The Official Forum - play at the plate

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ozzy6900

Well now I can safely say that combining rulebooks is just a bunch of BS! I have never seen such a mess of rules as this .pdf!

That said, rule 8.07.G is a lawyers dream! Surely, any sane umpire will shy away from doing these games so that they don't loose their home and possessions because the runners must do one or the other!

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8.07.G

Whenever a tag play is evident, the runners must slide or seek to avoid contact with the fielder. Malicious contact shall supersede all obstruction penalties.

Penalty:

Runner shall be called out and may be ejected from the game at the umpire’s discretion.

Rule 8.07.G Comment:

When enforcing this rule, the umpire should judge the runner’s intent. If the umpire feels that the contact was unintentional, then the runner should only be declared out. If the umpire feels that the contact was intentional and / or malicious, then the runner should be declared out and ejected.

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No wonder "umpires don't know the rules" in this league!

There's nothing contained in the rule you quoted that would be considered "a lawyer's dream" if you're suggesting the rule is poorly worded so as to invite a liability lawsuit should someone get injured in a play. You highlighted the word "must," but you obviously missed the word "or" a couple of words after that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTQ_Blue

The LL rule says the runner must slide or "attempt to get around a fielder who has the ball and is waiting to make the tag."

The leaping runner is out in LL.

You quoted the correct rule but then said Leaping in LL is illegal.

There are no sliding restrictions in LL which is amazing considering how safety concious they seem to be.

In fact in LL you can "take out a fielder" and nothing happens accept maybe ejection.

Very rarely where you have a situation where both conditions in LL's joke of a safety rule exist meaning Player having ACTUAL possession of the ball AND waiting to make a tag.

That's why for the most part there is confusion in youth leagues regarding plays at the plate where contact is made as evidenced by this thread.

Kuddos to the USSSA director for referring to the FED rule.

All youth leagues should have a no Malicious contact rule and also sliding restrictions and my gut is that in the future they will.

Pete Booth

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeteBooth

There are no sliding restrictions in LL which is amazing considering how safety concious they seem to be.

Actually, Little League is alone amongst all baseball organizations (that I'm aware of) in prohibiting head-first slides (while advancing.)

I agree with you that LL's failure to prohibit hurdling (I would allow the FED exception that you can hurdle a prone player) is a safety oversight.