Interference or Incindental contact

[oppool]

R1 on 2nd R2 on 1st grounder hit 2 steps to the SS side of 2nd base F6 grabs ball runs toward 2nd makes the out R2 at this time is about 4 steps away from 2nd running I am the BU see the tag at 2nd and watch the throw to 1st which is overthrown look back and SS is on the ground all mad and yelling he was interfered with and knocked over by R2 I state I have a no call didnt see was following the ball for the play at 1st.

Should state that this was slow-pitch so I was in the slot between 2nd and 1st PU was watching R1 at the time and after the game said he also didnt see what had happen.

F6 also the team manager gets PO'd at me saying that I should have gone to my partner for an appeal I stated to the manager that this was not a call that would need appeal if either of us had seen interference we would have made the call PU would not wait for me to appeal.

Question 1 here is this correct.

Part 2 of question 1 manager never asked for the appeal after the play anyway only after the inning was over so it really didnt matter he was to busy yelling at the guy that he collided with

Question #2 I know the BU being between 1st and 2nd on this play is different than most of your guys fast-pitch position but I'm wondering if there are any mechanical suggestions that you might suggest to be able to catch this if it was interference and still follow the ball for the play at 1st.

Any other ideas or suggestion on how to best handle this situation is fully appreciated


Thanks

Don

[Steve M]

Don,
For the interference, the ump who sees that calls it right away. What was the PU watching? Anyway, you didn't see any interference and apparently your partner didn't either, so that's a no call. And you're right, that's not something that needs to be appealed. If you did take an appeal on this and your partner did have interference, you'd really have a mess as the teams would rightfully want to know why it wasn't called immediately.
For the second question, if you had been deep in the C slot you would have had all of this in front of you. But that would be odd since most of the slow pitch that I have seen keeps the BU on the right field side of 2B. I suspect that you'll have to chalk this up as a problem due to only having 2 umps with your partner not watching what I think he should have been watching.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Don,

First thing is that you need to remember that the lead runner is your partner's responsibility. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have made the call, because the angle and vicinity probably gives you the best look.

The back end of a double play is one of the hardest calls for a BU to make. At the speed the ball is thrown in the adult game, it isn't realistic that a BU is going to be able to be that close to a play and follow the ball and stay focused. Even if the umpires are following the ball, for the runner to have interfered with the SS's throw, it would have had to been before the ball left his hand at which time you are still watching the play.

The PU should be exiting the plate area toward 3B for a possible play if the runner is not tagged out. The BU's responsibility is the call @ 1B. From the sixty-some feet distance, the PU should have had a wider view range and if anything happened, he should have seen it.

As far as an appeal, it doesn't exit here. As you noted, if the PU saw an act he considered interference, he calls it then and there, DEAD BALL. An umpire who does allow a play to continue and later rules interference (excluding coach's interference with a runner on a fly ball) either doesn't know the rules or how to do his job.

Tell the coach that the rule book he gets with his registration makes for some wonderful reading if he is interested in learning how the game is played.

You handled the play properly. You go to your partner ONLY if you believe you may have seen something that COULD have been interference, but you do that ONLY if you are convinced you may have missed something. If you are confident with your call, DO NOT go to your partner and ask if s/he had anything different on this type of play.

Good luck,

[SamNVa]

I agree with Mike and Steve here. It's the PU's responsibility to watch for interference at 2nd base as the BU is most likely turning for the play at 1st. As Mike noted, for the runner to actually interfere on the play, it would have to be prior to or just after the throw from F6, so you might want to delay your turn until the throw is released. This will also allow you to see a dropped ball at 2nd and be able to judge whether the ball was never controlled, R1 SAFE, or dropped on the transfer, R1 out. Of course this doesn't preclude the possibility of malicious contact after the throw which you WILL NOT see and which your partner MUST watch for.

One possible altered mechanic which has been suggested is that with only an R1, the BU stays with the lead runner and the PU comes up the line to make the 2nd call at 1st. The BU then has the runner into 3rd in case of an overthrow/missed tag at 2nd. This is a NON-STANDARD and must be discussed in your pregame and communicated during the game. (PU should say something like "I've got 1st")
Of course with other runners on base, the standard mechanics must be followed with the BU taking both ends of the DP and the PU watching for contact at 2nd. Since you can only use the new mechanic with an R1 only, some argue that you should always stick to the standard mechanic. The choice is yours.