3 Foot Lane

[WestMichiganBlue]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

But did Steve do that because it was a drill or was every instance of the drill decisively INT?

Because it was a drill. Like all drills, it didn't perfectly reflect game conditions. What Steve was trying to do was "drill" in to umpire's minds that they could call interference even if the runner wasn't hit by the ball.

... if it is just a bat throw, you don't automatically reward the defense because a runner wasn't between the pipes.

Agreed, but - a "bad throw" in this situation is an umpire judgment. IMO, an umpire that does not want to call interference (absent contact) is prejudiced towards a bad throw judgment. So if F2 throws the ball over the runner's head and it sails over the top of F4 at 1B, that's a bad throw! But take the runner out of the way and most of us will agree that any decent catcher can make a glove high throw from 40' or 50'.

This is the type of call where an umpire must see, evaluate and rule on all portions of the event which just occurred without prejudice or predetermination.

I agree, and I fully agree with the rest of your philosophical discussion about common sense and making the difficult call, regardless of game circumstances.

But it is my opinion that too many umpires need to see contact (or physical reaction) before they are willing to call obstruction or interference.

I.e., a fielder, runner, and batted ball all moving towards the same spot. The runner doesn't stop; the fielder pulls up and both runner and ball go on through. "She was in my way, Blue!" "Sorry young lady, I can't read your mind; you have to show me that you were attempting to field the ball."

That fielder now knows that next time she will not pull up to avoid contact; instead she will continue into the collision, and force the umpire to make the call.

How many times have we heard coaches telling their players to "run into them and get the call?" "If they are in your way, hit them with the ball and get the call."

Yes, that is why we "get the big bucks," Mike. But how many umpires are willing to risk getting run off the field when they make that controversial "no contact" obstruction or interference call? The fans and coaches are not going to see, or understand the technical nuances of a non-contact call; if you want to survive you probably don't make that call.

WMB