Obstruction Q - holding a runner on 3rd base

[JeffM]

I am a basketball official and parent of a 3rd baseman who is 12. He plays in a Cal Ripken league where they play on 70' bases and can take leads.

(I don't know why 3rd basemen at this age worry so much about the runner when most of the time they don't take a big secondary lead...)

When the third baseman is holding the runner on 3rd base, I know that both feet need to be in fair territory. Are there any other restrictions on where his feet are?

Is he allowed to straddle the bag so that his right foot is on the third base line? Can his right foot be on the edge of the bag closest to the plate so that the runner would need to avoid his foot if diving back into 3rd base.

[MD Longhorn]

No sane umpire is going to call the third baseman for being in foul ground if he's straddling the bag naturally. If a coach points it out, umpires will enforce it begrudglingly.

As to obstruction - merely being between the runner and the base is not obstruction. That rule is a lot more involved, and I suggest you read it in entirety ... trying to explain it here without that background reading would not be productive ... it would lead to 92 what-ifs from various people wanting to prove how smart they are.

[JeffM]

Thanks!
Jeff

[Rich Ives]

Have your third baseman hold runners on the same way pro third baseman hold runners on.
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They don't.

[JeffM]

Whenever I've coached, I have not had the third baseman hold the runner on. I didn't see much advantage to it. I've seen other teams throw a lot of balls away and third basemen not get back to their position soon enough to react properly.

However, my son's coach wants him to hold the runner on...

[Rich Ives]

Originally Posted by JeffM

Whenever I've coached, I have not had the third baseman hold the runner on. I didn't see much advantage to it. I've seen other teams throw a lot of balls away and third basemen not get back to their position soon enough to react properly.

However, my son's coach wants him to hold the runner on...

Can you have a discussion with him on why? Try to point him at the way the HS kids (and up) play. Coaches need to get taught too, that's why there are coaching clinics.