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Originally Posted by rwest
No need for a dead ball call if the runner obtained the base they would have reached had there been no obstruction. I don't have my Fed rulebooks with me, but I believe the mechanics are the same for ASA. You don't call dead ball if the runner made it safely to second. Did the ball beat the runner to 2nd and was there a tag? If that is the case, then yes there should have been a dead ball call.
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Wait a minute. I thought most of us here believed that umpires should signal and
announce obstruction awards, even after a runner advanced to the awarded base.
How are you going to do that, if the ball is still live. Are you not going to change your
delayed dead ball to a
real dead ball at the end of playing action? In 2007 the NFHS stated that
"Umpires are potentially seeing obstruction occur, but are not making the call if the base runner has obtained the base that she would have acquired without the obstruction."
"This practice by umpires must be stopped for several reasons - the defense needs to know it has committed a violatin and the offense needs to know that the violation was seen by the umpire, even if no furhter penalty is to be enforced."
Back to the OP - R2 (B-R?) walks into 2B, BU
still holds arm out. (If he is a good BU, he is inside and arm is pointing towards 3B.) Then R2 walks off the base and is called out for LBR? Come on! The arm should have been dropped when R2 reached 2B; if the ball is in the circle then play has ended and the umpire can call DB and announce the award.
It appears to me that his poor mechanics enticeds the runner to step off the base, and then he calls her out! Sure, the player bears responsibility for her actions, but doesn't anyone see that maybe the umpire's mistake contributed to the problem?
Is this not like a situation where a runner is very safe on a tag play, but you have a brain fart and call her out. When she jumps up to voice her displeasure with your call, she is tagged again by F4 who still has the ball. And you say, "My mistake, I should have said safe, but you are out now because you are off the base."
WMB