Irish I think we are basically saying the same thing, just missing each other in typing/reading instead of face to face conversation. I agree it does not give them the right to purposely contact the fielder..what I meant was if the fielder is moving you go where they are they will be gone by the time you get there theory (like Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder
) I did not mean to imply I support purposely making contact, and as you have already said I am looking at the runner making sure they didn't alter their path to get closer to the fielder (initiate contact). I think it is a call that you have to make when you see it, but in a situation like this I am looking for OBS the defense needs to get out of the way once they have made a play and let the runner do their thing. As you should also watch for the attempt to draw OBS, as well as the chance of INT with a throw. Boy ain't that why we get paid the big bucks, all this data to process in a few seconds!!!