What is the ruling

here is the situation. Happened in a JV game yesterday. Girl on second base, easy liner hit toward shortstop. very winding so ball was misjudged. SS starts back then comes toward the ball. the runner passes behind the SS and trips her. the SS falls down and misses the ball. The coach ask the umpire about interference. the umpire said that the fielder was in the baseline and that she would not have caught the ball anyway so there was not interference. the coach questioned the home plate umpire on the ruling. Hoping the home plate umpire would converse with the base umpire. the home plate told the coach that the base umpire made the call to go back to the bench and lets play ball

I have also seen umpires call a foul ball when the ball hits the plate and goes in fair territory.

Also seen on infield fly and the ball is dropped the runner takes off for the next base, fielding team picks up ball and throws ahead of the runner. The runner is tagged out but the umpire sent her back to her base saying you can't advance on an infield fly.

these are all calls i have seen this year

what is the ruling of the first one

thanks

you must live in the softball twilight zone

without seeing it for myself, it appears that Umpire judgement's always comes into question whether you have obstruction or interference call..aaaaaahhh and if they SS was a little squirrely with her feet you may be stuck with mental torture whether or not she could have made the play or not.

so you are saying the call was correct by the umpire

do you have it on video... lol. Hard to say without being there. I'm sure our "umps-online" will weigh in very soon

You certainly are seeing some interesting calls in your games!

1) On a batted ball, the runner is required to avoid any fielder in the act of fielding the ball. The protection a fielder has on this play is absolute. The fielder has the right-of-way to occupy any space she needs to field a batted ball and the runner has an obligation to avoid interfering with her.

The explanation the umpire gave is, at best, half right. Which means it's also half wrong!

The fact that the fielder was in the baseline means nothing. If she is in the act of fielding a batted ball, she is protected from interference no matter where she is on the field.

The part about "she would not have caught the ball anyway" does have a grain of truth to it. If the ball was so far away from the fielder that there was no reasonable chance of her getting to it- like, way, way to her left or right, or way over head- then the umpire could judge that she was not "in the act of fielding the ball". In that case, she has no protection from an interference call and must yield the right-of-way to the runner.

Hard to comment on what another umpire saw and judged without being there. Just going by the description, it seems like F6 had a reasonable shot at the ball. If so, this is interference, the runner is out and the ball is dead.

2) "I have also seen umpires call a foul ball when the ball hits the plate and goes in fair territory."

Bad call, common for lower-level or inexperienced umpires. The plate is entirely in fair territory and has no special designation that makes a ball hitting it become foul. A batted ball hitting the plate is exactly the same as a batted ball hitting any other patch of dirt on the field. It is neither fair nor foul until it is touched by a player, hits a fence, hits a base, quits rolling, etc.

3) "Also seen on infield fly and the ball is dropped the runner takes off for the next base, fielding team picks up ball and throws ahead of the runner. The runner is tagged out but the umpire sent her back to her base saying you can't advance on an infield fly."

Another bad call, demonstrating a lack of understanding the Infield Fly Rule. An Infield Fly is EXACTLY like any other fly ball, with the single exception that the batter is automatically out.

Minus that single exception, all of the other rules governing advancing runners still apply. The ball is live and runners may advance at risk of being tagged out. If the ball is caught, the runners cannot leave their bases before the catch. If the ball isn't caught, the runners do not have to tag-up before running.

All the single exception means is that, since the batter is out, the runners are not forced to advance, so there are no force outs to be had by the defense. This prevents the defense from getting multiple outs by purposely letting the ball drop. They can still retire runners that leave early on a caught ball, or tag runners while off a base for an out.

Bretman is always good reading!

we had an umpire last year call a hit ball that literally landed on home plate and spun like a top for about 3 seconds. It stayed on home plate until the catcher picked it up.

He called it FOUL!!! USSSA Umpire at Expressway in Milford. I appealed and he stuck to his guns and needless to say quite ticked off!!!! He later told me that he was wrong. Unbelievable. Lotta help that did me at the time, after the inning was over. (mini hi-jack)

This is something I specifically cover in the classes I give for new umpires- the batted ball stopping right on top of the plate. Most guess that it is a foul ball. It is, of course, in fair territory and if grabbed by the catcher becomes a fair ball.

Here's one for the crowd Bret, I know the answer, but just for conversation for them.. Ball hits the "black" of the plate only and goes foul territory...?

Hilliarddad3 said:

Here's one for the crowd Bret, I know the answer, but just for conversation for them.. Ball hits the "black" of the plate only and goes foul territory...?

Click to expand...

Any ball that goes foul territory is foul as long as isn't touched by a fielder first. Your senario is basically the same as a bunt that rolls down 3rd base, but the fielder lets it roll out. It may have originally been in fair territory, but if it goes into foul territory before being touched, its foul. No matter if it hits the chalk or the plate.

To that, I would only add...

"It may have originally been in fair territory, but if it goes into foul territory before being touched, or before passing first or third base, its foul."