Should have knocked on wood

[MD Longhorn]

Don't address fans. Don't eject fans. If one is THAT big a problem, have the coach (or preferably game admin) deal with it.

Not understanding at all, however, why anyone would complain about your obstruction call. Sounds like it was the right call ... but even if you didn't call it, the runner ended up on the base you awarded - so what's there to complain about? Especially vociferously.

On the last - correct ... no LBR violation there.

[UmpireErnie]

Assuming F5 has night caught the ball at time you judge R1 had to slow down or alter her path OBS sounds correct.

So during play you would have given DDB signal and a verbal "Obstruction" loud enough to be heard but not with the force of a dead ball call. At the end of the play since the runner ended up at the protected base you don't really need to do anything more. There is no need to "award" the base the runner is at.

Did you call time at the end of play and actually verbalize more about this obstruction and the base award or did play just continue? I'm wondering if you may have unwittingly "fueled the fire".

Many of our high school games have no on field "administrator" and most games are played at common neutral sites even though the league designates a home team. As others state I won't talk to fans but the game will stop and the HC of the team of the unruly fan will be told the game won't start again until the problem has been removed. If that ever did not work (always has) I would suspend the game and refer the matter back to the conference and the schools involved.

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by UmpireErnie

Assuming F5 has night caught the ball...

The tyranny of autocorrelate? (um, I mean auto-correct...)