Quote:
Originally Posted by NSABill
Some codes try and tell you that if the errant throw pulls the defensive player to the orange, the offensive player is supposed to switch.
|
I don't think that there are any that say the batter-runner
must switch. They say that in these cases the batter-runner
may switch. To me, that makes sense.
If the B/R is going full-bore to the colored base, it would be unreasonable to force/require her to make a last second course correction. That would tip the balance in favor of the defense. The runner may not even recognize that the throw is off-line, if she is focused on the bag and running through it. And yet she still has the option of switching to the white bag which may allow her to avoid a collision.
On the small handful of plays where the offense and defense can legally switch bags, those exceptions make sense, too. For instance, if the fielder is over in foul ground and is forced to still use the white base, you have just put the offense and the defense on a criss-crossing collision course. Allowing them to switch on a play like that would tend to reduce the chance for a collision.
But you are right- the different interpretations of the double first base offered by different sanctioning bodies can lead to some confusion! That's why it is imperative for us, as umpires, to thoroughly understand the particular interpretations for whichever association we're working for. It doesn't bother so much when the coaches have it wrong, but it does when the umpires do!
At the risk of being labeled a clone with a blind allegiance to any one sanctioning body
I will say that, if we must use the double base, I think that ASA has best defined and interpreted the rule (well, except for the recent change about an errant throw pulling the fielder directly to the colored base- that kind of sucks).
ASA has- what, 2 or 3?- situations where the offense and defense may legally switch bases, In each of those cases, it is allowed so that the players can actually avoid a collision, instead of forcing them to do something that might make a collision more likely.