First game of season

[mbyron]

Well, I didn't suck.

Saw an intriguing set play. Home team down by about 8 in the early innings, bases loaded, 2 outs. They sub for the batter, and the sub seems to be a mentally challenged boy.

First pitch is a called strike down the middle. Second is a high fastball, batter swings weakly for strike 2.

On the third pitch, R3 takes off. The catcher reaches out over the plate, and the batter swings and hits his mitt. PU calls "catcher's obstruction!" Batter awarded 1B and all runners advance!

We talked about the play after the game, and my partner asked whether I thought that the batter might have been late swinging, and just trying to hit the mitt. "How late is too late?" he asked. I said, "that's the PU's judgment: we have to judge whether he's swinging at the pitch."

The opposing coach asked about batter interference with the play at home, but the ball was already dead on the CO.