Obstruction??
 

3rd inning of tonight's game on play where Florida runner had to be held up. SS made her alter her path to third? If you saw it do you think it was obstruction? I did. Close but she for sure altered her path to third.

Also, if it is called in that situation and she is thrown out at home and it is somewhat close do you give her home?

I thought it was obstruction when I saw it live. When Kruk mentioned it and they showed it in slow motion, it confirmed it for me. In that situation, i would have awarded the runner home. The OC stopped her because she was slowed down getting to 3B. Even then, he stopped her after a big turn.

Personally, I thought it was a good noncall - but there was ..... a mild impeding .. :D

And there is no way in hell I would have awarded home on that.

When you see OBS, how do you call it (ASA Perspective)? Do you signal Delayed Dead Ball, then verbally call the OBS and grant the award?

Would you do the same with and INT call, or would that be more immediate?

Close. Signal the DDB, verbally call the OBS, grant the award when the play is over (if the runner hasn't already reached or passed the awarded base).

INT is an immediate "Dead ball!" followed by an out (or two, depending on the INT call).

Dave is correct, but I hate the verbalization. I have observed and personally experienced players stop playing when they hear the umpire say something IF you are going to verbalize, don't scream.

I'll admit that out of the thousands of OBS calls I've made, I've not once verbalized "obstruction." I only mentioned it because, well, that's what's taught at the clinics.

pretty much no one does.. we all know were supposed to though :cool:

Throw the arm.. they know what that means.

I've never heard ANY of my partners verbalize it either, regardless of whether they're newbies or veterans. I don't understand why ASA wants us to verbalize it, since any verbalization other than "safe" tends to stop the runners. We don't yell "fair ball," so why yell something else that could potentially stop play prematurely?

Can someone call Kevin, send him $50 and get him to take it out of the Umpire's Manual? I'll gladly chip in a few bucks! :D

If I pay for it, I want the yellow flag added to the rules for DDB :cool:

I thought it was a red flag...

Can anyone tell me who uses those?

It must be OBR little ball influence creeping in. Oh the humanity. :D

Little League baseball (maybe softball too, though not sure) to indicate a runner left too soon. The umpire drops the flag and lets the play finish. I think killing the ball and calling a runner out for leaving early is a lot easier to deal with but that's Little League for you.

Gosh, sounds like I have been doing it wrong then. I say obstruction but I don't know if anyone has ever heard it.

Its my money, I want a yellow one. :cool:

If you say obstruction and no one hears you.. did you really say it?

LOL :D....I'm in the minority..I say it. I get enough feedback from the players that most hear me when i say it....

I verbalize when F3 obstructs a runner rounding first on a single to the outfield. I want the player to know that their action wasn't legal ... even though I'm not awarding the runner second base.

I do that too, after the play is complete. I always announce an OBS call whether bases are awarded or not.

Yes!

I never verbalize OBS at the rec levels of slow pitch. That only stops the world from turning. :rolleyes: At the higher levels, I'll verbalize it just enough for the runner and the infielders near to me to hear it, so when the play concludes and I'm awarding (if so), then there were "witnesses" who heard me have an OBS during the play.

For some reason, I want to insert a tree joke here...ya know, if a tree falls in the forest... ;)

Interesting about whether to give her home. Especially at that level, a half step could of possibly gotten her home. We will never know how close the play would have been to come up with a conclusion.

I am surprised the Florida coach didn't have a conversation about that play. My only guess is that he didn't see it.

Where I had problems was in a varsity HS game...TWICE (2 different games and teams)

I never called it at the higher levels. I don't need a witness even though everyone around the field can see my arm and no one really "needs" to hear it or know that it has been called. Their job is to play and coach the game in front of them, not to the call. All that can do is get them into trouble.

AND some question about what a bear might do in the woods?:rolleyes:

Be careful...you just might tempt someone else into a joke. I'll be congenial this time. :D

Save on Charmin?

Most players already know if they've been obstructed or not, and most have a relatively basic understanding that being obstructed is somehow wrong. They may not know what the rules say about it, but they know that something should happen in their favor.

I guess that makes them very similar to 5-year olds.

I always thought the bear was Catholic and that the Pope sh1ts in the woods... Isn't that how the phrase goes?

Dave,

No. It goes: Does a bear sh... in the woods? and Is the Pope Catholic?

Can't tell if you are being funny.

Me? Never...

I have pondered putting "Forum's Residential Smart@$$" in my signature... :D

Winner!

If you were the baseball-only LL guy I last worked with about 5 years ago you would have dropped a red flag in a softball game, then said, "Seth, she left early!" while pointing at it. Otherwise, the correct call is no pitch and an out.

I think LLBB keeps its rule the way it is to keep from becoming too different from "real" baseball.

Hehe...let me guess "OK then, she's out!"

Could be...but oddly enough, PONY league seems to have figured this one out without all the red flag silliness.

I think I verbalize it more than I don't.

Of course, I have been working a very low level rec league the past few weeks and if I verbalized obstruction every time it happened, that's about all that I would be saying out there!

Yes, we got that taken care of. I should have got together with him, told him the rule, and finished with "Fix it!" :D


I don't really like the red flag either, and not just because I have to remember which pocket in my equipment bag I keep it in.

I think a few years ago, the question became:

"Is the Pope Polish?"

(now it's back to the original ...;)

Obs
 

The problem is most umpires are not calling it correctly. There is so much variance by crew that you can not even prepare for such things. Slow mo on TV is not an option when making the call.:confused:

All crews, or just the ones you see?

I'd say most ASA and NFHS umpires have a good idea of what obstruction is.

Obs
 

I have always verbalized and pointed. I did a game last Saturday and my partner who came out from behind the plate and he heard me say it. I said he thought I was too picky on my call. I informed him by what judgement I went by and he agreed with me. :D

When I see OBS, I state OBS in a normal tone and give the visual DDB signal to let the runner know that I have observed the violation. The award is made after the play, if necessary. When I see INT, I give an immediate strong verbal dead ball call and provide the visual dead ball signal as well.