Basketball ref, and baseball coach, with a question on where you look on a play like this. In basketball we typically "referee the defense" to know whether or not legal guarding position was attained before contact. That way we know what to call, a block or player control foul. Do baseball umpires do the same kind of thing in situations like this where contact between players is possible/likely?
I ask because my eyes followed the catcher (defense) on this one and, based on his movement away from R3, it seemed that R3 initiated the contact by leaning into the catcher.
Granted, as a coach I would also instruct my C to divert further from the runner once he's thrown the ball to avoid such a situation in the first place.
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