Little League rule

[CecilOne]

I do not umpire Little League games, but I watch my grandchildren and games on TV.
Is their obstruction rule the same as USA or NFHS softball?

Is their baseball rule the same as their softball rule?

[Manny A]

LL's rules are based on professional baseball rules (Official Baseball Rules, or OBR). That's really not a problem when it comes to LL Baseball, but they use OBR to derive most of their LL Softball rules as well.

So the obstruction rule for both LL Baseball and LL Softball are essentially the same, which comes from OBR. They break it down into two types, one for obstruction while the defense is playing on a runner, and obstruction of a runner while the ball is elsewhere on the field.

For obstruction of a runner during a play on her (Type A), the effect is to immediately call Time, and award the runner the base (s)he would have achieved had there been no obstruction. (S)He will also automatically be awarded at least one base beyond the last legally touched base. So imagine a runner at first whom the catcher tries to pick off with a throw, and F3 obstructs the runner as (s)he dives back, but the ball goes past F3 into the outfield. Time is immediately called, and R1 is awarded at least second base, even if (s)he had no chance of getting there safely.

For the other obstruction (Type B), the ball remains live and when play ends, the umpires impose whatever penalties they see fit that will nullify the obstruction. This is pretty close to the USA/NFHS Softball rule.

One thing that LL's rule doesn't recognize is the between-base protection that you find in USA/NFHS Softball. So, for example, if the BR is slightly obstructed rounding first base and tries for second, but (s)he is thrown out by a long shot at second, the out would stand since the obstruction had no bearing on the play. (S)he is given no protection between first and second in this play.