Verbal Interference

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

What do you mean? They did, as they are supposed to, reject verbal interference ("verbal obstruction" is a new one though).

Verbal Obstruction:

FED Play 1 - Official Interp 3/99: When a defensive player lies and tells a runner that a passed ball was a foul ball, the fielder is guilty of verbal obstruction. - Rumble interpretation.

FED Play 2 - Official Interp 2001: Any verbal decoy, such as "I've got it,"
is obstruction. - Hopkins interpretation.

FED Play 3 - Official Interp 3/99: As the catcher throws a "pop fly" to F4 with a runner stealing, if a team member bangs bats together to simulate the sound of the batted ball, the umpire calls obstruction and ejects the offender.

In OBR there is no such thing as verbal interference or obstruction (actually points not covered). A runner is simply referred to as "gullible" for not knowing the difference between his opponent and his coach. Carl Childress said that Bruce Froemming would penalize a runner for yelling "drop it" to a fielder under 9.01(c).