Fake Tag or Spastic?

[greymule]

This question reminds me of a SP game years ago in which I ruled that the shortstop had intentionally dropped a liner with runners on 1B and 2B and no out. His team argued, in all seriousness, "But Blue, he's not good enough to drop a ball intentionally. He's a terrible fielder. He just dropped it!"

Actually, they might well have been right, but I stuck with the call.

[TwoBits]

Regarding whether it was a fake tag or not, I would have to be there to judge that.

I'm assuming this is a FED game since you are talking about a fake tag. In that case, faking a tag IS obstruction, and a minimum one base award is required. The runner would probably only be protected to second since this occured on a ground ball between first and second. Furthermore, the defensive team shall receive a warning with the next offending player on that team being restricted to the bench.

[GarthB]

I agree with Steve; I would not call a fake tag. The intent of that rule is to prevent unnecessary slides to a base and decrease the risk of injury. I would assume the fielder thought he had the ball.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GarthB

I agree with Steve; I would not call a fake tag.

I thought I felt the earth shifting off its axis this morning!