|
Players are coached to do this during a rundown: bump into the fielder after he's thrown the ball in order to draw the obstruction call. It worked in this case.
Bit of an acting job by Victorino if you ask me, but clearly there was contact.
From an umpiring standpoint, I always want to end a rundown as quickly as possible. Rundowns are bad baseball and add nothing to the game. If the runner takes 2 steps sideways, he's out of the baseline and out. If there's contact with the fielder, obstruction (unfortunately, in FED we play on from that point since all OBS is "Type B"). If the runner does anything with his hands to touch or otherwise impede the fielder, INT. Move on.
__________________
Cheers,
mb
|