Quote:
Originally Posted by EsqUmp
Regarding an obstructing fielder on a runner rounding or returning, that has been an NCAA rule for at least a decade. I warning is given the first time it happens. The plate umpire records the warning and the teams are notified. If the same player commits the same infraction, the obstructed runner will automatically get the next base, regardless of whether the umpire believed the runner would have gotten that base had the obstruction no occurred. It is a rule intended to get the 1st baseman off of 1st base when the ball is rolling around in the outfield. Believing that the umpires were not going to protect the runner to 2nd base, coaches stationed their 1st baseman on or near 1st base on outfield hits just to complicate things for the runner.
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And that is pitifully sad on both sides. The point that some umpires refuse to apply obstruction properly to the level that the coaches believe a punitive effect must be required to stop the other coaches from instructing their players from teaching their teams to do something that is neither legal or sportsmanlike.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball.
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