Batter Obstruction

[kwhinc]

I was a plate umpire for a Babe Ruth gamer last night and here is what happened:

I have bases loaded with 1 out and batter comes to bat. With a 1-1 count on the batter the runner on 3rd steals goes to steal home. The pitcher throws a wild pitch and the catcher runs back and throws back to the pitcher who is covering home plate now. The batter in the box makes no attempt to leave the box and the runner is safe because of a poor throw from the catcher. After consulting with my base umpire we decided that the batter was out because of obstruction and the runners had to go back to the original bases so the bases were full again, but there was 2 outs. Was this the right call or did I screw it up? What does the rule book say? Thank you for any help that you can give me.

[wadeintothem]

One thing is for sure, the batter did not OBSTRUCT the runner.

[Baseball_North]

I am pretty sure that in this situation, which is INTERFERENCE, not OBSTRUCTION (to be technical...), R3 should be called out as there is less than 2 outs. Batter stays at bat.

With 2 outs, the batter would be out and the run would not score.

Can anyone confirm?

[LDUB]

If R3 was stealing home, he should have beat the pitcher there by a few seconds. In that case the batter is not in the way at all.

[wadeintothem]

Originally posted by Baseball_North
I am pretty sure that in this situation, which is INTERFERENCE, not OBSTRUCTION (to be technical...), R3 should be called out as there is less than 2 outs. Batter stays at bat.

With 2 outs, the batter would be out and the run would not score.

Can anyone confirm?

If there was interference by the batter, the runner is out with less than 2 outs. If 2 outs the batter is out and the run does not count.

I would have had to see the play.. but he indicated a wild throw caused the missed tag at home, not that the batter interference caused the bad play - hence to me on a HTBT play = no interference. That indicates to me that this play should have been a non call on INT and safe at home.

I dont agree it is a mere technical differentiation between calling a batter/runner out for Obstruction or Interference. When making the call or explaining to the coach - you call using the correct term and rule. The importance is immense. If you dealing with coaches/fans who know what they are doing, it will immediately signal to them that you dont know the rules or have a rule book and your credibility will be affected for anything else you do.

[Baseball_North]

Agreed on using the proper terminology.

I was assuming that there was interference at the plate, and R3 would have been out if not for the interference.

If R3 would have scored anyway, then nothing is called.