... can we start training the young players that blocking the base or plate without being in possession of the ball is no longer allowed in ages below College? This past weekend I saw a third base person and a catcher get injured because they were "obstructing the runner". At least the umpires got it right - but the coaches seemed to be unaware of the rule change that occurred 2-3 years ago.....
Coaches please ....
- Thread starter flarays
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reagansdaddy
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Amen! Preach it flarays! One of my biggest frustrations since my daughter has been playing at the rec level is 1B who stand on the dang bag on balls hits hit to Right-Center, CF, and LF. I hate to tell my kid to just run another kid over, but gee whiz they are essentially taking doubles away from her.
I will say that even though you teach kids to stay off the bags, they still occaisionally forget. We had both of our corners get run over at different points last year because they forgot, and they had absolutely no sympathy from the coaching staff.
I found the easiest way to take care of it is to tell the umpire, we round on the corners of the bases, if our opponents' kids get hurt it is your fault. An obstruction call usually does come after that.
I found the easiest way to take care of it is to tell the umpire, we round on the corners of the bases, if our opponents' kids get hurt it is your fault. An obstruction call usually does come after that.
BretMan2
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That's a poor approach.
If the coaches aren't teaching their players, or the players are just not paying attention, how is that the umpire's fault? An umpire can't make this call until the rule is actually violated. By then, it's too late to prevent an injury. Do you expect a preemptive call, before the obstruction even happens, as a warning to the fielders?
Most people will get defensive when blame is placed on them. Telling an umpire "it's your fault if a kid gets hurt" seems needlessly confrontational. Why address this by assigning blame or fault? Can't you just ask that the umpire watch for it without the negative connotation?
Two or three years ago? More like a dozen years ago. Which really means there is even less of an excuse for coaches not knowing this!
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Let me clarify a little bit. I only use that statement if I have already seen an obstruction or 2 not get called AND I have already approached it in a much more positive way. But even after that, I still have had some not call it and by the third time in a game, it needs to. Be called so I go with the harsher approach.
My pet peave is when Umpires won't call Interference (the opposite of obstruction) on the runner unless there was contact.
Contact is not a requirement of the rule and in fact the rule is there to minimize contact yet they won't call it.
Contact is not a requirement of the rule and in fact the rule is there to minimize contact yet they won't call it.
There is verbal interference, where there will be no contact at all. Most obstructions occur with 1st baseperson standing in the way of the batter-runner cutting the corner and obstructing them, or the catcher blocking the plate without the ball, then the runner thinks that entitles them to run over the catcher, interference always takes precedence over obstruction.
