Collision at 1B
 

Lower skilled teams. I was watching the game. USA rules.

Batter hits an infield ground ball.

F3 is set up for some reason off 1B toward home straddling the foul line.

Throw to F3 arrives before the runner arrives, and F3 clearly has possession of the ball before BR arrives.

But since F3 is off the bag (and partially in foul territory) she attempts to reach back with her leg to find 1B with her foot, but is finding the orange bag, not white.

BR arrives before F3 manages to touch the white bag. BR, running toward the bag, remains upright and collides squarely with F3, knocking her down. BR then touches the orange bag.

There is no attempt at a tag, and there is no indication of malicious intent on the part of the BR.

Call?

You described the classic example of the only time that a fielder can use the orange bag to get a runner out, when they're coming from foul territory back toward the line. It's a safety consideration to avoid a collision. When F3 found that orange bag with her foot, the BR should have been called out.

The rule says the defense can use the orange base if the throw is coming from foul territory, if the play takes the fielder into foul territory or if an errant throw draws the fielder onto the orange base. None of those situations were described in the op, the fielder simply was not set up on the white base and went to the orange. Based on the op not calling an out for touching only the orange base would be correct.

USA rules? Obstruction.

The ball was thrown from fair territory, and doesn't seem to be an errant throw. I wasn't there, but if I was, based on the original post, I am putting the BR on 1B.

Yup

Just to clarify, the throw came from the infield (fair territory) and the fielder was not drawn into foul ground by the throw; she was already there.

How can you have obstruction? In the OP, the fielder clearly had possession of the ball prior to the batter-runner arriving.

How can you rule obstruction when the defender is in possession of the ball?

F3 clearly has possession of the ball before BR arrives.

Down to the essentials, you are asking if this was interference.

"remains upright and collides squarely with F3" is the key. Yes, INT, an out.

Yes, but I didn't want to bias the question too much.

The umpire on the field and I had a long discussion about this play.

The call was safe.

I asked if he considered crash interference. He did not.

He and I wanted the views of members here. This was a 1-man game, so the umpire's view was from the "trailing the BR" position.

All difficult calls are excused. :rolleyes:

:eek:

;)

D'oh! I missed that part and assumed incorrectly that the fielder was on the orange bag when the ball and runner arrived at roughly the same time. This is not obstruction.

The call is Safe, as the fielder has the onus on this play to use the white bag. However, since the BR, touched ONLY the white while a play was being made on her, the defense could have made an appeal for an out until the time that the BR returned to the orange base. 8.2.N

The BR knocked F3 on her keister and then touched the orange bag.