Give Me a Ruling?

[ruffster22]

Originally posted by Justme
Umpire judgement call -

The umpire must have felt that when the 2nd baseman whacked his fist into his glove it deceived the baserunner into believing that he had caught the ball. The umpire must have felt that this prevented the baserunner from advancing to 3rd base.

If the umpire judges that the baserunner would have advanced to 3rd (or tried to advance)without the deception then yes, he should have given him 3rd.

Is that true? Are there really rules against fielders trying to deceive runners? I mean, every time a live ball is thrown in from the outfield there are elaborate cutoffs and decoys and things to try to keep all the runners in place. In this particular situation, the second-baseman wasn't intentionally trying to deke the runner by whacking his mitt, but you say it's an umpire judgement call whether he was or wasn't. Fair enough, but why would a runner get a free base because a fielder is trying to deke him? Isn't that part of the game?