Obstruction or nothing?

[heyblue]

We held our pre-season tournament this weekend and I saw something I had not seen before and would like your opinions. Here's the play: (by the way, this was an ASA tournament)

Everytime the firstbaseman for the home team would catch the ball, her right foot would be on the white bag while her left leg was placed behind her, in foul territory, about six inches away from the orange bag with her toe about even with the dividing line between the orange and white bag. (in other words, it looked like she was trying to block most, but not all of the orange bag with her left foot). The opposing coach came to me and wanted obstruction called. However, I never saw where it impeded or slowed down the batter/runner coming from home plate.

Is this obstruction or is it nothing?

[WestMichiganBlue]

I'd call it incredibly dumb - or very inexperienced. (What age group?) One, she can not stride out to meet the throw. Two, she is exposing herself to serious injury.

I'd find time to talk with the coach between innings and warn him/her that (a) she is probably going to get an obstruction call against her soon, and (b) the player is at risk for injury.

On a close play at 1B I would find it very easy to determine that the runner slowed down slightly to avoid the foot and that caused her to be out. Then - Obstruction, wipe out the out, and award her the base. If the coach screams, advise her/him to fix the problem and it won't happen again.
WMB

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by WestMichiganBlue
I'd call it incredibly dumb - or very inexperienced. (What age group?) One, she can not stride out to meet the throw. Two, she is exposing herself to serious injury.

I'd find time to talk with the coach between innings and warn him/her that (a) she is probably going to get an obstruction call against her soon, and (b) the player is at risk for injury.

On a close play at 1B I would find it very easy to determine that the runner slowed down slightly to avoid the foot and that caused her to be out. Then - Obstruction, wipe out the out, and award her the base. If the coach screams, advise her/him to fix the problem and it won't happen again.
WMB

Couldn't agree more.

The most likely responses are, "That's the way she plays first base!" (stupid thing for a coach to say since that reflects on him, but no one ever said they were all smart), or "The white belongs to the first baseman, they can cover it if they want".

Remind the coach that if s/he cannot remedy the situation to alleviate the possibility of injury, you will have to do so and that would mean ejecting the first baseman. If the coach screams too loud, dump him/her.

[ChampaignBlue]

Anyone who has seen a compound fracture caused by a foot meeting an ankle would put a stop to it. If the coach objects and it's youth ball, report the coach to authorities or parents, s/he needs to get a clue as to what sports are for.

[CecilOne]

This is another one of those things that we know are wrong, but are not covered by rule. Personally, I have trouble inventing calls or creating situations. In this case, a few comments to the coach, ensuring that they are passed along to the player should suffice. If not, causing that much risk to the runners would be unsporting enough for me to get the first baseman out of the game. Maybe just because the first baseman is putting the runners at an "illegal" disadvantage.

[heyblue]

The age group was 14&U. Fortunately, the games only lasted 55 minutes and there were no close plays at first. I wanted to use the obstruction rule, but wasn't sure I could because she never impeded or caused any of the runners to slow down. After speaking with my UIC, he suggested that if a girl even gave a hint of slowing down the least little bit, I could use the obstruction rule. I know I will see his team again soon and I will definitely make sure she changes the way she plays first base. Thanks for all the comments.

[DownTownTonyBrown]

There seems to be a lot of difference between the level of play I have seen, and that being discussed in this forum. I currently work high school Varsity Girls and some junior college. I have worked adult Men's ASA in the past and worked state and regional championship games for this level. At one time I was certified for ASA National tournament level of play - although never worked anything above regional.

I have seen some very athletically talented players catch balls at first base just as being discussed here. For this adult level of play that type of catch is just being relaxed - there was no real potential of a collision and no intent to persuade the runner to slow down; just a very routine out. If the play was going to be close - such that there was a potential for collision, there would be an excellent stretch/stride toward the incoming throw. And this stretch may have come at the very last tenth, or hundredth (?), of a second. The speed and initiation timing of the stretch depends upon the speed of the throw.

Agreeably, I have also seen the witless high school player that would just stand in the way and be completely oblivious to the approaching runner. This person should receive some warning type instruction from the umpire BEFORE someone gets tangled up and hurt in a collision.

My point is, that for this situation and the consideration of an obstruction call, one needs to factor in the abilities of the players. 14 and under... athletic ability and speed of the game would not match up to athletic adults. An obstruction call may very well have been appropriate. I would likely have made some instructional comments to the fielder first and if it didn't register, then penalize their inattentiveness with an obstruction call... and continue making the same call until they figure it out and quit obstructing the runner.