Force runner question - ASA

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by BretMan

I don't remember this forum ever being shy about bashing an umpire who botches a rule!

And this one was botched. There is no rule preventing a runner from retreating back toward the previous base on this play.

Perhaps, but you'll have to excuse my apprehension in answering this question. We umpires are an wary bunch when it comes to outsiders, and we never know what kind of sh1t storm we're getting ourselves into when faced with a "hey, blue... lemme ask you this..." We get it all the time, and answering this kind of question results in one of three things:

1 - A sh1t-storm for a past, current or present partner,
2 - An argument between me and yet another player or coach (and I wasn't even there to make the call!)
3 - Some feeling of enlightenment by the player/coach.

Usually, it's one of the first two, and it's rarely the latter.

It's one thing to bash an umpire who is active on the forum, as s/he is there to explain what they saw and ruled. In this case, I'm a little hesitant to believe that this is exactly how it happened. It is entirely possible that this is what the team saw, but NOT what the umpire saw.