What if?

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally posted by CecilOne
Looks like this gets back to two issues we tried to resolve in the past:
1) Is an offense player who has crossed home plate still a "runner" for rule application purposes?
2) Does a retired/scored "runner" really have to instantly disappear (vaporize?) after either of those?

I would have to say it looks like the "opportunity to make a play" existed in this case, so it comes down to the intentional or not requirement.

Re: 1) Given that the rule talks about retired runners and runners who have scored in a separate rule, it would appear that while they are "runners", they are in a different class. Personally, I consider them in a similar class as base coaches and on-deck batters; people who have a right to be on the field, but who have an obligation to not interfere with the defense's right to make a play.

Re: 2) Again, a personal observation, but one which I think speaks for a lot of other posters. Retired or scored runners are certainly not expected to instantly disappear; if that were the intent of the rule, then "intentionally" would not be part of the rule. But, this form of "intentionally" does not, in my opinion, exclude that obligation to not interfere. What I guess I am saying is that any lack of of reasonably appropriate effort to not interfere is intentional. So, maybe that isn't the literal meaning of "intentional", but, as has been stated often, this ain't baseball.