Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry1953
Sorry Rich. I pulled the quote straight from a Youth League website. Your comment is in direct contradiction to numerous case commentaries but I guess they are wrong too.
The game in question was over 15 years ago. It didn't matter to me what the outcome of the game was, just the abysmal ignorance of the umpire who had no idea of the nuances of the obstruction rule. EVERY casebook commentary says that once the ball has gone past the fielder he can no longer be considered in the act of fielding and the fielder has VERY LIKELY obstructed the runner. That is EXACTLY what happened in that long ago game but apparently very few umpires let something like - you know - plain English come in the way of their infallible judgment.
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You can pull a quote straight from a youth league web site all you want but that doesn't make it the riught rule for the game you are in.
The LL rule does NOT include "in the act of fielding" - no matter what your source says.
Any rule for any sport need interpretation beyond what the rule book actually says. That's why there are comments, approved rulings etc. in the MLB and NCAA books. That's why MLB publishes the MLB Umpitre Manual and the PBUC publishes the PBUC Umpire Manual. That's why LL publishes its case book and Rules Instructiion Manual. That's why FED publishes its case book. The rules go beyond the basic book and you have to know and understand all of that to call things correctly.
The fielder cannot instanly go poof. He has to make every effort to vacate the space ASAP but he cannot go poof. Physical reallity. Deal with it.