What is the correct ruling?

[greymule]

Unless it has changed for 2005, I was under the impression that in ASA, the runner being played on is out, not the runner closest to home as in NCAA.

Am I mistaken?

My 2005 book says the runner being played on is out, not the runner closest to home.

However, we don't know how literally 8-5-G-3 is supposed to be taken. It begins, "If the ball becomes blocked due to offensive equipment not in the game. . . ." Does ASA intend to differentiate between a blocked ball that hits offensive equipment and a blocked ball that is "touched, stopped, or handled by a person not engaged in the game"? And "touched, stopped, or handled" are words that might imply intent or deliberate action. Notice that the definition doesn't include "or hits." And is the ODB engaged in the game or not?

If they do not intend to differentiate, then why add "due to offensive equipment not in the game," when simply "if the ball becomes blocked" would do?

If the ODB is not simply hit with the ball but in fact deliberately interferes with it, do we then call out the runner closest to home? That's what we would call if a retired runner interfered. But that's interference, not a blocked ball.

At this point, I cannot believe that a throw that hits the ODB is automatically a blocked ball.