Place the Runners

[MikeStrybel]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Do you ever see a ML crew aggressively awarding bases? In the games I attend where balls are thrown in the stands, it seems like they don't really do much of anything and just assume that runners know where to go.

I know in a HS game, I *must* say "you, score" loud enough for everyone to hear and decisively enough to avoid having a visit.

At the Chicago NCAA meetings they showed a couple MLB plays for obstruction. In both, the umpires were emphatic and immediate in their awards. Even in the bigs, players don't always know where to go on such calls. Tom also showed two NCAA plays involving obstruction - both types. One involved a runner believing that he was protected when in fact he wasn't. Hiler reiterated the need for umpires to be assertive on this call and reminded us that collegiate athletes (in this case D-1) typically aren't aware of the award.