Quote:
Originally posted by Roger Greene
Mike,
If that two step delayed runner was out by six steps, then the protection would not apply and the runner has attempted the famous "base too far".
Roger Greene
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Well Roger, you hit my hot button, so I feel that I must respond.
[soapbox mode on]
I hear too many umpires these days saying things like "Well, the obstruction only cost him 2 steps and he was out by 6, so I decided that his protection was only to 3rd base and called him out at home." This is a bunch of baloney. First of all, how do you
(the umpire, not you, Roger) know that the obstruction only cost the runner 2 steps and not 3 or 4?
Secondly if the runner had been 2 steps closer to the catcher as the ball was arriving, how do you know that the catcher would have caught it; maybe the runner's nearness would have distracted heeer and caused her to misplay the ball. Thirdly, how do you know that if the runner had been 2 or 3 or 4 steps farther down the basepath when the fielder was preparing to make the throw that the fielder might have rushed the throw a little and not have made as good a throw in the first place. All of these intangibles should make you favor the offense when awarding bases.
I was taught to decide immediately when the obstruction occurs, the base to which I'm protecting the runner based on where the runner is, where the ball is, and how severe the obstruction is. This is the minimum award that I'm giving to the runner. This award can change based on post obstruction evidence. In deciding the initial award, my tendancy is to evaluate the play and decide what base a typical runner would reach on that play, but in my opinion, that runner is going to get at least 1 base beyond the obstruction in
most cases. Most does not mean all however, consider these two cases:
- The batter hits a routine single to right field and as she is rounding 1st, she trips over F3's leg and falls down. F9 seeing the BR on the ground throws the ball to F3 to attempt the putout. In this case, I will only protect the BR back to 1st base. The penalty in this case is that the defense loses a potential out. Since a typical runner would not have even tried for 2nd on this hit, I'm not awarding the BR second.
- Runner on 2nd, batter hits a ball into short left field. The runner has to avoid F6 on the way to 3rd and is thrown out by several feet. In this case, I will award the runner 3rd because of the obstruction by F6, even though she might have still been out had there not been obstruction. This is the penalty that the defense suffers for committing the illegal act.
So, IMHO at lease, the benefid of the doubt should be given to the obstructed runner and advance bases should be awarded if there si the remotest chance that runner might havc been safe, whether they attempted to get to the base or not.
[soapbox mode off]
--SamC