Quote:
Originally posted by CecilOne
I know what I think about these unrelated plays, but just for discussion and education:
1) Infield playing in, expecting bunt and the batter bunts almost in front of the plate, but toward 1st. First baseman and catcher start after the ball. BR carefully steps around the ball, then looks up and realizes charging 1B is in her path, tries to step aside but they collide anyway. Catcher is yelling "I have it", picks up the ball and throws to first. Was the 1B "fielding the ball", based on initial effort or did catcher calling for it take that away?
2) BR hits back to pitcher, who throws to 1st. The 1B muffs throw and it bounces off her toward foul ground on the home plate side of 1st. As she steps in front of the BR to go after it (but hasn't reached it), 1B and BR collide about 3 feet from the base. BR gets to 1st before 1B can retrieve the ball. Is the 1B still "about to receive" or attempting to catch the ball after the muff or is it just a collision with no call?
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HTBT, but...
1. Could very well be obstruction if anyone other than F3 is more likely to field the ball.
2. If F3 leaves the area where she attempted to receive the ball, the call would most likely be obstruction which is dropped the moment the BR becomes a runner unless the ball bounded far enough away that I believed the runner could have easily reached 2B safely.
The "about to receive" gives the fielder the right to be in the base path at that point, not carte blanche to run anywhere they please free of an obstruction call.