good coaching or poor sportsmanship?

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just curious on some of the opinions out there in ofc land?seen both ways and i personally have mixed feelings on the issue.if a runner sees a girl close to base line but not in baseline and then runs directly in to her to draw the call good coaching or poor sportsmanship?i teach girls if you are rounding base and girl is there for example at first you have to stay your path.but recently have seen a team where ss was a couple feet out of baseline and runner ran straight in to her drawing call and received 3rd base when she clearly could not steal 3rd on that catcher took off for steal and ran into ss.asked several people some said good coaching some said poor sportsmanship .weigh in

 

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Poor sportsmanship not respecting the game. The challange is to steal the base not get a freebie.

 

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If my dd was on offense, good coaching, if on defense, poor sportsmanship.

I think more on the lines of poor sportsmanship. If the ss was clearly out of the way, and the girl still runs into her, that's uncalled for especially for a steal. Now, rounding a base trying to leg it out, then good coaching.

 

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It sure borders on poor sportsmenship .. but if coached it is poor coaching... there is so much good skills and mental preparedness that coaches need to focus on, why waste time coaching something like that. Take a kid with speed, show them how to maximize their break / release from the bag, how to run properly and how to slide (the various ways) and you don't need to rely on something like this to advance a base.

 

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It sure borders on poor sportsmenship .. but if coached it is poor coaching... there is so much good skills and mental preparedness that coaches need to focus on, why waste time coaching something like that. Take a kid with speed, show them how to maximize their break / release from the bag, how to run properly and how to slide (the various ways) and you don't need to rely on something like this to advance a base.

I agree. Why not just teach the runners the proper baserunning techinques and let them try to steal the base right. If the fielder is in the baseline and obstructing their path, than you have to go through them. If they are not in the path they shouldn't intentionally plow them over, that is bad sportsmanship.

 

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How 'bout good/poor officiating? I realize it is a tough call especially if there is only 1 ump but either the ss was obstructing or not. If an official can't see it they can't call it. If the ump called it but didn't actually see it it is bad officiating.

 

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How 'bout good/poor officiating? I realize it is a tough call especially if there is only 1 ump but either the ss was obstructing or not. If an official can't see it they can't call it. If the ump called it but didn't actually see it it is bad officiating.

this is so true was a game with one umpire and umpire only seen after effects not much he could do but gave 3rd.and ss was clearly out of baseline

 

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If a runner purposely goes out of her way to make contact with the defender- when a normal effort to simply advance to the next base wouldn't put her on a collision course- an umpire should NOT rule obstruction.

Not only is it not obstruction, but depending on the severity or intent the runner could be ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct or malicious contact.

 

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just curious on some of the opinions out there in ofc land?seen both ways and i personally have mixed feelings on the issue.if a runner sees a girl close to base line but not in baseline and then runs directly in to her to draw the call good coaching or poor sportsmanship?i teach girls if you are rounding base and girl is there for example at first you have to stay your path.but recently have seen a team where ss was a couple feet out of baseline and runner ran straight in to her drawing call and received 3rd base when she clearly could not steal 3rd on that catcher took off for steal and ran into ss.asked several people some said good coaching some said poor sportsmanship .weigh in

similar question but is it poor coaching or poor sportsmanship (or both) when defensive players stand directly on the bases when the ball is in play? This leaves no room for the base runners to round the bag while running. Had a girl hit one a mile but had to come to a virtual stop at both first and second because the first baseman and shortstop went to their bases and stood in the middle of them. ;&

 

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similar question but is it poor coaching or poor sportsmanship (or both) when defensive players stand directly on the bases when the ball is in play? This leaves no room for the base runners to round the bag while running. Had a girl hit one a mile but had to come to a virtual stop at both first and second because the first baseman and shortstop went to their bases and stood in the middle of them. ;&

agree on the bases my dd plays first and i always instruct her to stay out of way unless play is being made

 

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similar question but is it poor coaching or poor sportsmanship (or both) when defensive players stand directly on the bases when the ball is in play? This leaves no room for the base runners to round the bag while running. Had a girl hit one a mile but had to come to a virtual stop at both first and second because the first baseman and shortstop went to their bases and stood in the middle of them. ;&

Might be either, might be both, might be something else!

Is the coach teaching his fielders to purposely stand there, thinking that this gives his team some sort of advantage? It shouldn't, if your umpires are on the ball. Why have your fielders stand in a spot that, while technically not illegal in itself, puts them in a position where an obstruction call is much more likely? I'd call that poor coaching.

Have the players been properly instructed to clear the runner's path, but are willfully ignoring their coach's instruction and trying to impede the runner on their own? That might be poor sportsmanship.

The "something else" that seems to come up more often is just plain old ignorance. Fielder's that are oblivious to the play and don't realize they're doing anything wrong being coached by coaches that don't have enough of a clue to tell them to stop it.

And, just to be an equal opportunity "spoil sport", I'll add that it doesn't help matters if your game is being officiated by umpires that don't realize they're supposed to be watching for stuff like this!

 

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...it doesn't help matters if your game is being officiated by umpires that don't realize they're supposed to be watching for stuff like this!

I like the umpires who say "no contact, no obstruction/interference". Ok, not really.

 

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Some coaches up here are apparently teaching thier 1B to diagonally walk to first base on well hit balls to left and center.....No chance of a play at first, and most girls, like horses, seem to have an aversion to rounding the base hard when a girl is cutting towards them. Agree, too many umps think the no harm, no foul rule is fine. Also had an ump call a girl out on a probable inside the park HR for going out of the baseline at first when the 1B was literally straddling the bag with NO possible play....

 

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Agree with the last couple of posters. Too often, umpires think no harm-no foul and allow defenders to get away with obstruction because the baserunner didn't have the wherewithal to go through the defensive player standing in the road.

I agree that a runner going out of her way to create an obstruction that isn't there is bad sportsmanship. I did think the umpires in Ohio did a better job in 2007 and 2008 of watching for obstruction and interference. It was atrocious before that.

I recall playing 30-over baseball in Columbus back in the mid and late 90s. I was playing third base and a guy who was a former MLB pitcher and known to be the dirtiest player in our league went about 8 feet out of his way to shove me when I was nowhere near his basepath. We both fell and he yelled as we fell. The umps made no call because they saw where we were falling and knew about his nonsense. Meanwhile, he cost himself a chance to score on the play.

 

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Also had an ump call a girl out on a probable inside the park HR for going out of the baseline at first when the 1B was literally straddling the bag with NO possible play....

So, how did your protest turn out?

Forget about obstruction for a minute. A runner should NEVER be called out for "running out of the baseline" unless she's doing it to avoid a tag. A tag requires a fielder actually holding the ball and actually trying to touch the runner. Otherwise, a runner can run anywhere she wants to.

This was clearly a rule misinterpretation by the umpire. It's probably one of the most commonly confused rules by coaches, fans and players- and, unfortunately, by quite a few umpires I hear about.

On the other thing...It doesn't matter if the fielder is standing on the bag or diagonally walking toward it. On this play the runner has the absolute right of way and the defender has the absolute responsibility to not impede her progress.

 

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Also had an ump call a girl out on a probable inside the park HR for going out of the baseline at first when the 1B was literally straddling the bag with NO possible play....

Baseline? Any line between bases is meaningless. Runners can only be called out for out of the BASEPATH to avoid a tag. The umpire that called this should do everyone a favor and retire.

Obstruction- impede a runner with out possession of the ball. Contact is not required. ASA rule 1 pg 29

 

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If there is good coaching, then all other issues will work themselves out. Don't try for a freebie.

 

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similar question but is it poor coaching or poor sportsmanship (or both) when defensive players stand directly on the bases when the ball is in play? This leaves no room for the base runners to round the bag while running. Had a girl hit one a mile but had to come to a virtual stop at both first and second because the first baseman and shortstop went to their bases and stood in the middle of them. ;&

And the umpire screwed up and didn't call obstruction.. as that was the right call to make

 

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I think there is more poor umpiring then poor coaching or sportsmanship.

NOT QM or Bretman of course!!!

 

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I think that is because of umpires NOT doing or KNOWING their job which includes KNOWING the rules ... instead of this attitude of " well you should be glad I'm here"... when they know umpires are at an all-time low and are there to collect a paycheck and leave and many more are going to boys baseball versus girls fastpitch more and more every year.

That's why I have an association of umpires. I know what I got and I know what I can offer to a Tournament Director and to my own events.

As a TD.. I wouldn't just take whoever the assigner sent me. But, that's my opinion.