Obstruction?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by Dakota

By what rule? Runner is off base & tagged. Defender is in possession of the ball.

Just being a bit of an here, Mike, but how do you differentiate between an unintentional nudge off the base and unintentionally tripping the runner?

How does an umpire differentiate between:

Intentionally or unintentionally interfering with a thrown ball;

Intentionally or unintentionally droping a pop up;

Intentionally or unintentionally interfering with a defender while standing on the base;

Intentionally or unintentionally getting hit with an inside pitch;

Intentionally or unintentionally throwing at a runner;

Intentionally or unintentionally throwing at a batter;

Intentionally or unintentionally....well, you get the point.

It's called umpire's judgment and is covered on page 198 of the 2003 ASA Official Rules of Softball.

So there