Quote:
Originally posted by Thom Coste
I believe this situation is closer to the umpire who calls a fair ball foul than it is to umpire's interference. Only the B/R reacted to the umpire's call. Everyone else continued as if there had been no call. And who knows for sure that the B/R reacted to the umpire. Perhaps he stopped running because the ball had been fielded by F1 and he figured he was a dead duck.
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Tom, in the situation where the umpire calls a fair ball foul and even one player reacts, its FOUL. No outs. No bases run. Nothing. A do over of sorts. In THIS case you're still going to allow a base advance to R1 and have the BR out! How is that similar?
Quote:
Originally posted by Thom Coste
If you go back to the original post you'll see that F1 made the throw to first. That the B/R stopped running only made the play less urgent. But the defense made the proper play and should get the out. No presumption here - the throw was made. The question became more of what to do with R1, who advanced to 2nd. If - and only if - the defense comes out asking for the double-up at first base, will you have any serious discussion. And I can't see that happening because they all know it was a grounder, not a caught pop-up.
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So you're saying that taking the pressure off F1's throw made NO DIFFERENCE? I think that's pure speculation on your part, Thom. If the BR had been running hard, maybe F1 would have thrown wild. Maybe R1 would have made 3rd base on the wild throw and maybe the BR would have made 2nd. Why go with the maybe's?
All I was trying to say, as Jim Porter so succinctly explained, is that it is far better to use what the rule book already offers as guidance. After all, we all know the rule book says that if an umpire is hit by a batted ball then the BR gets first
whether he would have made it or not! That's the way it is handled, and that is what your protest committee will use as guidance if there is an objection to your decision.
You say that the F1 still made the play, but it wasn't the SAME play as it might have been if the umpire hadn't interfered. Therefore the outcome of that play isn't valid either.
Cheers,
Warren Willson