Double Play or Not?

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by umpjong

I understand your point, but disagree. Not that it would happen , but if you called this play as you state, what would stop a coach from seeing this and start teaching his players to attempt to knock players off the bag any time there is a possible chance to do this? I know this is the extreme, but if (what I perceive as fair play) you place him back on the base, no one has gained an advantage. (whether intentional or not - dont forget that the runner was knocked off of the base completely on the initiative of the fielder, no one is questioning this fact here))

I don't find such a tactic at all plausible. First, I'm kinda impressed that the F6 in the OP could bump a runner off a base and still make a catch. Coaching him to TRY to bump into R2 standing on the base is going to result in dropped pop-ups, not INT calls.

Second, unless F6 is as big as a sumo wrestler, it just ain't that hard for a runner to stay on a base while a fielder is fielding a batted ball, provided that he's watching the fielder and not the ball. If he's not watching the fielder, too bad for him.

Third, I make my calls based on the rules, not what coaches might do if I enforce the rules correctly.