What would you call in this situation???

[default]

here is a situation that happened during my game today and i was just curious as to what you would call... its kind of debateable.. i'm not sure about what the rules say on this one....

there is a player on first, no outs
the batter hits a high fly ball to centerfield, she runs and rounds first, the girl on first is almost to second base, and the centerfielder catches the ball...
as the batter was rounding first base, she ran into the first baseman. ?she was jogging back after the round, and blocked the first baseman's ability to catch the ball to tag the runner. ?the runner was clearly safe.

this was the call that was made-
obstruction was called on the batter, and the batter was called out because of the catch. ?But not only was the batter out, but now the runner was out also, because of the batter's obstruction. ?So the defense made a double play on a caught ball.

what would you do in this situation? was this the right call?


just curious

 

[default]

I would have to call the runner out as well for obstruction. Sorry, but I believe it was the right call.

 

[default]

i'm not trying to sound one sided or anything... i just think it is strange that the runner who did not do anything wrong can be out because another batter caused an obstruction...
and i have never seen the situation before...
i'm all open for opinions... thanks for the reply

 

[default]

good call by the umpire, the batter is already out because the catch is made so you can't call her out twice! but she interefed with the defensive players chances to get the runner going back to first, you would have to call her (the runner) out too. if I am understanding the story right.

 

[default]

The umpire has to ask him/herself, "Would the runner have been out if no obstruction had occurred?" ?If in the umpire thought that the runner would have been out, then the umpire can also call the runner out.

Do not look at it as the runner didn't do anything wrong. ?The OFFENSE did something wrong. ?Why penalize the DEFENSE when they didn't do anything wrong?

 

[default]

First note: The DEFENSE obstructs, the OFFENSE interferes. So the call here would be interference, not obstruction.

Speaking ASA, the rule covering this is 8-7-P.

The runner is out...when, after being declared out or scoring, an offensive player interferes with a defensive player's opportunity to make a play on another runner. EFFECT: The ball is dead. The runner closest to home plate at the time of the interference is out. All runners not out must return to the last base touched at the time of the interference.

That is the rule covering interference by a retired runner. The other half of the equation is umpire judgement. He has to judge if the throw hitting the retired runner had a chance to put out the other runner. If that is his judgement, then the rule can be applied.

From the description of the play, this sounds like a good call.

 

[default]

Bretman, I always mis-name those two. ?I guess I'm getting old.

 

[default]

I believe if there was no chance the 1st baseman could make the play as you said the other runner is safe, I believe interference only applies on playable balls.

 

[default]

Catching - think of it this way - since it's a "team" sport, sometimes the whole team gets punished for the actions of one individual player. For instance, runner on first, batter hits grounder to SS, who throws runner out at second. It's not the runner's fault that the batter hit the her into an out. But that's the breaks. Same situation here. By being careless, the runner interfered with the first baseman, causing a "team" penalty. IMO, mistakes like this at younger ages are not bad things, because they give an opportunity to learn.