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Originally Posted by DTQ_Blue
Irish,
Well I would not go so far as to say that R2 was doing what she was supposed to do because the rules only explicitly say what she can't do.
The judgment I have to make is whether she is doing one of those things she's not supposed to do.
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Welcome to softball
Speaking ASA and just about every other rules set of which I'm aware
The runner has every right to attempt to advance to the next base. No where in the rule book does it state that the runner may not pass in front of a fielder attempting to field a batted ball.
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My reasoning for the call ...
F6 can't field what she can't see, and she couldn't see the ball because R2 was in front of her. I understand that R2 wasn't intentionally trying to obstruct F6 vision, but she nonetheless did. F6 didn't have a chance to react to the ball in time after R2 cleared her. Why is that not interference?
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Because the runner did not commit an "act" of interference. The fielder could have stepped up, she didn't. DMF. You are reading the rule book and taking the information too literally. If the runner did anything that was not natural to her effort to advance to the next base (hesitate and then step in front of the fielder, stop in front of the fielder, slow down for the purpose of timing their pass in front of the fielder with the ball approaching), then you would have INT as the runner committed an act of interference.
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BTW, the reason I am posting this is because I know that one of these days I will have to deal with this issue in a game that really matters (the game I'm describing here did not). I'm still relatively new to calling softball, and most umpires I've worked with probably would not have made this call, but one of the times I saw it made was with a partner working BU in a HS game who is probably one of the most experienced umpires in our association, i.e., HS and D1 college ball.
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I've got a little experience with the rule book, especially the interference rule after my last year's battle in Colorado Springs.
You should work every game as if it really matters as it may to some on the field. If you make this call in a game that really matters and you explain your reasoning to the coach as you did hear, you may very well lose a protest. Simply running in front of or behind a player attempting to field is nothing more than performing the duties of an active runner.
I strongly suggest that you attend as many softball clinics as possible. Did you ever think that the reason most umpires in your association wouldn't make this call because it is wrong? Experience and longevity actually carry very little weight in the rules department.