BR interference with catcher fielding bunt

[Four Seam]

[QUOTE=Steve M]$-Seam,
Yes, you are missing something. This wreck with the batter-runner and catcher is the exception. As Mike said, as long as both B-R and F2 are doing what they should be doing, it's nothing.

Bassman's tale involved major league baseball rules, not ASA.

Can you cite an ASA rule or POE that supports such an exception? I don't have my 07 book here, but in the 04 book from my bookshelf, Rule 8-2-f and POE 32 seem pretty explicit and don't mention any exception for batter-runners and catchers situations. Extract from POE 32: Defensive players must be given the opportunity to field the ball anywhere on the playing field...without being hindered.

Also, if a runner is running from second base to third base after a ball has been hit, and the shortstop is trying to field the batted ball, aren't both of them doing what they should be doing, and does that mean that if the runner runs into the shortstop it's nothing?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Please go to page 236 in the 2007 ASA Rule Book, Umpire Manual and start reading at the top of the page.

In the 2004 book, it is on page 233

[Four Seam]

Page 233 of my 2004 ASA rule book has to do with Council Meetings, but if you say there is an exception in the Umpire's Manual or somewhere, that's good enough for me.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by Four Seam

Page 233 of my 2004 ASA rule book has to do with Council Meetings, but if you say there is an exception in the Umpire's Manual or somewhere, that's good enough for me.

Mike was talking about the Umpire Edition of the rule book. You apparently have the coach's edition.

[IamMatt]

Is the reason that plays are treated differently when the BR and catcher are involved (I think Steve M used the term 'exception') that the the immediacy of the play and proximity of the BR and F2 make it virtually impossible (in some plays, like the ones in the OP) for them to react in a way (while playing normally) that would prevent any sort of interaction between them?

IOW on some plays, they are potentially tangled up on their first step, with no time to avoid one another, in contrast to the sitch posted of a runner from 2B to 3B interfering with F6 fielding a batted ball in which the runner generally has sufficient reaction time to avoid interfering(?)

[Four Seam]

It might have been a good idea to put the exception into the coach's edition of the rule book so we would know what to tell our catchers and batters about bunting, especially since the rule and the POE are so clear and explicit. Well, that's why it's good to have boards like this, and I appreciate the umpires taking their time to post here.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Four Seam

It might have been a good idea to put the exception into the coach's edition of the rule book so we would know what to tell our catchers and batters about bunting,

No, because then it will turn into a strategy, just like the LBR. Just have your players play the game and do what they are supposed to do.

[bkbjones]

Originally Posted by Four Seam

It might have been a good idea to put the exception into the coach's edition of the rule book so we would know what to tell our catchers and batters about bunting, especially since the rule and the POE are so clear and explicit. Well, that's why it's good to have boards like this, and I appreciate the umpires taking their time to post here.

since I can speak from both sides of the fence:

The Team Edition of the rulebook contains the code, largely because there can and are things coaches and others involved with a team need to research during the year. Hopefully, you are amongst the few that actually read it. For some reason we keep having these pesky pickup players who coaches want to have play for their team in some championship events for which pickup players aren't eligible. Those and other issues are addressed in the code.

For the most part, umpires aren't interested in the code. That;s the administrator's part: commissioners, JO commissioners, their deputies, tournament directors and the like.

Hence, the book umpires receive have a manual that explains certain things.

If you ask your commissioner/JO commissioner, a deputy, or a player rep, they should be able to get an umpire's edition to you if you want one. They may be out of 2007 books, but you could reserve a 2008 edition.

On a side note, you might tell your commissioner you'd like to have the umpire-in-chief or their representative at your ACE classes next year (if you are in JO ball) or a league meeting. It can really help ford the chasm that some feel exists between players/coaches and umpires. It certainly works well for us here in the Seattle/Tacoma Association.

[bigsig]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Mike was talking about the Umpire Edition of the rule book. You apparently have the coach's edition.

FYI - ASA Umpire Rule Book 2007 Page 235 at the bottom. Irish is 100% correct. No call.