any possibility of OBS here.. based on the scenario provided and the resulting ruling after the out at 2B and no reason for the DDB signal... UNLESS the point was to protect the runner to second, which wasnt the case.

But then again I'm not a very good umpire, but thats how I see it. OBS protecting a BR to 1B is not in plays like was described here.. you'll see it on bunts/slaps and ugly defense or stuff like that..

And as I mentioned, runners rounding 1B properly, round it wide.