Obstruction? Appealable?

[Kaliix]

A good friend of mine was over yesterday and related to me a couple of umpiring stories to me that happened in the Reese game that his son had.

Apparently the umpire for this game called for an infield fly and third baseman dropped the ball in foul territory. The umpire told the coach that he saw that the ball was foul but that it was still an out. Coach gets tossed for arguing.

Then the team runs a pick off play that goes something like this. R2 and the coach calls for the special pick off play. F6 fakes like his going to the bag for a pick off throw and then cirles around the runner until he is about 3 or 4 feet in front of the runner and then intentionally trips over his own feet and falls down. At the time of the fall, the pitcher wheels and throws to F4 covering the bag. Runner gets picked off because he was watching F6 fall and got confused. Team thinks they have an out until the umpire calls F6 out for interference? Apparently the umpire admits to the coaches that F6 wasn't near the runner and never touched or impeded R2 but calls it interference anyways. Then the team protests the interference call and the protest is upheld.

Obviously, for an infield fly to be called, it must be a fair ball. Obviously, the second play was obstruction if anything, not interference.

My question is can a fielder be called for obstruction on the above described play? Also, is an obstruction call like that one a protestable call? Whether obstruction occured or not is a judgement call, atleast that's what I believe to be true. Is there any way to protest it due to the umpires interpretation of the obstruction rule if there was no contact or impeding of progress?

[LDUB]

I would not have called obstruction on the play.

Originally posted by Kaliix
Runner gets picked off because he was watching F6 fall and got confused.

You can protest this one. He called interference. Now read the interference rule.

(a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If the umpire declares the batter, batter runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise provided by these rules. In the event the batter runner has not reached first base, all runners shall return to the base last occupied at the time of the pitch.

You said that F6 falling confused R2. Looks like this guy enforced offensive interference on a defensive player. I would think that that can be protested.

[jicecone]

Originally posted by Kaliix
A good friend of mine was over yesterday and related to me a couple of umpiring stories to me that happened in the Reese game that his son had.

Apparently the umpire for this game called for an infield fly and third baseman dropped the ball in foul territory. The umpire told the coach that he saw that the ball was foul but that it was still an out. Coach gets tossed for arguing.

Then the team runs a pick off play that goes something like this. R2 and the coach calls for the special pick off play. F6 fakes like his going to the bag for a pick off throw and then cirles around the runner until he is about 3 or 4 feet in front of the runner and then intentionally trips over his own feet and falls down. At the time of the fall, the pitcher wheels and throws to F4 covering the bag. Runner gets picked off because he was watching F6 fall and got confused. Team thinks they have an out until the umpire calls F6 out for interference? Apparently the umpire admits to the coaches that F6 wasn't near the runner and never touched or impeded R2 but calls it interference anyways. Then the team protests the interference call and the protest is upheld.

Obviously, for an infield fly to be called, it must be a fair ball. Obviously, the second play was obstruction if anything, not interference.

My question is can a fielder be called for obstruction on the above described play? Also, is an obstruction call like that one a protestable call? Whether obstruction occured or not is a judgement call, atleast that's what I believe to be true. Is there any way to protest it due to the umpires interpretation of the obstruction rule if there was no contact or impeding of progress?

Did the fielder fall between the runner and the bag? Then you have obstruction. If the fielder just fell down in the vicinity of the runner and did not prevent the runner from getting to the bag, the I all I have is a dumb runner that is out. Your description isn't clear.

It is up to the individual Leagues to adopt rules govering protests. Generally, protests are not permitted on judgement decisions by the umpire however, an irate coach may insist on protesting. So, sign the book, call your assignor after the game, document and move on. If the league wants to rule on it, then theres nothing you can do.

[DG]

Originally posted by Kaliix
A good friend of mine was over yesterday and related to me a couple of umpiring stories to me that happened in the Reese game that his son had.

Apparently the umpire for this game called for an infield fly and third baseman dropped the ball in foul territory. The umpire told the coach that he saw that the ball was foul but that it was still an out. Coach gets tossed for arguing.

Then the team runs a pick off play that goes something like this. R2 and the coach calls for the special pick off play. F6 fakes like his going to the bag for a pick off throw and then cirles around the runner until he is about 3 or 4 feet in front of the runner and then intentionally trips over his own feet and falls down. At the time of the fall, the pitcher wheels and throws to F4 covering the bag. Runner gets picked off because he was watching F6 fall and got confused. Team thinks they have an out until the umpire calls F6 out for interference? Apparently the umpire admits to the coaches that F6 wasn't near the runner and never touched or impeded R2 but calls it interference anyways. Then the team protests the interference call and the protest is upheld.

Obviously, for an infield fly to be called, it must be a fair ball. Obviously, the second play was obstruction if anything, not interference.

My question is can a fielder be called for obstruction on the above described play? Also, is an obstruction call like that one a protestable call? Whether obstruction occured or not is a judgement call, atleast that's what I believe to be true. Is there any way to protest it due to the umpires interpretation of the obstruction rule if there was no contact or impeding of progress?

IFF must be fair.

Why would R2 be calling for a PO play? Did you mean F2 maybe? I assume the protest was upheld because 1) he called interference or 2) the SS did not impede the progress of any runner. Interference can be called on an offensive player for "confusing" a defensive player, but that don't work for obstruction. How many have ever seen the pitcher wheel and fake a throw to 2B, while 2B and SS are diving for the "ball" in short center field, runner takes off for 3B and is easily tagged out because pitcher still has the ball? Deception is not obstruction or interference.