obstruction???

[wadeintothem]

I had two similar plays this weekend, both instances with a catcher straddling the plate.. one was obs and I called it, the runner was clearly impeded. The other, the runner was not impeded, and I didnt call it. THe coach wanted it, but I did not give it to him, his runner was not impeded in any way.

So watch the play in relation to the catcher.. dont focus on the position of the catcher.

[greymule]

Last year as BU I had the following play in the Babe Ruth 12u NJ state final:

R1 on 2B, R2 on 1B, no outs. B3 hits a pop fly to short center (not remotely IFR). R1 runs halfway to 3B, but the 3B coach, seeing that the ball is catchable about 20 feet behind 2B, warns her to retreat. F6 runs to 2B to cover the possible force on R2 as well as the possible appeal play on R1. The ball drops in front of F8, who fields it on one hop.

R1, now back on 2B, sees that the ball has dropped and begins to run toward 3B. As F8 releases her throw to 3B, R1 gets tangled with F6 and falls down. A moment later, F5 gloves the ball at 3B for the force. (R2 reaches 2B, B3 reaches 1B.)

There was no doubt that R1 was obstructed in her attempt to advance to 3B, and the 3B coach (whose team plays under ASA rules 99% of the time) naturally wanted OBS. However, at the time the OBS occurred, R1 was 60 feet from 3B, with the ball one second from F5.

I explained to the coach that Babe Ruth rules regarding OBS are taken verbatim from the OBR book, and that OBS that has no bearing on the play is ignored. His answer: "OK. That's the way it should be."

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by greymule

Last year as BU I had the following play in the Babe Ruth 12u NJ state final:

R1 on 2B, R2 on 1B, no outs. B3 hits a pop fly to short center (not remotely IFR). R1 runs halfway to 3B, but the 3B coach, seeing that the ball is catchable about 20 feet behind 2B, warns her to retreat. F6 runs to 2B to cover the possible force on R2 as well as the possible appeal play on R1. The ball drops in front of F8, who fields it on one hop.

R1, now back on 2B, sees that the ball has dropped and begins to run toward 3B. As F8 releases her throw to 3B, R1 gets tangled with F6 and falls down. A moment later, F5 gloves the ball at 3B for the force. (R2 reaches 2B, B3 reaches 1B.)

There was no doubt that R1 was obstructed in her attempt to advance to 3B, and the 3B coach (whose team plays under ASA rules 99% of the time) naturally wanted OBS. However, at the time the OBS occurred, R1 was 60 feet from 3B, with the ball one second from F5.

I explained to the coach that Babe Ruth rules regarding OBS are taken verbatim from the OBR book, and that OBS that has no bearing on the play is ignored. His answer: "OK. That's the way it should be."

If I followed this correctly, you are saying that Babe Ruth does not have a rule about no out between the bases where OBS occurs. But, I don't see the connection with the OP.

[Dakota]

He's saying he prefers OBR obstruction rules to ASA (and most other softball) obstruction rules.

[greymule]

I was simply following the progression from:

1. the OP, which follows strict ASA, where the runner altering her stride before the fielder has the ball means OBS and the runner is safe, to
2. runner alters her stride but would have been out anyway, which according to at least one ASA authority results in an out, not OBS, to
3. Babe Ruth/OBR, in which OBS is under some circumstances disregarded; under these codes, OBS is also not necessarily a delayed dead ball

And NCAA, in which a fielder in the immediate act of fielding a throw can, without the ball, get in the runner's way without committing OBS.

[wadeintothem]

Originally Posted by greymule

And NCAA, in which a fielder in the immediate act of fielding a throw can, without the ball, get in the runner's way without committing OBS.

If I were king for a day.. we would go back to that.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by wadeintothem

If I were king for a day.. we would go back to that.

Which many questionable umpires would use as an excuse to not make the tough call like they did when the "about to receive" was still in ASA & NFHS.