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Originally Posted by DaveASA/FED
I dont think anyone is argueing that if the runner goes out of there way to make contact that it would not be OBS. I at least am picturing s fielder running the runner back toward a base then throwing the ball so the runner turns around and heads back to 2nd and there is the fielder still directly in her path. Now the ?? is what does she do. I think all the answers are true, can't have malicious contact (obviously), but if you run like she isn't there and make contact (don't move where she is but run like she isn't there), or try to step sideways to avoid or step right up to the fielder and slow down for her to move......any of these will get an OBS call from me.
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It is the responsibility of the defender to not be in the basepath of the runner if they do not possess the ball, not the runner's responsibility to find another route. However, if I am envisioning what you are saying here, if a runner ignores the existence of a defender and runs into her, I would have to see it before determining if I would rule OBS.
A defender not having the ball in the basepath does not give the runner a free shot whether you want to call it malicious or not. The purpose of the rule is to have the players avoid a collision, not intentionally cause one just because they don't believe they will get an OBS call if they don't make contact.
Is it true that some umpires will not call OBS? Absolutely, which is why we are having this discussion. Too many umpires believe they know better than the rules and apply their own sense of "fairness" to the game.
This past season, I have noticed that quite a few umpires are using the "both players are just doing what they are supposed to be doing" as a reason to not call OBS. That is a fine reason when it cannot be determined as the instigator of the contact when paths cross (i.e. BR & C at the plate on a bunt). I don't consider it even a remotely good reason when it is obvious an action is in violation of a specific rule whether the umpire thinks it is fair or not.
A fielder chasing a runner with the ball is what the player "is supposed to do", but that doesn't mean that she can stay where she was once she releases the ball if it is in the basepath. A fielder reaching for a wild throw at 2B steps on the chest of the sliding runner, but she was only doing what she "is supposed to do.