Tigers vs Injuns 5-1-09 Laz Diaz? no-call

[Lawrence.Dorsey]

I just watched the video as well. Let me say at outset that my first comment is really more a question because I am not sure if I am right in my thinking.

1) Once F3 boots the ball, in other words he had the opportunity to field it and does not, does he not lose protection and therefore may be in jeopardy of committing obstruction? What makes this play interesting to me is that runners are keyed in to staying in the running lane heading to 1B and so Anderson was doing what he supposed to. Had F3 been fielding on the initial attempt, I think Anderson would have been guilty of interference but that's not what happened.

2) I can't figure out the J/R interpretation. Either you touched the bag or you didn't and if you didn't, the force should still be on. If Laz has no OBS or INT, then the runner should be out because the base was tagged prior to the runner legally acquiring it. I don't fall out very often on the players side when it comes to the rules but there is no way any player will know in a situation like this when to tag the bag or runner .

Lawrence