Rough Day on the Bases

[U_of_I_Blue]

1) Just hurdling the ball does not necessarily mean interferenece. If the runner does not break stride, throw an arm out, yell or something else to distract the fielder, I won't penalize her for simply avoiding the ball by jumping. If, however, interference is called, runner is out, BR gets first base (unless a probable double play is prevented), and R3 stays put at third. Agreed as well when you say a blue should never discuss calls with fans. I saw this at the NCAA D1 level down here at Univ. of Illinois this past weekend. Fans are riding an ump about his call of foul on a ball they though was fair. One fan says "Blue look, there's chalk dust kickd out into fair territory". Granted, that shouldn't even figure into the decision, it could have gotten there some other way, but blue turns to accuser and says "My foot was there and kicked the line". Completely unprofessional in my opinion.

2)This was emphasized in the rule meeting I attended this spring. It used to be that an umpire could rectify the situation by placing runners. However, now, when a foul ball is called, the ball is foul, period - no ifs ands or buts. If the ball falls in front of the center fielder and the blue calls foul and the players stop, the ball is foul. Only time a foul can be changed is if the ball is dead, such as after a homerun, where there is no chance for the defense to have made a play on the runner.